United Kingdom general elections overview

The United Kingdom general elections overview is an overview of United Kingdom general election results since 1922. The 1922 election was the first election in the new United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, after the creation of the Irish Free State removed Southern Ireland from the UK.

For the most recent general election, see 2019 United Kingdom general election.


Summary

Table

The table below gives a summary of the results of each general election since 1922 for the main political parties. More comprehensive detail showing all parties which fielded candidates are shown in the subsequent sections. Please refer to notes below the table.

Party --> Conservative 1 Labour Liberal Democrats 2 SNP/PC 3 N.Ireland 4 Other %

Turnout

 Total

Seats

Year % vote Seats % vote Seats % vote Seats % vote Seats % vote Seats % vote Seats
1922 5 38.5 344 29.7 142 28.8 115 Included in

Other

(no seats won)

 Ulster Unionist

included with

Conservative

 3.0 14 73.0 615
1923 38.0 258 30.7 191 29.7 158 1.6 8 71.1 615
1924 46.8 412 33.3 151 17.8 40 2.1 12 77.0 615
1929 38.1 260 37.1 287 23.6 59 1.2 9 76.3 615
1931 6 60.7 522 30.6 52 6.5 32 2.2 9 76.4 615
1935 6 53.3 429 38.0 154 6.7 21 2.0 11 71.1 615
1945 39.6 210 48.0 393 9.0 12 3.4 25 72.8 640
1950 43.4 299 46.1 315 9.1 9 1.4 2 83.9 625
1951 48.0 321 48.8 295 2.5 6 0.7 3 82.6 625
1955 49.7 345 46.4 277 2.7 6 1.2 2 76.8 630
1959 49.4 365 43.4 258 5.9 6 1.3 1 78.7 630
1964 43.4 304 44.1 317 11.2 9 1.3 0 77.1 630
1966 41.9 253 48.0 364 8.5 12 1.6 1 75.8 630
1970 46.4 330 43.1 288 7.5 6 1.7 1 1.3 5 72.0 630
1974 (Feb) 37.9 297 37.2 301 19.3 14 2.5 9 2.3 12 0.8 2 78.8 635
1974 (Oct) 35.8 277 39.2 319 18.3 13 3.5 14 2.4 12 0.8 0 72.8 635
1979 43.9 339 36.9 269 13.8 11 2.0 4 2.2 12 1.2 0 76.0 635
1983 42.4 397 27.6 209 25.4 23 1.5 4 2.5 17 0.6 0 72.7 650
1987 42.2 376 30.8 229 22.6 22 1.7 6 2.2 17 0.5 0 75.3 650
1992 41.9 336 34.4 271 17.8 20 2.4 7 2.3 17 1.2 0 77.7 651
1997 30.7 165 43.2 419 16.8 46 2.5 10 2.5 18 4.3 1 71.3 659
2001 31.7 166 40.7 413 18.3 52 2.5 9 3.1 18 3.7 1 59.4 659
2005 32.4 198 35.2 356 22.1 62 2.4 9 2.6 18 5.3 3 61.4 646
2010 36.1 307 29.0 258 23.0 57 2.3 9 2.3 18 7.3 1 65.1 650
2015 7 36.8 331 30.4 232 7.8 8 5.3 59 2.3 18 17.4 2 66.4 650
2017 42.3 318 40.0 262 7.4 12 3.5 39 2.5 18 4.3 1 68.8 650
2019 43.6 365 32.2 203 11.5 11 4.4 52 2.5 18 5.8 1 67.3 650

Notes

1Includes Ulster Unionists up to and including the 1970 election, and the autonomous Unionist Party in Scotland until 1964. Also includes the Liberal National Party (and joint candidates) from 1945 to 1966.

2Liberal Party up to 1979; SDP-Liberal Alliance in 1983 and 1987; Liberal Democrats from 1992.

3Scottish National Party and Plaid Cymru (Party of Wales) combined. Prior to 1970, these are included in the Other column.

4Northern Ireland parties: up to 1970, party affiliations largely followed those of the rest of the UK (with Ulster Unionists included with the Conservatives); from 1974, Northern Ireland had a completely independent party system and the vote share and seats listed represent the totals for Northern Ireland.

5In 1922 the Liberals were split between the main Liberal Party (18.9%, 62 seats) and the National Liberals (9.9%, 53 seats).

6In 1931 and 1935 the figures for the Conservatives relate to National Government candidates and comprise Conservative, National Labour, Liberal National and National vote share and seats.

7In 2015, Other included record votes shares for both the UK Independence Party 12.6% and the Green Party (3.8%), each winning just 1 seat.

Graphs
United Kingdom seats

2015-2019

The period from 2015 to 2019 was one of the most turbulent periods in British electoral history. Following the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition, the Conservatives, led by David Cameron, won the 2015 general election with a small majority, having promised to hold a referendum on continued membership of the European Union. This election saw the decimation of the Liberal Democrats, with their vote falling from 23% to 8% and MPs elected from 57 to just 8. In terms of the popular vote, they were replaced as the third party by the UK Independence Party, achieving 13%, although they won only 1 seat. The Green Party also achieved their best ever result with 4% of the popular vote. In Scotland, a resurgent Scottish National Party gained 50% of the popular vote, winning all but three of the 59 seats, mostly at the expense of the Labour Party.

Following the EU referendum held in June 2016, which resulted in a majority of 52:48 to leave, David Cameron resigned as Prime Minister and was replaced by Theresa May. In June 2017, Mrs May called a snap election; however, following a disastrous election campaign, the Conservatives lost their overall majority and had to rely on the support of the 10 MPs from the Democratic Unionist Party to continue in Government. The following two years were dominated by attempts to pass through Parliament a negotiated deal on the terms for leaving the EU, but these were opposed by both ardent "Brexiteers" and "Remainers" in the Conservative Party, as well as the Opposition parties. Eventually, Mrs May resigned and Boris Johnson was appointed as Prime Minister.

After further Government defeats, a general election was finally held in December 2019 - the first December election since 1923 - which resulted in an 80 seat majority for the Conservatives, gaining many seats which Labour had held since at least 1945. The United Kingdom formally left the European Union on 31 January 2020.

Party 2019 2017 2015
Popular vote (%) Seats Popular vote (%) Seats Popular vote (%) Seats
Advance Together 0.0 0 - - - -
Alliance (NI) 0.4 1 0.2 0 0.2 0
Alliance for Green Socialism 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0
Animal Welfare Party 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0
Aontu 0.0 0 - - - -
BNP 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0
Christian 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0
Christian Peoples Alliance 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0
Communist - - - - 0.0 0
Communities United 0.0 0 - - - -
Conservative Party 43.6 365 42.3 317 36.8 330
Democratic Unionist Party 0.8 8 0.9 10 0.6 8
English Democrats Party 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0
Green Party of England and Wales 2.6 1 1.6 1 3.8 1
Green Party of Northern Ireland 0.0 0 - - - -
Gwlad Gwlad 0.0 0 - - - -
Independents 0.8 0 0.5 1 0.3 1
Independent Group for Change 0.0 0 - - - -
Justice and Anti-corruption 0.0 0 - - - -
Labour Party 32.2 203 40.0 262 30.4 232
Liberal Democrats 11.5 11 7.4 12 7.8 8
Liberal Party 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0
Libertarian 0.0 0 - - - -
Mebyon Kernow 0.0 0 - - 0.0 0
Monster Raving Loony 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0
National Front - - - 0.0 0
National Health Action - - 0.1 0 0.1 0
North East Party 0.0 0 - - - -
Peace Party 0.0 0 - - - -
People Before Profit 0.0 0 - - - -
Plaid Cymru 0.5 4 0.5 4 0.6 3
RESPECT The Unity Coalition - - - - 0.0 0
Scottish Family Party 0.0 0 - - - -
Scottish Green Party 0.1 0 0.0 0 0.1 0
Scottish National Party 3.9 48 3.0 35 4.7 59
Scottish Socialist Party - - - - 0.0 0
Sinn Féin 0.6 7 0.7 7 0.6 4
SDLP 0.4 2 0.3 0 0.3 3
Social Democratic Party 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0
Socialist Equality Party 0.0 0 - - - -
Socialist Labour - - 0.0 0 0.0 0
Socialist Party of GB 0.0 0 - - - -
The Brexit Party 2.0 0 - - - -
The Yorkshire Party 0.1 0 - - - -
Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition - - - - 0.1 0
Traditional Unionist Voice - - 0.0 0 0.1 0
Ulster Unionist 0.3 0 0.3 0 0.4 2
UK Independence Party 0.1 0 1.8 0 12.6 1
Veteran and People's Party 0.0 0 - - - -
Women's Equality Party 0.0 0 - - - -
Workers' Party - - 0.0 0 0.0 0
Workers Revolutionary Party 0.0 0 - - - -
Yeshua 0.0 0 - - - -
Young People's Party 0.0 0 - - - -

1979–2010

This period saw just five prime ministers, with Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair the two longest serving post-World War II prime ministers [1] in the UK (the other prime ministers during this period being John Major, Gordon Brown and David Cameron). There was also a mini-revival of the Liberal Party which, after a merger with the Social Democratic Party became the Liberal Democrats and increased their seats in parliament from 11 in the 1979 election to 62 in 2005.

Following their victory in 1979, the Conservatives were also successful in the subsequent three general elections, resulting in 18 years of continuous power. The newly formed Social Democratic Party and the Liberal Party contested the 1983 and 1987 elections as the SDP-Liberal Alliance. Although the combined parties achieved a popular vote of 22.6% in 1983, they initially failed to make a breakthrough in terms of seats, winning just 22.

The Labour party won a landslide victory in 1997 and were also successful in 2001 and 2005. The now merged Liberal Democrats also improved their seat count in this period. The outcome of the 2010 election brought about the first hung parliament since 1974 and forced the victorious Conservative Party to accept the Liberal Democrats as their coalition partner.

In Northern Ireland, the Good Friday Agreement has led to a vast reduction in conflict, though the traditional parties who gained power in the 1980s, such as the Ulster Unionist Party, have been replaced as the dominant powers by the likes of Sinn Féin and the Democratic Unionist Party.

The elections of the 1990s and 2000s (decade) also saw an increased proliferation of smaller parties, with more parties standing at the 2005 general election than ever before.[2] Voter turnout also fell during this period, with the 2001 election seeing a post-World War II low of 59.4%.[3]

Party 2010 2005 2001 1997 1992 1987 1983 1979
Popular vote (%) Seats Popular vote (%) Seats Popular vote (%) Seats Popular vote (%) Seats Popular vote (%) Seats Popular vote (%) Seats Popular vote (%) Seats Popular vote (%) Seats
Alliance (NI)0.110.100.100.200.200.200.200.30
Alliance for Green Socialism 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 - - - - - - - - - -
BNP 1.9 00.700.200.100.100.000.00--
Christian 0.1 0
Christian Peoples 0.0 0 0.0 0 - - - - - - - - - - - -
Communist 0.0 00.000.000.000.000.100.000.10
Community Action Party - -0.00------------
Conservative Party 36.1 30632.419831.716630.716541.933642.237642.439743.9339
Democratic Unionist 0.6 80.990.750.320.330.330.530.23
English Democrats Party 0.2 00.10------------
Green Party of England and Wales / Green Party 0.9 11.000.600.300.500.300.200.10
Independents 0.2 10.510.400.110.10--0.10--
Independent Conservative - -----0.000.10--0.000.00
IKHHC 0.1 00.110.11----------
Independent Labour - -----0.000.10--0.100.11
Independent Liberal / Independent Liberal Democrat - -----0.00--0.000.000.00
Independent SDLP - -------------0.00
Irish Independence - -------------0.10
Labour Party 29.0 25835.235640.741243.241834.427130.822927.620936.9269
Legalise Cannabis Alliance - -0.000.00----------
Liberal Democrats/
SDP–Liberal Alliance/
Liberal Party (UK)		 23.0 5722.16218.35216.84617.82022.62225.42313.811
Liberal Party (1989) 0.0 00.100.100.100.20------
Mebyon Kernow 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 - -
Monster Raving Loony 0.0 00.000.00000.100.000.00--
National Front 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.1 0 0.0 0 0.1 0 0.6 0
National Democrats - -----0.00--------
Natural Law Party - -----0.100.20------
People's Justice Party - ---0.00----------
Plaid Cymru 0.6 30.630.740.540.540.430.420.41
Progressive Unionist Party - ---0.000.10--------
ProLife Alliance - ---0.000.10--------
Protestant Unionist - ---------0.00----
Referendum Party - - - - - - 2.6 . - - - - - - - -
RESPECT The Unity Coalition 0.1 00.31------------
Scottish Green Party 0 0.10.10------------
Scottish Labour Party - -------------0.10
Scottish Militant Labour - -------0.10------
Scottish National Party 1.7 61.661.852.061.931.331.111.62
Scottish Socialist Party 0.0 00.200.300.00--------
Sinn Féin / Independent Republican 0.6 50.650.740.420.200.310.310.11
SDLP 0.4 30.530.630.630.540.530.410.41
Social Democratic Party 0.0 0------0.10See SDP-Liberal Alliance--
Socialist Labour 0.0 00.100.200.20--------
Socialist Alliance - -0.000.000.00--------
Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition 0.1 0 - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Traditional Unionist Voice 0.1 0 - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Ulster Popular Unionist / Independent Ulster Unionist - -------0.110.110.110.11
Ulster Unionist / Ulster Conservatives and Unionists - New Force 0.3 00.510.860.8100.890.890.810.85
Unionist Party - -------------0.00
United Ulster Unionist - -------------0.11
UK Independence Party 3.1 02.301.500.30--------
UK Unionist / Real Unionist - ---0.100.11--0.10----
Veritas - -0.10-----------
Workers' Party - -0.000.000.000.100.100.000.10

1955–1974

The elections of this period took place in the context of the decolonialisation of the British Empire and the UK's declining status as a Great Power.[4] It also saw the UK enter the European Union and some periods of high unemployment.[5] The early years of the period saw Conservative consolidation of power, before Harold Wilson's two general election wins in 1964 and 1966. There was then a series of close fought elections, including two in 1974. This period was also the one in which the Liberal Party was at its all-time low, never having more than 14 seats (though it had been in 1951 when they'd had their lowest ever percentage of the vote).

The Ulster Unionists dominated in Northern Ireland, whilst the Scottish National Party and Plaid Cymru became major players for the first time, the SNP gaining 11 seats in 1974. This period also saw the demise of the autonomous Unionist Party in Scotland and the National Liberal Party, which both merged with the Conservative Party.

Party Oct 1974 Feb 1974 1970 1966 1964 1959 1955
Popular vote (%) Seats Popular vote (%) Seats Popular vote (%) Seats Popular vote (%) Popular vote (%) Seats Popular vote (%) Seats Popular vote (%) Seats
Alliance (NI) 0.200.10----------
BNP ------0.00-----
Communist 0.100.100.100.200.200.100.10
Conservative Party 35.827737.929746.433041.925343.430449.436549.7345
Democratic Labour 0.100.11----------
Democratic Party ----0.10--------
Democratic Unionist Party 0.310.21----------
Independents 0.000.100.100.100.100.000.20
Independent Conservative 0.000.000.100.000.000.11--
Independent Labour 0.200.110.110.00----0.00
Independent Liberal 0.000.200.000.000.100.00--
Independent Socialist --0.00----------
Independent Republican / Sinn Féin 0.210.00--0.200.400.200.62
Labour Party 39.231337.230143.128848.036444.131743.425846.4277
Labour Party (Ireland)------------0.10
Labour Party(NI) 0.000.00----------
Liberal Party 18.31319.3147.568.51211.295.962.76
National Front 0.400.200.10--------
National Democratic ----0.100.000.00--
National Democrats (NI) ----0.10--------
Nationalist (NI) ------0.10------
NI Independent Labour ----------0.10
Plaid Cymru 0.630.520.600.200.200.300.20
Protestant Unionist Party ----0.11--------
Republican Clubs 0.100.00----------
Republican Labour ----0.110.110.10--
Scottish National Party 2.9112.071.110.500.200.100.00
SDLP 0.610.51----------
Ulster Unionist Party 0.960.87Before 1974, The UUP MPs sat in parliament as part of the Conservative Party
Unionist (NI) / Pro-Assembly Unionist 0.100.30----------
Unity --0.000.42--------
Vanguard Progressive Unionist Party 0.330.23----------

1929–1951

This era saw massive social change in the UK, going through the Great Depression of the 1930s, resulting in a National Government; the Coalition Government of the Second World War led by Winston Churchill; and the socialist Labour government of Clement Attlee.[6] This was also the period of the Liberal Party's major collapse and the completion of Labour's rise to power.

The 1929 election resulted in the Labour Party having the greatest number of seats and they formed a Government under Ramsay McDonald with the support of the Liberals. As a result of the growing economic crisis, McDonald formed a National Government in 1931 with the support of the Conservatives and Liberals, which was not however backed by the majority of Labour MPs. This was followed by a general election at which the National coalition, dominated by the Conservatives, won a landslide victory, with the opposition Labour Party reduced to a rump of 52 seats. It also led to a permanent split in the Liberal Party, with the National Liberals eventually joining the Conservatives. Although Labour recovered somewhat, the (notional) National Government won the 1935 election.

General elections were suspended during the Second World War, when all three major parties entered into a coalition under Churchill. The Labour party gained a landslide victory in 1945. Although they won a small majority in the 1950, they were defeated by the Conservatives in 1951, with Churchill returning to power.

Party 1951 1950 1945 1935 1931 1929
Popular vote (%) Seats Popular vote (%) Seats Popular vote (%) Seats Popular vote (%) Seats Popular vote (%) Seats Popular vote (%) Seats
Agricultural Party ----0.000.000.00-
Anti-Partition 0.000.00--------
Common Wealth ----0.51------
Commonwealth Labour ----0.10------
Communist 0.100.300.420.110.300.20
Conservative Party 44.330240.028336.219747.838755.047038.1260
Independent 0.100.200.680.120.010.44
Independent Conservative 0.000.100.220.10----
Independent Labour --0.100.320.100.100.11
Independent Labour Party 0.000.000.230.74----
Independent Liberal --0.100.120.000.000.10
Independent Nationalist 0.32--0.00--0.00--
Independent Progressive ----0.110.00----
Independent Republican - - - - - - 0.2 0 - - - -
Irish Nationalist --0.220.420.220.420.13
Labour Party 48.829546.131547.739338.015430.85237.1287
Labour Party (Ireland) 0.110.20--------
Liberal Party 2.569.199.04126.7216.53223.659
Liberal Party (Lloyd George) - - - - - - - 0.5 4 - -
Liverpool Protestant ----0.000.000.00--
National ----0.520.310.54--
National Independent --0.000.320.220.22--
National Labour --0.00--1.581.513--
National Liberal 3.7193.4162.9113.7333.735--
National Party of Scotland --------0.100.00
New Party --------0.20--
Plaid Cymru 0.000.100.000.000.000.00
Scottish National Party 0.000.000.100.20----
Scottish Prohibition --------0.100.11
Sinn Féin 0.100.10--------

1922–1924

In the years after the secession of the Irish Free State, the Conservatives led the House of Commons, followed by a surging Labour Party and a declining Liberal Party. The Communist Party of Great Britain also enjoyed their most prolonged period of success, though still failed to have more than 1 MP at any time.

The 1922 election was won by the Conservatives, with the Labour party in second place and the Liberals split. In 1923, the Conservatives lost their majority and the Labour Party were put into office for the first time with the support of the re-united Liberals. However, this minority government only lasted 10 months and the 1924 election saw the return of the Conservatives with a large majority and the Liberal Party reduced to a rump of 40 MPs, from which they never really recovered.

Party 1924 1923 1922
Popular vote (%) Seats Popular vote (%) Seats Popular vote (%) Seats
Agricultural Party ----0.20
Belfast Labour Party 0.20----
Communist 0.210.200.21
Constitutionalist 1.270.100.11
Conservative 46.841238.025838.5344
Independent 0.220.320.83
Independent Conservative 0.000.100.93
Independent Labour 0.000.200.11
Independent Liberal --0.110.11
Independent Nationalist ----0.10
Irish Nationalist 0.010.430.43
Labour Party 33.315130.719129.7142
Labour Party (Northern Ireland) 0.10----
Liberal Party 17.84029.715818.962
National Liberal ----9.953
Scottish Prohibition 0.110.110.11
Sinn Féin 0.20----
gollark: Your nonstandard and connotation-laden definitions are *not* helpful.
gollark: But actually it just happens to do that up until n = 41 because your examples show no general trend.
gollark: To be mathy about this, consider n² + n + 41. If you substitute n = 0 to n = ~~40~~ 39, you'll see "wow, this produces prime numbers. I thought those were really hard and weird, what an amazing discovery".
gollark: Examples do not and cannot demonstrate some sort of general principle, particularly a more abstract one.
gollark: Again, some examples of things needing some sort of balance DO NOT imply it is good or generally necessary.

See also

References
  1. "Tony Blair's time in power". BBC News. 6 February 2005. Retrieved 31 May 2013.
  2. Electoral commission report on 2005 election
  3. "BBC summary of elections since 1945". BBC News. Retrieved 31 May 2013.
  4. "1959 election". BBC News. 5 April 2005. Retrieved 31 May 2013.
  5. "February 1974 election". BBC News. 5 April 2005. Retrieved 31 May 2013.
  6. "Report on the 1945 election". BBC News. 5 April 2005. Retrieved 31 May 2013.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.