The Labour victory of 2005 was unusual. To what extent is this true?

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The Labour victory of 2005 was unusual. To what extent is this true?

It is often said that the 5th May 2005 election was the most unusual election in the history of democracy in Britain. Labour won an overall majority of 66 seats, or 55.1 per cent of seats, with 35.2 per cent of the vote, no majority government in British history have ever rested on a flimsier base of public support.

The only remotely comparable election is 1922, although Labour in 2005 still polled 3 percentage points worse than the Conservatives did in 1922. It is notable that no election since 1970 has produced a government with 45 per cent of the vote, and that the trend in the most recent elections has been to produce significant majorities with ever lower shares of the popular vote. A Commons majority has enormous power, and this power has now been awarded on the basis of only 35.2 per cent of the vote. The case for electoral reform has become stronger with each successive election. Labour's share of the vote in 2005 can also be compared unfavourably to the support enjoyed in past elections by losing parties. Attlee's