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- The UK general election on Tuesday 27 October 1931 was the last in the United Kingdom not held on a Thursday. It was also the last election, and the only one under universal suffrage, where one party (the Conservatives) received an absolute majority of the votes cast. The 1931 general election was held in the middle of the Great Depression, and by 1931 Ramsay MacDonald's Labour government had reached a deadlock over a response to the crisis. Influential members of the Labour Cabinet, such as Arthur Henderson, were not willing to support the budget cuts advised by the civil service, while the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Phillip Snowden refused to consider deficit spending or tariffs. MacDonald was then encouraged to form an all-party National Government to deal with the financial crisis. MacDonald's decision before the election to form a coalition with the Conservatives saw him expelled from the Labour Party. He was replaced as leader by Henderson. MacDonald and a small group of supporters then formed National Labour. The Labour split persuaded MacDonald that a quick election was necessary. The Liberals opposed the calling of an election and Liberal leader David Lloyd George urged his colleagues to withdraw from the National Government. However, the majority of Liberals, led by Sir Herbert Samuel decided to remain within it. Complicating matters further a group of Liberal MPs emerged as the "Liberal Nationals" who urged full support for the National Government and expressed a willingness to fill any vacancies created by the resignations of other Liberals and maintain the multi-party nature of the government. A main issue was the Conservatives' wish to introduce protectionist trade policies. This not only divided the government from the opposition but also divided the parties in the National Government. The Liberal Nationals under Sir John Simon supported the Conservative protectionist trade policies. The Liberals led by Samuel and Lloyd George campaigned in defence of free trade. In the event, the Labour vote fell sharply, and the Conservatives, led by Stanley Baldwin, won a landslide majority of 324 seats, although Ramsay MacDonald remained Prime Minister in the new National government. The Liberals lacked the funds to contest the full range of seats, but still won almost as many constituencies as the Labour Party.
- Parlamentsvalet i Storbritannien 1931 hölls tisdagen den 27 oktober 1931, och var det sista parlamentsval i Storbritannien som inte hölls på en torsdag. Valet hölls mitt under den stora depressionen. Ramsay MacDonalds Labourregering hade inte kunnat komma överens om hur man skulle besvara den ekonomiska krisen, och i augusti 1931 lämnade MacDonald regeringen och bildade den "nationella regeringen". MacDonalds beslut att bilda en nationell regering med Conservative Party fick Labour att utesluta honom ur partiet, som då delades i två grupper (Labour Party och National Labour Party). På grund av detta samt att den tidigare Labourregeringen inte lyckats hantera den ekonomiska krisen föll Labours andel av rösterna kraftigt, och de konservativa, under ledning av Stanley Baldwin, fick en stor majoritet, fastän premiärministern i den resulterande nationella regeringen fortsatt var Ramsay MacDonald. Liberal Party saknade tillräckliga medel för att kandidera i lika många valkretsar som vanligt, men fick ändå nästan lika många mandat som Labour, som i alla fall lyckades få 38% av rösterna.
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