1984 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom

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1984 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg
  1979 14 June 1984 1989  

81 seats to the European Parliament
Turnout32.6% (Increase2.svg0.2%)
 First partySecond party
  Plumb EC President Portrait.jpg 1657543218962 NP0238 Barbara CASTLE 001 MOBILE (cropped).jpg
Leader Henry Plumb Barbara Castle
Party Conservative Labour
Alliance EPP PES
Leader's seat Cotswolds Greater Manchester West
Last election60 seats, 48.4%17 seats, 31.6%
Seats won4532
Seat changeDecrease2.svg15Increase2.svg15
Popular vote5,426,8664,865,224
Percentage38.8%34.8%
SwingDecrease2.svg9.6%Increase2.svg3.1%

European Parliament election, 1984 (United Kingdom).svg
Colours denote the winning party, as shown in the main table of results.

1984 UK European Parliament election.svg

The 1984 European Parliament election was the second European election to be held in the United Kingdom. It was held on 14 June. The electoral system was First Past the Post in England, Scotland and Wales and Single transferable vote in Northern Ireland. The turnout was again the lowest in Europe. In England, Scotland and Wales, the Liberal Party and Social Democratic Party were in alliance, collecting 2,591,635 votes but not a single seat.

Contents

The election represented a small recovery for Labour, under Michael Foot's replacement Neil Kinnock, taking 15 seats from the Conservatives. In the general election of 1983, they had only had a vote share of 2% more than the SDP–Liberal Alliance (although they had nearly 10 times more MP's elected) and 15% less than the Conservatives. This was the last European election in the UK in which the governing party won a majority of seats.

A by-election to the British Parliament also took place on the same day in the Portsmouth South constituency - the Alliance gained the seat from the Conservatives.

Results

United Kingdom

Source: UK Parliament briefing

PartyVotes won % of voteLoss/GainSeats % of seatsLoss/Gain
Conservative 5,426,86638.8Decrease2.svg9.64555.6Decrease2.svg15
Labour 4,865,22434.8Increase2.svg3.13239.5Increase2.svg15
Alliance 2,591,65918.5Increase2.svg5.90Steady2.svgSteady2.svg
SNP 230,5941.6Decrease2.svg0.211.2Steady2.svg
DUP 230,2511.6Increase2.svg0.411.2Steady2.svg
SDLP 151,3991.1Steady2.svg11.2Steady2.svg
UUP 147,1691.1Increase2.svg0.111.2Steady2.svg
Plaid Cymru 103,0310.8Increase2.svg0.10Steady2.svgSteady2.svg
Sinn Féin 91,4760.7New0Steady2.svgSteady2.svg
Ecology 73,0250.5Increase2.svg0.40Steady2.svgSteady2.svg
Alliance 34,0460.2Steady2.svg0Steady2.svgSteady2.svg
UPUP 20,0920.1New0Steady2.svgSteady2.svg
Independent 11,0730.1Decrease2.svg0.10Steady2.svgSteady2.svg
Workers' Party 8,7120.1Steady2.svg0Steady2.svgSteady2.svg
Independent Ecology3,3300.0New0Steady2.svgSteady2.svg
Ind. Conservative3,2490.0Steady2.svg0Steady2.svgSteady2.svg
Ind. Liberal2,9810.0New0Steady2.svgSteady2.svg
Wessex Regionalist 2,3650.0New0Steady2.svgSteady2.svg
Cornish Nationalist 1,8920.0New0Steady2.svgSteady2.svg
Federal Republican Party1,4940.0New0Steady2.svgSteady2.svg

Great Britain

Source: UK Parliament briefing

PartyVotes won % of voteLoss/GainSeats % of seatsLoss/Gain
Conservative 5,426,86640.8Decrease2.svg9.84557.7Decrease2.svg15
Labour 4,865,22436.5Increase2.svg3.53241.0Increase2.svg15
Alliance 2,591,65919.5Increase2.svg6.30Steady2.svgSteady2.svg
SNP 230,5941.7Decrease2.svg0.211.3Steady2.svg
Plaid Cymru 103,0310.8Increase2.svg0.10Steady2.svgSteady2.svg
Ecology 70,8530.5Increase2.svg0.40Steady2.svgSteady2.svg
Independent 11,0730.1Decrease2.svg0.10Steady2.svgSteady2.svg
Independent Ecology3,3300.0New0Steady2.svgSteady2.svg
Ind. Conservative3,2490.0Steady2.svg0Steady2.svgSteady2.svg
Ind. Liberal2,9810.0New0Steady2.svgSteady2.svg
Wessex Regionalist 2,3650.0New0Steady2.svgSteady2.svg
Cornish Nationalist 1,8920.0New0Steady2.svgSteady2.svg
Federal Republican Party1,4940.0New0Steady2.svgSteady2.svg

Total votes cast – 13,312,898. All parties listed.

Northern Ireland

Source: Northern Ireland Social and Political Archive

1984 European Parliament election: Northern Ireland [1]
PartyCandidateFPv%Count
1234
DUP Ian Paisley 33.6230,251   
UUP John Taylor 21.5147,169185,714  
SDLP John Hume 22.1151,399151,664 156,310 183,256
Sinn Féin Danny Morrison 13.391,47691,525 92,644 93,079
Alliance David Cook 5.034,04634,892 37,401  
UPUP James Kilfedder 2.920,09238,293 38,854  
Workers' Party Seamus Lynch 1.38,7128,813   
Ecology Colin McGuigan0.32,1722,236   
Electorate: 1,065,363  Valid: 685,317  Spoilt: 11,654  Quota: 171,330  Turnout: 696,994  

    Constituency results

    Source:

    ConstituencyConstituency result by partyWinning party 1984
    ConservativeLabourAlliancePCSNPEcologyOthers
    Bedfordshire South 72,08857,10636,444 Conservative
    Birmingham East 54,99476,37721,9271,440 Labour
    Birmingham West 55,70261,94619,422 Labour
    Bristol 94,65277,00833,698 Conservative
    Cambridge and Bedfordshire North 86,11738,90136,341 Conservative
    Cheshire East 71,18252,80631,374 Conservative
    Cheshire West 74,57964,88730,470 Conservative
    Cleveland and Yorkshire North 73,21752,88731,374 Conservative
    Cornwall and Plymouth 81,62735,95263,87610,518 Conservative
    Cotswolds 94,74036,73845,798 Conservative
    Cumbria and Lancashire North 86,12762,33239,622 Conservative
    Derbyshire 72,61379,46630,824 Labour
    Devon 110,12930,01753,5197,278 Conservative
    Dorset East and Hampshire West 109,07231,22349,181 Conservative
    Durham 44,846106,07332,307 Labour
    Essex North East 97,13842,83634,769 Conservative
    Essex South West 72,19056,16929,385 Conservative
    Glasgow 25,28291,01520,86716,456 Labour
    Greater Manchester Central 48,75376,83024,1921,430 Labour
    Greater Manchester East 56,41565,10127,8013,158 Labour
    Greater Manchester West 56,04293,74017,894 Labour
    Hampshire Central 84,08639,22839,265 Conservative
    Hereford and Worcester 84,07744,14337,8548,179 Conservative
    Hertfordshire 87,60341,67140,877 Conservative
    Highlands and Islands 18,84716,64433,13349,410 SNP
    Humberside 61,95253,93727,318 Conservative
    Kent East 92,34043,47334,6015,405 Conservative
    Kent West 85,41450,78433,3064,991 Conservative
    Lancashire Central 82,37056,17524,936 Conservative
    Lancashire East 67,80675,71126,320 Labour
    Leeds 60,17870,53536,097 Labour
    Leicester 72,50869,61629,6563,249 Conservative
    Lincolnshire 92,60647,16137,244 Conservative
    London Central 64,54577,84230,2697,514 Labour
    London East 61,71173,87026,379 Labour
    London North 74,84669,99331,3444,682 Conservative
    London North East 27,24279,90717,3444,797 Labour
    London North West 69,80362,38129,609 Conservative
    London South and Surrey East 82,12237,46534,522 Conservative
    London South East 81,50861,49338,614989 Conservative
    London South Inner 46,18077,66125,3913,281 Labour
    London South West 41,09632,63223,8422,135 Conservative
    London West 74,32579,55436,6874,361 Labour
    Lothians 49,06574,98936,63622,3312,560 Labour
    Merseyside East 38,04787,08617,259 Labour
    Merseyside West 52,71865,91537,303 Labour
    Mid and West Wales 52,91089,36235,16832,8804,266 Labour
    Mid Scotland and Fife 52,87280,03824,22030,511 Labour
    Midlands East 67,88455,15527,9121,494 Conservative
    Midlands West 54,40674,09117,709 Labour
    Norfolk 95,45958,60237,703 Conservative
    North East Scotland 53,80944,64825,49033,448 Conservative
    North Wales 69,13954,76856,86138,117 Conservative
    Northamptonshire 88,66848,80937,4213,330 Conservative
    Northumbria 62,71778,41242,946 Labour
    Nottingham 82,50066,37433,169 Conservative
    Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire 94,13639,16445,055 Conservative
    Sheffield 47,24793,53023,935 Labour
    Shropshire and Stafford 82,29157,35937,209 Conservative
    Somerset and Dorset West 98,92836,86358,677 Conservative
    South of Scotland 60,84357,70623,59822,242 Conservative
    South Wales 55,67899,93626,58813,201 Labour
    South Wales East 36,359131,91628,33018,833 Labour
    Staffordshire East 68,88676,75326,093 Labour
    Strathclyde East 24,85790,79211,88327,330 Labour
    Strathclyde West 47,19670,23425,95528,866 Labour
    Suffolk 88,24341,14534,084 Conservative
    Surrey West 96,67522,53144,087 Conservative
    Sussex East 102,28732,21336,6665,401 Conservative
    Sussex West 104,25722,85746,7553,842 Conservative
    Thames Valley 74,92836,12332,704 Conservative
    Tyne and Wear 39,61089,02419,081 Labour
    Wight and Hampshire East 96,66636,44553,738 Conservative
    Wiltshire 86,87335,45760,404 Conservative
    York 80,63644,23433,356 Conservative
    Yorkshire South 30,27198,02019,306 Labour
    Yorkshire South West 44,29188,46426,964 Labour
    Yorkshire West 65,40586,25928,709 Labour

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    References

    1. The 1984 European Election, Northern Ireland Elections