2005 United Kingdom general election in England

2005 United Kingdom general election in England
← outgoing members elected members →
All 529 English seats to the House of Commons ; 265 seats needed for English majority

Last updated August 24, 2024

The 2005 United Kingdom general election in England took place on 5 May 2005 for 529 English seats in the British House of Commons. The governing Labour Party under Tony Blair won an overall majority of seats for the third successive election.

Within England, the opposition Conservative Party received 72,544 more votes than the Labour Party, but Labour won an overall majority of English seats.^[1]^[2] The Liberal Democrats made modest gains, finishing with 23% of the vote and 47 seats. The only other parties to win seats were the Respect Party, who gained Bethnal Green and Bow from Labour, and Independent Kidderminster Hospital and Health Concern, who won Wyre Forest for the second election in a row.

Results table

Below is a table summarising the results of the 2005 general election in England.


Party^[3]		Seats					Votes
Party^[3]		Total	Gains	Losses	Net +/-	% seats	Total votes	% votes	Change
	Labour	286	0	37	37	54.1	8,043,461	35.4	6.0
	Conservative	194	32	3	29	36.7	8,116,005	35.7	0.5
	Liberal Democrats	47	12	5	7	8.9	5,201,286	22.9	3.6
	Respect	1	1	0	1	0.2	67,422	0.3	0.3
	Health Concern	1	0	0		0.2	18,739	0.1
	UKIP	0	0	0		0.0	592,417	2.6	0.9
	Green	0	0	0		0.0	251,051	1.1	0.4
	BNP	0	0	0		0.0	189,570	0.8	0.6
	Veritas	0	0	0		0.0	39,044	0.2	New
	Liberal	0	0	0		0.0	17,547	0.1
	Others	0	0	0		0.0	177,343	0.8	N/A
							22,713,855	61.0	1.9

Popular vote

Conservative			35.7%
Labour			35.4%
Liberal Democrats			22.9%
UKIP			2.6%
Greens			1.1%
Other			2.3%

Parliament seats

Labour			54.1%
Conservative			36.7%
Liberal Democrats			8.9%
Respect			0.2%
ICHC			0.2%

Regional results

Regional vote shares and changes are sourced from the BBC.^[3]

East Midlands

Party		Seats				Votes
Party		Total	Gained	Lost	Net	Total	%	Change (%)
	Labour	25	-	3	-3	785,944	39.0	-6.1
	Conservative	18	3	-	+3	747,438	37.1	-0.2
	Liberal Democrats	1	-	-	-	372,041	18.5	+3.1
	UKIP	-	-	-	-	52,998	2.6	+1.5
	Others	-	-	-	-	41,044	1.8	+1.7
Total		44		Turnout		2,015,282	62.6

East of England

Party		Seats				Votes
Party		Total	Gained	Lost	Net	Total	%	Change (%)
	Conservative	40	6	-	+6	1,147,180	43.3	+1.5
	Labour	13	-	7	-7	790,372	29.8	-7.0
	Liberal Democrats	3	1	-	+1	578,741	21.8	+4.3
	UKIP	-	-	-	−	83,112	4.3	+1.1
	Others	-	-	-	-	50,408	2.0	—
Total		56		Turnout		2,649,813	63.9

London

Party		Seats				Votes
Party		Total	Gained	Lost	Net	Total	%	Change (%)
	Labour	44	0	11	-11	1,135,687	38.9	-8.4
	Conservative	21	7	-	+7	931,966	31.9	+1.4
	Liberal Democrats	8	2	-	+2	638,333	21.9	+4.4
	Green	-	-	-	−	78,595	2.7	+1.0
	UKIP	-	-	-	−	42,956	1.5	+0.5
	Respect	-	-	1	+1	40,735	1.4	+1.4
	BNP	-	-	-	−	19,024	0.7	+0.2
	Others	-	-	-	-	30,894	1.0	—
Total		74		Turnout		2,918,190	57.8

North East

Party		Seats				Votes
Party		Total	Gained	Lost	Net	Total	%	Change (%)
	Labour	28^[4]	-	-		580,453	52.9	-6.5
	Liberal Democrats	1	-	-		256,295	23.6	+6.6
	Conservative	1	-	-		214,414	19.5	-1.8
	UKIP	-	-	-		11,703	1.1	+0.3
	BNP	-	-	-		9,672	0.9	+0.9
	Others	-	-	-		25,664	2.0	—
Total		30		Turnout		1,098,201	57.1

North West

Party		Seats				Votes
Party		Total	Gained	Lost	Net	Total	%	Change (%)
	Labour	47	-	13	-13	1,292,978	39.5	-5.6
	Conservative	22	12	-	+12	1,038,967	31.7	+3.0
	Liberal Democrats	6	1	-	+1	707,770	21.6	+0.2
	UKIP	-	-	-	−	103,782	3.2	+1.2
	Others	-	-	-	-	132,733	4.0	—
Total		75		Turnout		3,276,230	63.6

South East

Party		Seats				Votes
Party		Total	Gained	Lost	Net	Total	%	Change (%)
	Conservative	75	15	1	+14	2,140,895	49.9	+4.9
	Liberal Democrats	4	1	3	-2	1,124,786	26.2	+0.8
	Labour	4	-	13	-13	697,567	16.2	-8.1
	Green	1	1	-	1	62,124	1.4	+0.1
	UKIP	-	-	-	-	177,269	4.1	+1.0
	Others	-	-	-	-	91,599	2.2	—
Total		84		Turnout		4,294,240	68.0

South West

Party		Seats				Votes
Party		Total	Gained	Lost	Net	Total	%	Change (%)
	Conservative	36	12	1	+11	1,187,637	42.8	+4.2
	Liberal Democrats	15	1	4	-3	962,954	34.7	+2.2
	Labour	4	-	8	-8	426,910	15.4	-7.4
	UKIP	-	-	-	-	123,975	4.5	+0.7
	Others	-	-	-	-	71,967	2.6	—
Total		55		Turnout		2,773,443	69.1

West Midlands

Party		Seats				Votes
Party		Total	Gained	Lost	Net	Total	%	Change (%)
	Conservative	33	16	1	+15	1,044,081	39.5	+4.5
	Labour	24	-	14	-14	808,114	30.6	-8.9
	Liberal Democrats	2	1	1	-	540,160	20.5	+1.9
	UKIP	-	-	-	−	105,685	4.0	+0.8
	BNP	-	-	-	-	73,394	2.8	+1.0
	Health Concern	1	-	-	-	18,793	0.8	-0.4
	Others	-	-	-	-	52,881	2.1	—
Total		59		Turnout		2,640,465	64.6

Yorkshire and Humber

Party		Seats				Votes
Party		Total	Gained	Lost	Net	Total	%	Change (%)
	Labour	32	-	9	-9	821,368	34.7	-9.3
	Conservative	18	10	-	+10	769,895	32.5	+3.9
	Liberal Democrats	3	1	2	-1	543,684	23.0	+2.2
	BNP	-	-	-	-	104,177	4.4	+1.6
	Others	-	-	-	-	129,153	5.4	—
Total		53		Turnout		2,368,277	63.2

Analysis

The total Labour vote in England declined by 6% and by varying amounts in every English Region, but with sharp variations locally. For example, in Bethnal Green and Bow, London, former Labour MP George Galloway, running as a candidate for the anti-war Respect, defeated Oona King (Labour) who in the previous General Election had a majority of 10,057.^[5] Labour polled 70,000 fewer votes in England than the Conservatives, but won 92 more seats.^[3] Labour regained one of its by-election losses, Leicester South,^[6] but saw an increased Liberal Democrat majority in the other, Brent East. Overall, Labour lost 37 English MPs compared to 2001.^[3]

The Conservatives made gains in most regions of England, though their vote declined in some areas, notably the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber (2% and 1.5% declines, respectively). However, even in regions where the Conservative vote declined, the Labour vote declined by a greater margin, allowing the Conservatives to make gains against Labour. Overall, the Conservatives gained 0.5% of the vote in England compared to 2001, and gained 29 seats. In Enfield Southgate, Conservative David Burrowes ousted Labour Stephen Twigg, who had famously defeated Michael Portillo for that seat in the 1997 elections.^[7]

The Liberal Democrats made modest gains in all regions of England, improving by at least 1% in every region. The party made a net gain of 7 seats, winning a total of 47, the best result for the Liberal Democrats or Liberals in England since 1923.^[8]

Former BBC presenter, Robert Kilroy-Silk, who had joined the UK Independence Party (UKIP) before leaving to set up Veritas, came fourth in Erewash in what was the best performance by Veritas, receiving 2,957 votes. The seat was won by Labour's Liz Blackman.

There were regional surges in support for the British National Party, who however failed to win any seats, their highest poll being 16.9% in the Labour stronghold of Barking, East London.^[9] The party fielded 119 candidates in seats throughout the country, gaining 0.7% of the total votes cast. The 119 candidates fielded represented a significant rise as in 2001, the BNP only fielded 33 candidates.^[10]

The Green Party came third in Brighton Pavilion (with Keith Taylor as candidate) behind Labour and the Conservatives, taking 21.9% of the votes cast. Despite this unprecedented high share of the vote Taylor was not selected to contest the seat in the 2010 general election, losing his prospective position to Caroline Lucas.

The English Democrats gained their highest percentage of the vote in Greenwich and Woolwich, winning 3.4% of votes cast.^[11]

The Independent Working Class Association stood for the first time in a general election, having previously only stood in local council elections. The party gained 2.1% of the vote in Oxford East.

Related Research Articles

The 1950 United Kingdom general election was the first to be held after a full term of a majority Labour government. The general election was held on Thursday 23 February 1950, and was also the first to be held following the abolition of plural voting and university constituencies. The government's lead over the Conservative Party shrank dramatically, and Labour was returned to power but with an overall majority significantly reduced from 146 to just 5. There was a 2.8% national swing towards the Conservatives, who gained 90 seats. Labour called another general election the following year, which the Conservative Party won, returning Churchill to government after six years in opposition.

The English Democrats are a right-wing to far-right, English nationalist political party active in England. Being a minor party, it currently has no elected representatives at any level of UK government.

The 2004 European Parliament election was the United Kingdom's part of the wider 2004 European Parliament election which was held between 10 and 13 June 2004 in the 25 member states of the European Union. The United Kingdom's part of this election was held on Thursday 10 June 2004. The election also coincided with the 2004 local elections and the London Assembly and mayoral elections. In total, 78 Members of the European Parliament were elected from the United Kingdom using proportional representation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bethnal Green and Bow (UK Parliament constituency)</span> UK Parliament constituency in England since 1997-2024

Bethnal Green and Bow was a constituency in Greater London, represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament from 2010 until its abolition for the 2024 general election by Rushanara Ali of the Labour Party.

The 2005 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 5 May 2005, to elect 646 members to the House of Commons. The governing Labour Party led by the prime minister Tony Blair won its third consecutive victory, with Blair becoming the second Labour leader after Harold Wilson to form three majority governments. However, its majority fell to 66 seats; the majority it won four years earlier had been of 167 seats. The UK media interpreted the results as an indicator of a breakdown in trust in the government, and especially in Blair.

The 2010 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 6 May 2010, to elect Members of Parliament to the House of Commons. The election took place in 650 constituencies across the United Kingdom under the first-past-the-post system. The election resulted in a large swing to the opposition Conservative Party led by David Cameron similar to that seen in 1979, the last time a Conservative opposition had ousted a Labour government. The governing Labour Party led by the prime minister Gordon Brown lost the 66-seat majority it had previously enjoyed, but no party achieved the 326 seats needed for a majority. The Conservatives won the most votes and seats, but still fell 20 seats short. This resulted in a hung parliament where no party was able to command a majority in the House of Commons. This was only the second general election since the Second World War to return a hung parliament, the first being the February 1974 election. This election marked the start of Conservative government for the next 14 years.

The 2006 United Kingdom local elections were held on Thursday 4 May 2006.

Cornwall is administered as a county of South West England whose politics are influenced by a number of issues that make it distinct from the general political scene in the wider United Kingdom, and the political trends of neighbouring counties. Its position on the geographical periphery of the island of Great Britain is also a factor.

The 2009 European Parliament election was the United Kingdom's component of the 2009 European Parliament election, the voting for which was held on Thursday 4 June 2009. The election was held concurrently with the 2009 local elections in England. In total, 72 Members of the European Parliament were elected from the United Kingdom using proportional representation.

An election to the Assembly of London took place on 1 May 2008, along with the 2008 London mayoral election. The Conservatives gained 2 seats, Labour gained one seat, the Liberal Democrats lost two seats, and UKIP were wiped out. Notably, a candidate for the British National Party (BNP) was elected for the first time.

The 2008 Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council election took place on 1 May 2008 to elect members of Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council in the West Midlands, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Conservative Party gained overall control of the council from no overall control.

This is the results breakdown of the 2005 general election.

The 2010 St Albans City and District Council election took place on 6 May 2010 to elect members of St Albans District Council in Hertfordshire, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Liberal Democrats stayed in overall control of the council.

The 2006 Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council election took place on 4 May 2006 to elect members of Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council in the West Midlands, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Conservative Party stayed in overall control of the council.

The 2007 Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council election took place on 4 May 2007 to elect members of Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council in the West Midlands, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Conservative Party lost overall control of the council to no overall control.

The 2004 Pendle Borough Council election took place on 10 June 2004 to elect members of Pendle Borough Council in Lancashire, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Liberal Democrats gained overall control of the council from no overall control.

The 2011 Sunderland Council election took place on 5 May 2011 to elect members of Sunderland Metropolitan Borough Council in Tyne and Wear, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Labour Party stayed in overall control of the council.

The 2013 United Kingdom local elections took place on Thursday 2 May 2013. Elections were held in 35 English councils: all 27 non-metropolitan county councils and eight unitary authorities, and in one Welsh unitary authority. Direct mayoral elections took place in Doncaster and North Tyneside. These elections last took place on the 4 June 2009 at the same time as the 2009 European Parliament Elections, except for County Durham, Northumberland and the Anglesey where elections last took place in 2008.

The 2014 European Parliament election was the United Kingdom's component of the 2014 European Parliament election, held on Thursday 22 May 2014, coinciding with the 2014 local elections in England and Northern Ireland. In total, 73 Members of the European Parliament were elected from the United Kingdom using proportional representation. England, Scotland and Wales use a closed-list party list system of PR, while Northern Ireland used the single transferable vote (STV).

The 2015 United Kingdom general election in England was held on Thursday, 7 May 2015 for 533 English seats to the House of Commons. The Conservatives won a majority of seats in England for the second time since 1992.

References

↑ Sparrow, Andrew (6 May 2005). "Tories won more votes in England than Labour". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 6 July 2016. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
↑ Agrawal, Manoj (2015). Electoral Reforms: A Step Towards Good Governance. India: Prabhat Prakashan. p. 32. ISBN 978-93-5186-426-4. The growth in support for PR has stemmed largely from recent concerns about the First Past the Post system. [...] In [the 2005] election, popular vote actually saw the Conservatives getting more support than Labour. The vote share of Conservatives was 35.7% and that of Labour Party was 35.4%.
1 2 3 4 "Election 2005 - Results, England". BBC News. 10 May 2005. Retrieved 21 July 2009.
↑ "General Election 2005 Final edition" (PDF). House of Commons Library. 10 March 2006.
↑ Left, Sarah (6 May 2005). "Chastened Blair wins historic third term". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 July 2022.
↑ Waller, Robert; Criddle, Byron (2007). The Almanac of British Politics. Routledge. pp. 12–13. ISBN 978-1-135-20676-5.
↑ "Minister Twigg beaten by Tories". 6 May 2005. Retrieved 26 July 2022– via news.bbc.co.uk.
↑ Cook, Chris (2010). A Short History of the Liberal Party: The Road Back to Power. Springer. p. 340. ISBN 9781137056078 – via Google Books.
↑ Kundnani, Arun (20 October 2005). "London becomes BNP heartland". Institute of Race Relations . Retrieved 26 July 2022.
↑ Copsey, Nigel (2016). Anti-Fascism in Britain. Taylor & Francis. p. 200. ISBN 9781138926509 – via Google Books.
↑ Black, Jeremy (2018). English Nationalism: A Short History. Oxford University Press. p. 154. ISBN 9781787380820 – via Google Books.

External links

"The 2005 General Election: Worst Election Ever". Electoral Reform Society. 27 May 2005. Retrieved 28 July 2022.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[1] Sparrow, Andrew (6 May 2005). "Tories won more votes in England than Labour". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 6 July 2016. Retrieved 6 May 2020.

[2] Agrawal, Manoj (2015). Electoral Reforms: A Step Towards Good Governance. India: Prabhat Prakashan. p. 32. ISBN 978-93-5186-426-4. The growth in support for PR has stemmed largely from recent concerns about the First Past the Post system. [...] In [the 2005] election, popular vote actually saw the Conservatives getting more support than Labour. The vote share of Conservatives was 35.7% and that of Labour Party was 35.4%.

[results-3] 1 2 3 4 "Election 2005 - Results, England". BBC News. 10 May 2005. Retrieved 21 July 2009.

[4] "General Election 2005 Final edition" (PDF). House of Commons Library. 10 March 2006.

[5] Left, Sarah (6 May 2005). "Chastened Blair wins historic third term". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 July 2022.

[6] Waller, Robert; Criddle, Byron (2007). The Almanac of British Politics. Routledge. pp. 12–13. ISBN 978-1-135-20676-5.

[7] "Minister Twigg beaten by Tories". 6 May 2005. Retrieved 26 July 2022– via news.bbc.co.uk.

[8] Cook, Chris (2010). A Short History of the Liberal Party: The Road Back to Power. Springer. p. 340. ISBN 9781137056078 – via Google Books.

[9] Kundnani, Arun (20 October 2005). "London becomes BNP heartland". Institute of Race Relations . Retrieved 26 July 2022.

[10] Copsey, Nigel (2016). Anti-Fascism in Britain. Taylor & Francis. p. 200. ISBN 9781138926509 – via Google Books.

[11] Black, Jeremy (2018). English Nationalism: A Short History. Oxford University Press. p. 154. ISBN 9781787380820 – via Google Books.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

v t e 2005 United Kingdom general election
Constituency results Marginal constituencies MPs elected Opinion polling Parties Pre-election Results breakdown
Incumbent prime minister: Tony Blair (Labour) Appointed prime minister: Tony Blair (Labour)
Parties elected to the House of Commons and their leaders	Tony Blair (Labour) Michael Howard (Conservative) Charles Kennedy (Liberal Democrats) Ian Paisley (Democratic Unionist Party) Alex Salmond (Scottish National Party) Gerry Adams (Sinn Féin) Ieuan Wyn Jones (Plaid Cymru) Mark Durkan (Social Democratic and Labour Party) Richard Taylor (Health Concern) George Galloway (Respect) David Trimble (Ulster Unionist Party)
Results by area	England (list) Northern Ireland (list) Scotland (list) (Edinburgh) Wales (list)
MPs by party	Conservative Democratic Unionist Labour Labour and Labour Co-operative Labour Co-operative Liberal Democrat Scottish Nationalist
See also	Reg Keys Peter Law Vote-OK
2005 United Kingdom local elections