| Parliament name |
Parliament |
| Structure of parliament |
Bicameral |
| Chamber name |
House of Commons |
| Related chamber (for bicameral parliaments) |
House of Lords
|
| BACKGROUND |
| Dates of election / renewal (from/to) |
5 May 2005 |
| Purpose of elections |
Elections were held for all the seats in the House of Commons after the premature dissolution of this body in April 2005. General elections had previously been held in June 2001. |
On 4 April 2005
Prime Minister Tony Blair called early general elections for 5 May 2005 after asking the Queen to dissolve Parliament. In these elections
the statutory number of members was decreased from 659 to 646
as a result of changes in constituency boundaries in Scotland where there are now 59 constituencies instead of 72. Only 645 seats were actually contested on 5 May due to the death of the Liberal Democrat Party candidate in the district of the Staffordshire South
for which an election was held separately on 23 June.
Before the elections
Mr. Blair's Labour Party held an overwhelming majority with 410 of 659 seats
well ahead of the 164 seats of the rival Conservative Party led by Mr. Michael Howard
or the 51 seats held by the Liberal Democrat Party led by Mr. Charles Kennedy.
During the campaign
Mr. Blair said his party had a driving mission for a third consecutive term in office. The Labour Party had never served three consecutive terms. He asked voters to endorse eight years of economic growth and low unemployment. The Conservative leader accused the Labour government of broken promises and insisted that his party would focus on the issues that mattered to hard-working Britons
promising a £4 billion tax cut. He also criticized Labour's immigration and health care policies. The Liberal Democrat leader promised to address people's hopes
not play on people's fears. He said his party would be the real alternative
promising to replace the council tax with a local income tax and to provide free personal care for the elderly. Mr. Blair was criticized by both opposition parties
and also within his own party
over Britain's role in Iraq.
The final results gave Mr. Blair a historic third term in office with 355 of 645 seats
although the party lost 58 seats. It also won the lowest share of the vote for any ruling party since the Great Reform Act of 1832: 35.2 per cent. The Conservative Party increased its number of seats by 33 to a total of 197 by securing 32.3 per cent of the vote
a mere 2.9 percentage points lower than Labour. The Liberal Democrats won 62 seats
11 more than in 2000. In the by-election held of 23 June
a Conservative candidate won the last seat with an increased majority of 8
847 votes
or 52.05 per cent. The party thus increased its total number of seats to 198.
Following the election
in which only 21 per cent of the electorate voted for the Labour Party
taking into account the 61 per cent turnout
calls were renewed for a review of the electoral system and the partial introduction of nationwide proportional representation
instead of the current first-past-the-post system.
After the elections
Mr. Howard said he would stand down as leader of the Conservatives. Although some Labour MPs called on Mr. Blair to take responsibility for the loss of seats by resigning as prime minister
he announced his decision to continue in office.
Members were convened in session on 11 May and re-elected Mr. Michael Martin as Speaker. |
| STATISTICS |
| Voter turnout |
| Round no 1 | 5 May 2005 |
Number of registered electors
Voters
Blank or invalid ballot papers
Valid votes |
44'245'939
27'340'893 (61.79%)
187'583
27'148'510 |
|
Notes
|
|
| Distribution of votes |
|
Round no 1
|
| Political Group |
Candidates |
Votes |
|
|
% |
|
|
| Labour Party |
627 |
9'552'436 |
|
|
35.19 |
|
|
| Conservative Party |
630 |
8'784'915 |
|
|
32.36 |
|
|
| Liberal Democrats |
626 |
5'985'454 |
|
|
22.05 |
|
|
| Democratic Unionist Party |
18 |
241'856 |
|
|
0.90 |
|
|
| Scottish National Party |
59 |
412'267 |
|
|
1.52 |
|
|
| Sinn Fein |
18 |
174'530 |
|
|
0.60 |
|
|
| Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) |
18 |
125'626 |
|
|
0.50 |
|
|
| Others |
1471 |
314'660 |
|
|
1.16 |
|
|
| Plaid Cymru |
40 |
174'838 |
|
|
0.60 |
|
|
| Ulster Unionist Party |
18 |
127'414 |
|
|
0.50 |
|
|
| Respect - The Unity Coalition |
26 |
68'094 |
|
|
0.30 |
|
|
| Independent Kidderminster Hospital and Health Concern |
1 |
18'739 |
|
|
0.10 |
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats |
|
Round no 1
|
| Political Group |
Total
|
|
|
|
|
| Labour Party |
355
|
|
|
|
|
| Conservative Party |
198
|
|
|
|
|
| Liberal Democrats |
62
|
|
|
|
|
| Democratic Unionist Party |
9
|
|
|
|
|
| Scottish National Party |
6
|
|
|
|
|
| Sinn Fein |
5
|
|
|
|
|
| Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) |
3
|
|
|
|
|
| Others |
3
|
|
|
|
|
| Plaid Cymru |
3
|
|
|
|
|
| Ulster Unionist Party |
1
|
|
|
|
|
| Respect - The Unity Coalition |
1
|
|
|
|
|
| Independent Kidderminster Hospital and Health Concern |
1
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats according to sex |
Men
Women
Percent of women |
518
128
19.81%
|
| Distribution of seats according to age |
21 to 30 years
31 to 40 years
41 to 50 years
51 to 60 years
61 to 70 years
Over 70 years
|
3
99
204
243
83
12
|
| Distribution of seats according to profession |
| Business/trade/industry employees
including executives |
118 |
| Professors |
91 |
| Politicians |
87 |
| Employees of Private Company |
78 |
| Barristers
solicitors
lawyers
legal officers |
72 |
| Media writers
publishers
broadcasters
producers |
43 |
| Manual workers |
38 |
| Civil servant |
28 |
| Military/police officers |
14 |
| Accountants |
10 |
| Farmers |
8 |
| Architects |
7 |
| Scientists |
7 |
| Doctors of Medicine |
6 |
| Engineers |
5 |
| Consultants |
2 |
| Housewives |
1 |
|
| Comments |
Source:
- BBC
- British IPU Group (26.07.2005
01.01.2008)
- http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/
Note for the statistics:
- Speaker is not included in the statistics on the distribution of seats according to political groups.
- The statistics include one seat won by a conservative candidate at the by-election held on 23 June 2005.
- Ms. Patsy Calton of Liberal Democrats died from cancer on 29 May 2005. Mr. Mark Hunter of the same party replaced her at the by-election held on 14 July 2005.
- The statistics on age include Mr. Hunter.
- The statistics on distribution of seats according to profession are available for 615 of 646 seats held by the three main parties (Labour
Conservatives
Liberal Democrats). |
Compare data for parliamentary chambers in the Last elections module
