This is an annotated list of notable records from United Kingdom elections to the European Parliament.
Since the first election in 1979, EP elections in Great Britain have used two very different electoral systems.
From 1979 until 1994, elections were conducted using first past the post (FPTP), with Great Britain divided into numerous single member constituencies. Since 1999 however, mainland elections have used the d'Hondt method of proportional representation (PR), with 11 multi-member constituencies corresponding to Scotland, Wales and the regions of England. Northern Ireland has always used the single transferable vote system.
As a result, comparisons between these two types elections are problematic, and the voting system will be noted by each record.
Swing between the largest party at the previous election and the largest party at the next, or the second-largest party if there was no change.
1 A majority of UKIP MEPs defected to the Brexit Party over the course of the 2014-2019 Parliament, and both UKIP in 2014 and the Brexit Party in 2019 were led by Nigel Farage.
2 The first election held under PR, swing is compared to previous FPTP election
3 At least one major party was not in the top two
1 The first election held under PR, fall is compared to previous FPTP election
2 Compared to the UK Green Party in 1989
Since the introduction of PR, the number of seats has correlated closely with national vote share and parties have never won a majority. Under FPTP, the number of seats won can diverge significantly from national vote share. In the following elections, all FPTP, a single party won a majority:
Since 1999, the following elections have seen one party take at least a third of the available seats:
Turnout has historically been low in UK EP elections compared to other European countries.
For parties that have returned at least one MEP:
Party | Election | % Share | Stood in | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | 1999 election | 33.5 | Great Britain | |
Brexit Party | 2019 election | 30.5 | Great Britain | |
UKIP | 2014 election | 26.6 | Great Britain | |
Liberal Democrats | 2019 election | 19.6 | Great Britain | |
Labour | 1999 election | 26.3 | Great Britain | |
Green | 2019 election | 11.8 | England and Wales | |
BNP | 2009 election | 6.0 | Great Britain | |
SNP | 2019 election | 3.6 | Scotland | |
Plaid Cymru | 1999 election | 1.7 | Wales |
The use of multiple preference votes makes comparisons with Northern Irish Parties difficult.
For parties that have returned at least one MEP:
Party | Election | % Share | Stood in | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Brexit Party | 2019 election | 30.5 | Great Britain | |
Labour | 2019 election | 13.6 | Great Britain | |
Conservative | 2019 election | 8.8 | Great Britain | |
Liberal Democrats | 2014 election | 6.6 | Great Britain | |
Green | 1999 election | 5.3 | England and Wales | |
UKIP | 2019 election | 3.21 | Great Britain | |
SNP | 2004 election | 1.4 | Scotland | |
BNP | 1999 election | 1.0 | Great Britain | |
Plaid Cymru | 2014 election | 0.7 | Wales |
1: Party failed to return any MEPs
For parties that have returned at least one MEP:
Party | Election | % Share | Stood in | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | 1979 election | 48.4 | Great Britain | |
Labour | 1994 election | 42.6 | Great Britain | |
Liberal Democrats | 1994 election | 16.1 | Great Britain | |
SNP | 2014 election | 3.1 | Scotland |
The Green Party won 14.5% of the vote in 1989, still the best Green performance at any nationwide election, but failed to win any seats due to the FPTP system. Similarly, the SDP–Liberal Alliance took 18.5% of the vote in 1984, again without winning a seat.
In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP); formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts, or (informally) choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting or score voting), voters cast their vote for a candidate of their choice, and the candidate who receives the most votes wins. FPTP is a plurality voting method, and is primarily used in systems that use single-member electoral divisions. FPTP is used as the primary form of allocating seats for legislative elections in about a third of the world's countries, mostly in the English-speaking world. The phrase is a metaphor from British horse racing, where there is a post at the finish line.
The 1999 European Parliament election was the United Kingdom's part of the European Parliament election 1999. It was held on 10 June 1999. Following the European Parliamentary Elections Act 1999, it was the first European election to be held in the United Kingdom where the whole country used a system of proportional representation. In total, 87 Members of the European Parliament were elected from the United Kingdom across twelve new regional constituencies.
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.
Boston and Skegness is a county constituency, represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. It is located in Lincolnshire, England. Like all British constituencies, Boston and Skegness elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first-past-the-post system of election. The seat has been represented by the Conservative MP Matt Warman since the 2015 general election, and is usually considered a safe seat for the party.
East Midlands was a constituency of the European Parliament in the United Kingdom, established in 1999 with six members to replace single-member districts. Between 2009 and the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the EU on 31 January 2020 it returned five MEPs, elected using the D'Hondt method of party-list 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.
Electoral reform is change in electoral systems to improve how public desires are expressed in election results. That can include reforms of:
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.
The 2019 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday, 12 December 2019. It resulted in the Conservative Party receiving a landslide majority of 80 seats. The Conservatives made a net gain of 48 seats and won 43.6% of the popular vote – the highest percentage for any party since 1979.
The 2019 European Parliament election was the United Kingdom's component of the 2019 European Parliament election, held on Thursday 23 May 2019 and the results were announced on Sunday 26 and Monday 27 May 2019, after all the other EU countries had voted. This was the United Kingdom's final participation in a European Parliament election before leaving the European Union on 31 January 2020, and was also the last election to be held under the provisions of the European Parliamentary Elections Act 2002 before its repeal under the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018.
The 2021 London Assembly election was held on 6 May 2021 to elect the members of the London Assembly, alongside the 2021 London mayoral election. The mayoral and Assembly elections were originally to be held on 7 May 2020, but on 13 March 2020 it was announced the election would be postponed until 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was the sixth election since the assembly was established in 2000. Due to the previous term being extended to 5 years, those elected will serve only a three-year term until the next election in 2024. The election was held on the same day in 2021 as other elections in the UK; the UK local elections, Scottish Parliament election, and Welsh Senedd election.
The 2017 Norfolk County Council election took place on 4 May 2017 as part of the 2017 local elections in the United Kingdom.
A by-election for the House of Commons constituency of Sleaford and North Hykeham in Lincolnshire, England, was held on 8 December 2016. It was triggered by the resignation of the Conservative member of parliament (MP) Stephen Phillips, who left Parliament on 4 November 2016 due to policy differences with the Conservative government led by the prime minister, Theresa May, over Brexit – the British withdrawal from the European Union (EU). The Conservatives nominated Caroline Johnson, a paediatrician, to replace Phillips; she won the by-election with more than 50 per cent of the vote, a sizable majority. The Conservatives' vote share fell slightly compared to the result at the previous general election in 2015.
The 2018 Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council election took place on 3 May 2018 to elect members of Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council in England. This was on the same day as other local elections. One councillor was elected in each ward for a four-year term so the councillors elected in 2018 last stood for election in 2014. Each ward is represented by three councillors, the election of which is staggered, so only one third of the councillors were elected in this election. Before the election there was no overall control with a minority Labour administration. Following the election Labour, having gained one councillor, was still two councillors away from a majority so it remained no overall control.
The 2018 City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council took place on 3 May 2018 to elect members of Bradford District Council in England. This was on the same day as other local elections. One councillor was elected in each ward for a four-year term so the councillors elected in 2018 last stood for election in 2014. Each ward is represented by three councillors, the election of which is staggered, so only one third of the councillors were elected in this election. Before the election there was a Labour majority and afterwards Labour had increased their majority.
The 2019 Cheshire West and Chester Council election took place on 2 May 2019 to elect members of Cheshire West and Chester Council in England. This was on the same day as other local elections. Five fewer seats were contested because of boundary changes. No party gained overall control. The Labour Party gained a seat but lost control of the council; the Conservatives lost 8 seats, while the Independents gained 4, the Liberal Democrats gained 2, and the Green Party gained one.
Reform UK is a right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. It was founded as the Brexit Party in November 2018, endorsing hard Euroscepticism, and was renamed on 6 January 2021 after Brexit, becoming primarily an anti-lockdown party. The party was founded by Nigel Farage and Catherine Blaiklock with the stated purpose of advocating for Brexit. Prior to the UK's withdrawal from the European Union (EU), the party had 23 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs). Its largest electoral success was winning 29 seats and the largest share of the national vote in the 2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom.
Elections to Southend-on-Sea Borough Council took place on 2 May 2019. This was on the same day as other local elections across the United Kingdom.
A by-election was held in the UK Parliament constituency of Brecon and Radnorshire on 1 August 2019 after Chris Davies, who had held the seat for the Conservatives since the 2015 general election, was unseated by a recall petition. The by-election was won by Jane Dodds of the Liberal Democrats.