Electoral history of the Conservative Party (UK)

The Conservative Party, officially the Conservative and Unionist Party and also known colloquially as the Tories, is one of the two main political parties in the United Kingdom, along with the Labour Party, and has been described as both right-wing and centre-right.

This article encompasses detailed results of previous UK general elections, Police and Crime Commissioner elections, devolved national elections, devolved London elections and European Parliament elections which the Conservative Party have participated in.

Background

Main article: Conservative Party (UK)

It is the current governing party, having won the 2019 general election, and has been the primary governing party in the United Kingdom since 2010. On the political spectrum the party has been described as right-wing ^[9] by various sources and as centre-right ^[10] by others, and encompasses various ideological factions including one-nation conservatives, Thatcherites, and traditionalist conservatives.

As of September 2023, the party has 354 members of Parliament, 260 members of the House of Lords, 9 members of the London Assembly, 31 members of the Scottish Parliament, 16 members of the Welsh Parliament, 4 directly elected mayors, 30 police and crime commissioners, and around 5,647 local councillors. ^[11] It holds the annual Conservative Party Conference. ^[12]

The Conservative Party was founded in 1834 from the Tory Party and was one of two dominant political parties in the 19th century, along with the Liberal Party. ^{[13] [14]} In 1912, the Liberal Unionist Party merged with the party to form the Conservative and Unionist Party. Since the 1920s, the Labour Party emerged to be the Conservatives' main rival and the Conservative–Labour political rivalry has shaped modern British politics for the last century.

National results

UK general elections

United Kingdom general elections are held under the first past the post voting system. ^[15] Each constituency in the United Kingdom will elect one Member of Parliament; overall 650 Members of Parliament are currently elected at each election. ^[15] Following the Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Act 2022, the date of the general election is at the discretion of the prime minister within a five-year period from the last general election. ^[15] The next general election must be held by at least 28 January 2025. ^[15]

In the 1931 general election, the Conservatives earned their best result to date, by vote share (55.5%) and seat number (474). ^[16] In the post-war era, the 1983 general election was the most successful for the Conservatives in terms of seats won (397), whereas 1955 was the most successful election for vote share (49.7%). ^[16] However, the 1997 general election was the least successful election since 1918 for the Conservatives, winning 165 seats and gaining 30.7% of the vote. ^[16]

This chart shows the electoral performance of the Conservative Party in each general election since 1835. ^{[17] [18]}

For results of the Tories, the party's predecessor, see here.

Parliament of the United Kingdom

Election	Leader	Votes		Seats			Position	Government	Ref
		No.	Share	No.	±	Share
1835	Robert Peel	261,269	40.8%	273 / 658	98	41.5%	2nd	Whig	[19]
1837		379,694	48.3%	314 / 658	41	47.7%	2nd	Whig
1841		379,694	56.9%	367 / 658	53	55.8%	1st	Conservative
1847	Earl of Derby	205,481	42.7%	325 / 656 Includes Peelites	42	49.5%	1st	Whig
1852		311,481	41.9%	330 / 654 Includes Peelites	5	50.5%	1st	Conservative
1857		239,712	34.0%	264 / 654	66	40.4%	2nd	Whig
1859		193,232	34.3%	298 / 654	34	45.6%	2nd	Whig
1865		346,035	40.5%	289 / 658	9	43.9%	2nd	Liberal
1868 [fn 1]	Benjamin Disraeli	903,318	38.4%	271 / 658	18	41.2%	2nd	Liberal
1874		1,091,708	44.3%	350 / 652	79	53.7%	1st	Conservative
1880		1,462,351	42.5%	237 / 652	113	36.3%	2nd	Liberal
1885 [fn 2]	Marquess of Salisbury	2,020,927	43.5%	247 / 670	10	36.9%	2nd	Liberal minority	[17]
1886		1,520,886	51.1%	317 / 670	70	47.3%	1st	Conservative–Liberal Unionist	[17]
1892		2,159,150	47.0%	268 / 670	49	40.0%	2nd	Liberal	[17]
1895		1,894,772	49.0%	340 / 670	72	50.7%	1st	Conservative–Liberal Unionist	[17]
1900		1,767,958	50.3%	335 / 670	5	50.0%	1st	Conservative–Liberal Unionist	[17]
1906	Arthur Balfour	2,422,071	43.4%	131 / 670	204	19.6%	2nd	Liberal	[17]
January 1910		3,104,407	46.8%	240 / 670	109	35.8%	2nd	Liberal minority	[17]
December 1910		2,420,169	46.6%	235 / 670	5	35.1%	2nd	Liberal minority	[17]
Merged with Liberal Unionist Party in 1912 to become the Conservative and Unionist Party
1918 [fn 3]	Bonar Law	3,472,738	38.4%	379 / 707 332 elected with Coupon	108	53.6%	1st	Coalition Liberal–Conservative	[17]
1922		5,294,465	38.5%	344 / 615	35	55.9%	1st	Conservative	[17]
1923	Stanley Baldwin	5,286,159	38.0%	258 / 625	86	41.3%	1st	Labour minority	[17]
1924		7,418,983	46.8%	412 / 615	124	67.0%	1st	Conservative	[17]
1929 [fn 4]		8,252,527	38.1%	260 / 615	152	42.3%	2nd	Labour minority	[17]
1931		11,377,022	55.0%	470 / 615	210	76.4%	1st	Conservative–Liberal–National Labour	[17]
1935		10,025,083	47.8%	386 / 615	83	62.8%	1st	Conservative–Liberal National–National Labour	[17]
1945	Winston Churchill	8,716,211	36.2%	197 / 640	189	30.8%	2nd	Labour	[17]
1950		11,507,061	40.0%	282 / 625	85	45.1%	2nd	Labour	[17]
1951		13,724,418	48.0%	302 / 625	20	48.3%	1st	Conservative–National Liberal	[17]
1955	Anthony Eden	13,310,891	49.7%	324 / 630	22	51.4%	1st	Conservative–National Liberal	[17]
1959	Harold Macmillan	13,750,875	49.4%	345 / 630	21	54.8%	1st	Conservative–National Liberal	[17]
1964	Alec Douglas-Home	12,002,642	43.4%	298 / 630	47	47.3%	2nd	Labour	[17]
1966	Edward Heath	11,418,455	41.9%	250 / 630	48	39.7%	2nd	Labour	[17]
1970 [fn 5]		13,145,123	46.4%	330 / 630	80	52.4%	1st	Conservative	[17]
February 1974		11,872,180	37.9%	297 / 635	33	46.8%	2nd	Labour minority	[17]
October 1974		10,462,565	35.8%	277 / 635	20	43.6%	2nd	Labour	[17]
1979	Margaret Thatcher	13,697,923	43.9%	339 / 635	62	53.4%	1st	Conservative	[17]
1983		13,012,316	42.4%	397 / 650	38	61.1%	1st	Conservative
1987		13,760,935	42.2%	376 / 650	21	57.8%	1st	Conservative
1992	John Major	14,093,007	41.9%	336 / 651	40	51.6%	1st	Conservative
1997		9,600,943	30.7%	165 / 659	171	25.0%	2nd	Labour
2001	William Hague	8,357,615	31.7%	166 / 659	1	25.2%	2nd	Labour
2005	Michael Howard	8,785,941	32.4%	198 / 646	32	30.7%	2nd	Labour
2010	David Cameron	10,703,654	36.1%	306 / 650	96	47.1%	1st	Conservative–Liberal Democrats [20]	[21]
2015		11,299,609	36.8%	330 / 650	24	50.8%	1st	Conservative	[22]
2017	Theresa May	13,636,684	42.3%	317 / 650	13	48.8%	1st	Conservative minority with DUP confidence and supply [23]	[24]
2019	Boris Johnson	13,966,454	43.6%	365 / 650	48	56.2%	1st	Conservative	[25]

Note

1. The first election held under the Reform Act 1867.
2. The first election held under the Representation of the People Act 1884 and the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885.
3. The first election held under the Representation of the People Act 1918 in which all men over 21, and most women over the age of 30 could vote, and therefore a much larger electorate.
4. The first election held under the Representation of the People Act 1928 which gave all women aged over 21 the vote.
5. Franchise extended to all 18- to 20-year-olds under the Representation of the People Act 1969.

Police and Crime Commissioner elections

Election	Leader	Votes		Commissioners			Position
		No.	Share	No.	±	Share
2012	David Cameron	1,480,323	27.6%	16 / 41		34.8%	1st
2016		2,601,560	29.3%	20 / 40	4	50.0%	1st
2021	Boris Johnson	4,900,501	44.5%	30 / 39	10	76.9%	1st

Devolved national elections

Scottish Parliament elections

See also: Scottish Parliament and Scottish Conservatives

Election	Leader	Votes (Constituency)		Votes (List)		Seats			Position	Government
		No.	Share	No.	Share	No.	±	Share
1999	David McLetchie	364,225	15.6%	359,109	15.4%	18 / 129		14.0%	3rd	Labour–Liberal Democrats
2003		318,279	16.6%	296,929	15.6%	18 / 129	0	14.0%	3rd	Labour–Liberal Democrats
2007	Annabel Goldie	334,743	16.6%	284,005	13.9%	17 / 129	1	13.4%	3rd	Scottish National minority
2011		276,652	13.9%	245,967	12.4%	15 / 129	2	11.6%	3rd	Scottish National
2016	Ruth Davidson	501,844	22.0%	524,222	22.9%	31 / 129	16	24.0%	2nd	Scottish National minority
2021	Douglas Ross	592,526	21.9%	637,131	23.5%	31 / 129	0	24.0%	2nd	Scottish National minority

Senedd elections

See also: Senedd and Welsh Conservatives

Election	Leader	Votes (Constituency)		Votes (List)		Seats			Position	Government
		No.	Share	No.	Share	No.	±	Share
1999	Rod Richards	162,133	15.8%	168,206	16.5%	9 / 60		15.0%	3rd	Labour–Liberal Democrats
2003	Nick Bourne	169,832	19.9%	162,725	19.2%	11 / 60	2	18.3%	3rd	Labour
2007		218,739	22.4%	209,153	21.4%	12 / 60	1	20.0%	3rd	Labour–Plaid Cymru
2011		237,388	25.0%	213,773	22.5%	14 / 60	2	23.3%	2nd	Labour
2016	Andrew R. T. Davies	215,597	21.1%	190,846	18.8%	11 / 60	3	18.3%	3rd	Labour minority
2021		289,802	26.1%	278,560	25.1%	16 / 60	5	26.7%	2nd	Labour minority

Northern Ireland devolved elections

See also: Northern Ireland Assembly and Northern Ireland Conservatives

Prior to 1973, the Ulster Unionist Party acted as the de facto Northern Ireland branch of the Conservative Party. The UUP's results may be seen here.

Election	Leader	Votes		Seats			Position	Government
		No.	Share	No.	±	Share
Elections to the Northern Ireland Forum in 1996
1996	Barbara Finney	3,595	0.48	0 / 110		0.0%	12th	Dissolution
Elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly from 1998
1998	Un­known	1,835	0.23	0 / 108	0	0.0%	14th	UUP–Sinn Féin
2003	Un­known	1,604	0.20	0 / 108	0	0.0%	14th	Dissolution
2007	Un­known	3,457	0.50	0 / 108	0	0.0%	10th	DUP–Sinn Féin
2011	Un­known	Did not contest election						DUP–Sinn Féin
2016	Alan Dunlop	2,554	0.40	0 / 108	0	0.0%	11th	DUP–Sinn Féin
2022	Matthew Robinson	Did not contest election						tbc

Devolved London elections

London Mayoral elections

See also: London Mayor and London Conservatives

Election	Leader	Candidate	Votes (1st pref.)		Votes (run-off)		Position
			No.	Share	No.	Share
2000	William Hague	Steven Norris	464,434	27.1%	564,137	42.1%	2nd
2004	Michael Howard		542,423	29.1%	667,180	44.6%	2nd
2008	David Cameron	Boris Johnson	1,043,761	43.2%	1,168,738	53.2%	1st
2012			971,931	44.0%	1,054,811	51.5%	1st
2016		Zac Goldsmith	909,755	35.0%	994,614	43.2%	2nd
2021	Boris Johnson	Shaun Bailey	893,051	35.3%	977,601	44.8%	2nd

London Assembly elections

See also: London Assembly and London Conservatives

Election	Leader	Assembly Leader	Votes (Constituency)		Votes (List)		Seats			Position
			No.	Share	No.	Share	No.	+	Share
2000	William Hague	Eric Ollerenshaw	526,422	33.2%	481,053	29.0%	9 / 25		36.0%	1st
2004	Michael Howard	Bob Neill	562,047	31.2%	533,696	28.5%	9 / 25	0	36.0%	1st
2008	David Cameron	Richard Barnes	900,569	37.4%	835,535	34.1%	11 / 25	2	44.0%	1st
2012		James Cleverly	722,280	32.7%	708,528	32.0%	9 / 25	2	36.0%	2nd
2016		Gareth Bacon	812,415	31.1%	764,230	29.2%	8 / 25	1	32.0%	2nd
2021	Boris Johnson	Susan Hall	833,021	32.0%	795,081	30.7%	9 / 25	1	36.0%	2nd

Combined authority elections

Year	Leader	Mayoralties won	Change
2017	Theresa May	4 / 6
2018		0 / 1
2019		0 / 1
2021	Boris Johnson	2 / 7	2

European

European Parliament elections

See also: European Parliament and Elections to the European Parliament

Election	Party Group			Leader	Votes		Seats			Position
					No.	Share	No.	±	Share
1979			ED	Margaret Thatcher	6,508,492	48.4	60 / 81		75.0%	1st
1984			EPP		5,426,866	38.8	45 / 81	15	55.6%	1st
1989					5,331,077	34.7	32 / 81	13	39.5%	2nd
1994				John Major	4,274,122	26.8	18 / 87	13	20.7%	2nd
1999 [fn 1]			EPP-ED	William Hague	3,578,218	35.8	36 / 87	18	41.4%	1st
2004				Michael Howard	4,397,087	26.7	27 / 78	8	34.6%	1st
2009 [fn 2]			ECR	David Cameron	4,281,286	27.7	26 / 72	1	36.1%	1st
2014					3,792,549	23.1	19 / 73	7	26.0%	3rd
2019				Theresa May	1,512,809	8.8	4 / 73	15	5.5%	5th

Note

1. Electoral system changed from first past the post to proportional representation.
2. Includes 82,892 votes and 1 seat gained from the UCUNF alliance

References

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