General Election Results, 7 June 2001
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RESEARCH PAPER 01/54 General Election results, [REVISED EDITION] 18 JUNE 2001 7 June 2001 This research paper summarises the results of the General Election held on 7 June 2001. Results are given nationally, by region, by county and for individual constituencies. In this revised edition of the paper the results are consistent with those produced by the Electoral Commission. The tables in this paper are derived from the Library’s election database which can be used to produce further analyses. Members requiring more information should contact the Social & General Statistics Section. Bryn Morgan SOCIAL & GENERAL STATISTICS SECTION HOUSE OF COMMONS LIBRARY Recent Library Research Papers include: 01/39 The International Criminal Court Bill [HL] [Bill 70 of 2000-2001] 29.03.01 01/40 The Election Publications Bill [HL] [Bill 41 of 2000-2001] 29.03.01 01/41 The Adoption Bill [Bill 16 of 2000-2001] 29.03.01 01/42 Economic Indicators 02.04.01 01/43 Parliamentary Pay and Allowances: current rates 03.04.01 01/44 The Elections Bill [Bill 80 of 2000-2001] 03.04.01 01/45 Unemployment by Constituency, March 2001 11.04.01 01/46 Taxation of Charities 12.04.01 01/47 Rural Rate Relief 30.04.01 01/48 Economic Indicators 01.05.01 01/49 The Treaty of Nice and the future of Europe debate 01.05.01 01/50 European Security and Defence Policy: Nice and beyond 02.05.01 01/51 The Burden of Taxation 10.05.01 01/52 Road fuel prices and taxation 11.05.01 01/53 Unemployment by Constituency, April 2001 16.05.01 Research Papers are available as PDF files: • to members of the general public on the Parliamentary web site, URL: http://www.parliament.uk • within Parliament to users of the Parliamentary Intranet, URL: http://hcl1.hclibrary.parliament.uk Library Research Papers are compiled for the benefit of Members of Parliament and their personal staff. Authors are available to discuss the contents of these papers with Members and their staff but cannot advise members of the general public. Any comments on Research Papers should be sent to the Research Publications Officer, Room 407, 1 Derby Gate, London, SW1A 2DG or e-mailed to [email protected] ISSN 1368-8456 CONTENTS I Introduction 5 II Analysis of results 6 A. Seats won 6 B. Votes 6 C. Turnout 8 D. Candidates 9 III Reference Tables 10 A. List of tables 10 B. National tables 11 C. Regional tables 18 D. County tables (England only) 21 E. Seats won and lost 26 F. Majorities 27 G. Turnout 36 IV Results by constituency 42 RESEARCH PAPER 01/54 I Introduction This paper presents some analyses of the 2001 General Election. The figures in it are based on the House of Commons Library’s elections database, which is consistent with results produced by the Electoral Commission.1 The main points of the election were: • Labour won the most seats and most votes to give it a majority of 166 (Table 1a); • The Conservative share increased by 1.0 percentage points and they had a net gain of a single seat; • The Liberal Democrats increased their number of seats by six to 52, their highest total since 1929; • In Wales, Plaid Cymru’s share of the vote increased by 4.3 percentage points moving them into third place in terms of votes won (Table 1c); • In Scotland, the Scottish National Party lost one seat to the Conservatives. The Liberal Democrats overtook the Conservatives in Scotland to take the third highest number of votes. • The Ulster Unionists lost three seats to the Democratic Unionists and two to Sinn Fein. The Democratic Unionist share of the vote increased by 8.9 percentage points, while Sinn Fein’s increased by 5.7. Sinn Fein had more votes than the SDLP. • Turnout was 59.4%, the lowest level since 1918.2 Comparisons in this paper are with the position after the 1997 General Election rather than at dissolution. Four seats were held by different parties at dissolution compared with the position after 1997. These were West Bromwich West (Labour at dissolution, was Speaker in 1997), Glasgow Springburn (Speaker was Labour), Romsey (Liberal Democrat was Conservative) and South Antrim (Democratic Unionist was Ulster Unionist). Throughout the paper turnout is defined as valid votes as a percentage of the electorate. The electorate figures used were provided by to the Electoral Commission by returning officers. A candidate loses their deposit if they gain less than 5% of the votes in a constituency. Only parties registered with the Electoral Commission are included in the paper – other candidates are recorded as independents. Section II of the paper gives some more analysis of the results while section III contains a number of reference tables summarising results at the national, regional and county level. Section IV gives summary results for each constituency. 1 Election 2001, The Official Results, Electoral Commission, Politico’s 2 British Electoral Facts: 1832-1999, Rallings and Thrasher, Parliamentary Research Services 5 RESEARCH PAPER 01/54 II Analysis of results This section offers some analysis of the results. A set of reference tables is given in the next chapter. A. Seats won Overall, Labour won the election with 412 seats, 6 down from their total in 1997 but still the second highest number of seats gained by one party since the war. The Conservatives won 166 seats, an increase of a single seat. The Liberal Democrats won 52, their highest total since 1929. For the second election running an independent candidate won a seat: Dr Richard Taylor in Wyre Forest campaigning as Kidderminster Hospital & Health Concern . The previous independent MP, Martin Bell, did not fight his Tatton seat, which was regained by the Conservatives, but did stand in Brentwood & Ongar where he failed to defeat the sitting Conservative MP. Only 29 seats changed hands at the 2001 General Election, the lowest number since October 1974 (Tables 14 and 15).3 The Conservatives made nine gains – including five from Labour – but lost eight seats – seven of them to the Liberal Democrats. All of the Conservative gains were seats that they had lost in 1997. The Ulster Unionists lost five seats in Northern Ireland - half of their total from 1997 - three to the Democratic Unionists and two to Sinn Fein. They gained North Down from the United Kingdom Unionists to take their total to six. B. Votes The total number of valid votes cast was 26.4 million, the lowest total since 1945. Labour won with 10.7 million, the lowest number polled by a winning party since 1929 and fewer than their total in the 1979 and 1992 elections which they lost. Nationally, there was little change in the share of the vote for the major parties. The Labour share fell by 2.5 percentage points with the Conservative share increasing by 1.0 points and the Liberal Democrats' increasing by 1.5 points (Table 1a). There were regional variations in the change in share (Table 6). The Labour share fell most in Wales and the North East, while it increased in the South East. The Conservative share increased in all regions except for London, Scotland and Northern Ireland (where the party only fielded three candidates). The Liberal Democrat share fell only in the South West. Plaid Cymru increased their share of the vote in Wales by 4.3 percentage points (Table 1c) and the Liberal Democrats were the only main party in Scotland to gain share. 3 29 seats changed hands at the October 1974 election; 28 seats changed hands in 1951. These figures include only those elections where there were no boundary changes. British Electoral Facts: 1832-1999, Rallings and Thrasher, Parliamentary Research Services, Table 2.12 6 RESEARCH PAPER 01/54 Table 26 shows the constituencies where there were large changes in the share of the vote for the main parties. A feature of the 2001 election was that there were significant increases and decreases in each party’s share of the vote in particular constituencies; this is contrary to the model of uniform swing. Table A shows the average changes in share of the vote by the 1997 result. This shows that the Labour share fell in the safer seats that they held at both the 1992 and 1997 General Elections. The Liberal Democrats increased their share most in seats that they won from the Conservatives in 1997. Table A Change in share by 1997 results percentage points Average change in share 1997-2001 Con Lab LDem 1997 result Con hold +2.5 -0.5 -0.4 Lab gain from Con -0.1 -0.4 +0.7 Lab hold +0.3 -4.0 +2.8 LDem gain from Con -0.9 -1.5 +3.5 LDem hold +1.2 -1.7 +0.9 Table B looks at changes in share according to party placings in 1997. This shows that in seats where the Liberal Democrats were second to the Conservatives in 1997 their share increased but where Labour was second the Liberal Democrat share fell. Table B Change in share by 1997 placings percentage points Average change in share 1997-2001 1997 placing Con Lab LDem First Second Con Lab +2.9 -0.3 -0.9 Con LDem +2.0 -0.6 +0.2 Lab Con +0.5 -2.7 +2.0 Lab LDem -0.7 -3.2 +1.7 LDem Con -0.4 -1.3 +2.5 LDem Lab +0.9 -5.1 +5.1 As a proxy for looking at results by rurality Table C shows share of the vote, change in share and number of seats won in borough and county constituencies4.