Both Labour and the Tories entered the election campaign in good heart and public interest was high.
During the previous five years the government had not lost a single by-election and although the Tories spurned the radical step of changing their name after the humiliation of 1945, they had thoroughly revamped their polices and their grassroots organisation.
Crucially, the playing field on which the election was fought had undergone several significant changes.
Dual votes for owners of business were scrapped as were the separate seats representing the older universities - benefiting Labour.
On the plus side for the Conservatives, the boundary commission had attempted to reduce the electoral representation of some urban seats now no longer heavily populated. The introduction of postal votes proved another great plus for the party.