UK Election Statistics: 1918-2017
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BRIEFING PAPER Number CBP7529, 23 April 2017 By UK Election Statistics: Lukas Audickas Oliver Hawkins 1918-2017 Richard Cracknell Inside: 1. Introduction 2. General elections since 1918 3. House of Commons by- elections 4. European Parliament elections 5. Elections to devolved legislatures and London elections 6. Local Elections 7. Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Elections 8. Referendums 9. Appendix A: Voting systems and electoral geographies used in UK elections www.parliament.uk/commons-library | intranet.parliament.uk/commons-library | [email protected] | @commonslibrary Number CBP7529, 23 April 2017 2 Contents 1. Introduction 4 2. General elections since 1918 6 2.1 Summary of results 6 Conservatives 7 Labour 7 Liberals 8 Scottish National Party 8 Plaid Cymru 8 Other parties 8 Speaker 9 2.2 Governments formed 11 2.3 Turnout and electorate 25 2.4 Spoilt Ballots 26 2.5 Postal votes 26 2.6 Characteristics of Members of Parliament 27 Gender 27 Age of MPs 28 Ethnicity 29 Parliamentary experience 30 2.7 Social background of Members of Parliament 30 Education 31 Occupation 31 3. House of Commons by-elections 35 3.1 Great Britain 35 3.2 Northern Ireland 45 4. European Parliament elections 49 (UK) 49 5. Elections to devolved legislatures and London elections 51 5.1 National Assembly for Wales 51 5.2 Scottish Parliament 53 5.3 Northern Ireland Assembly 55 5.4 London Assembly 57 5.5 Mayor of London 59 5.6 Women’s representation in devolved assemblies and the European Parliament 61 6. Local Elections 62 6.1 Council Elections 62 6.2 Elected Mayors (outside London) 66 7. Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Elections 76 8. Referendums 79 8.1 European Union Referendum (June 2016) 79 8.2 Europe (June 1975) 79 8.3 Scotland (1979, 1997 and 2014) 80 8.4 Wales (1979, 1997 and 2011) 82 8.5 Northern Ireland (1973 and 1998) 83 8.6 London (May 1998) 83 8.7 North East England (November 2004) 84 8.8 Alternative Vote (May 2011) 84 3 UK Election Statistics: 1918-2017 9. Appendix A: Voting systems and electoral geographies used in UK elections 85 9.1 General Elections 85 9.2 Local government elections 85 England and Wales 85 Scotland and Northern Ireland 85 9.3 European Parliament Elections 85 9.4 Elections to devolved parliaments and assemblies 86 9.5 Mayoral Elections 86 9.6 Further information 87 Contributing Authors: Lukas Audickas, Social and General Statistics Oliver Hawkins, Social and General Statistics Richard Cracknell, Social and General Statistics Cover page image was compiled by Lukas Audickas using pictures by : - Hamish Irvine / Scottish Parliament Building (Top left corner). Licensed by CC Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC 2.0) / image cropped - Gary Eldridge / The Senedd (Top right corner). Licensed by CC Attribution- NonCommercial 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC 2.0) / image cropped - Stacey MacNaught / Town Hall Albert Square, Manchester (Middle left side), Licensed by CC Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC 2.0) / image cropped - Robert Young / Stormont (Middle right side), Licensed by CC Attribution- NonCommercial 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC 2.0) / image cropped - Paul Hudson / Weekend Walk: London Assembly Building (Bottom left corner) Licensed by CC Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC 2.0) / image cropped - Steven Gerner / Westminster Palace (Bottom right corner) Licensed by CC Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC 2.0) / image cropped Number CBP7529, 23 April 2017 4 1. Introduction This paper provides summary results for UK elections from 1918 to 2017, focusing on elections to the House of Commons. 1918 marked a major shift in British electoral politics. An extension of the electoral franchise meant women aged over 30 were able to vote in general elections for the first time. It was no longer necessary to hold property in order to be able to vote, thus bringing many more working class people into the electorate. The Liberals’ position as one of the two dominant parties in British politics alongside the Conservatives was threatened by splits in the party leadership. Labour became the main opposition party at the 1918 General Election as a consequence of a Conservative-Liberal coalition, and by 1922 Labour had supplanted the Liberals as the Conservatives’ main challenger. Since 1918, British elections have been dominated by the Conservatives and Labour. In 16 out of 26 general elections since 1918 the Conservative Party won most seats, while Labour won most seats on the other ten occasions. In all general elections between 1918 and 1945 the Conservatives received more votes than any other party; only in 1997 did they get less than 35% of the vote. Labour did not win a House of Commons majority until 1945, although it twice formed minority governments after the 1923 and 1929 elections. Labour became the second largest party at Westminster behind the Conservatives in 1922, when it received slightly more votes than the Liberals but won more than twice as many seats. Between 1945 and 1970 all but a handful of House of Commons seats were held by the Conservatives and Labour, who together took about nine in every ten votes cast in general elections over this period. From 1974 to 2010 an increasing share of the vote went to the Liberal Party and its successor, the Liberal Democrats. In 2015 the Scottish National Party became the third largest in Parliament with 56 MPs. After the last election the number of Liberal Democrat MPs decreased from 57 in 2010 to 8 in 2015. There has also been an increase in support for candidates other than the four largest parties (those with 8 or more MPs). The other parties and independent candidates won nearly 20% of vote in 2015 compared to less than 1% in 1951. The profile of Members elected at general elections has altered since 1918. Only one of the 707 Members elected in 1918 was a woman, compared to 191 out of 650 MPs in 2015. Four Labour MPs elected in 1987 were the first black and minority ethnic (BME) Members to sit in the House in the post-war era; today there are 41 Members from BME backgrounds. Today more MPs have been to university than was the case sixty years ago, while the numbers who attended private schools or went to Oxbridge has decreased. The growth in support for smaller parties at general elections can also be observed in local government elections and elections to the European Parliament. The Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat parties won 97% of the vote in the 1979 European Parliament elections but only 56% in 2014. The introduction of a proportional voting system for European Parliament elections in 1999 was a factor in more MEPs being elected from other parties. The First Past the Post electoral system used in Westminster elections and local elections in England and Wales means that the increase in votes for other parties has not translated to the same extent into an increase in their number of MPs or councillors. 5 UK Election Statistics: 1918-2017 The Scottish National Party (SNP) and Plaid Cymru have generally performed better in devolved elections than in Westminster elections. While the SNP has improved on its performance in the first Scottish Parliament election in 1999, Plaid Cymru has been unable to match its performance in 1999 at subsequent Assembly elections. Parliamentary by-elections are now less common than 50 years ago and in areas that have moved from a two-tier structure to unitary status, local elections are less frequent. However, devolution in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and the introduction of elected mayors and police and crime commissioners mean additional events have been added to the electoral calendar. Detailed results from individual elections can be found in relevant House of Commons Library research papers, and underlying data for each chart and figure and additional statistics can be found in the accompanying Excel file. This paper replaces Library Research Paper 12/43 Election Statistics: UK 1918-2015. Number CBP7529, 23 April 2017 6 2. General elections since 1918 2.1 Summary of results There have been 26 UK general elections since 1918. On 16 occasions Detailed analysis of the Conservatives won the most seats while Labour won the most seats General Election 2015 is available in: on ten occasions. House of Commons Library The Conservatives held the most seats following the 1923 General Briefing Paper CBP-7186 Election but resigned government to be replaced by a minority Labour administration. Labour was the largest party in the House of Commons after the 1929 and February 1974 general elections and on both occasions formed a minority government. In 2010, the Conservatives were the largest party and formed coalition government with Liberal Democrats. In 2015, the Conservatives won the most seats and formed a majority government. On three occasions, the party with the most votes did not win the most seats. In 1929 and in February 1974, Labour polled fewer votes than the Conservatives but had more MPs. In 1951 the Conservatives won the most seats but received fewer votes than Labour. Most recently, in 2015 the Conservatives secured an eleven seat majority, this was the smallest majority since the 1974 Labour victory which had a four seat majority, and the first overall Conservative majority since 1992. Share of the vote by party: UK General Elections, 1918-2015 70% 60% 50% 40% CON 30% LAB 20% Other 10% LD PC/SNP 0% 1918 1922 1923 1924 1929 1931 1935 1945 1950 1951 1955 1959 1964 1966 1970 1979 1983 1987 1992 1997 2001 2005 2010 2015 Oct 1974 Feb 1974 Note: Liberal vote share includes votes for Liberal/SDP alliance (1983-87) and Liberal Democrats from 1992.