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United Kingdom general elections (elections for the House of Commons) have occurred in the United Kingdom since the first in 1802. The members of the 1801–1802 Parliament had been elected to the former Parliament of Great Britain and Parliament of Ireland, before being co-opted to serve in the first Parliament of the United Kingdom, so that ...
Here are some answers to frequently asked questions about previous general elections and links to impartial summaries and analysis of past election results. When was the last general election? The last general election was held on Thursday 12 December 2019.
UKIP won the most seats at the European elections in June 2014, receiving 26.6% of the vote. Though their support in the polls for Westminster never reached this level, it did rise up to over 15% through the year. [ 147 ]
The most successful party overall was the UK Independence Party (UKIP) which won 24 seats and 27% of the popular vote, the first time a political party other than the Labour Party or Conservative Party had won the popular vote at a British election since the 1906 general election.
- General Elections
- Characteristics of Mps
- Devolved Legislatures and London Elections
- Local Elections
The chart below provides data on share of votes by party in UK General Elections from 1918 to 2019. This chart and supporting reference table and notes are available in the Briefing Paper on page 7. Results for each individual UK constituency at every General Election from 1918 to 2019 may be found in a further Library data download on General Elec...
Men and Women
220 women MPs were elected at the 2019 General Election (34% of all MPs). In total, 552 women have been elected to the House of Commons since 1918. Section 2.6 (p. 34) in the Briefing Paperincludes a table which shows women MPs elected at general elections by party 1918-2019.
Ethnicity
As individual’s ethnicity is self-defined, it is hard to obtain historical records of MPs’ ethnicity. It is generally said that the first MPs from minority ethnic backgrounds since World War II were elected in 1987, when four Labour MPs were from minority ethnic backgrounds. Table 8 (p. 37) in the Briefing Papershows MPs from minority ethnic backgrounds elected at general elections, 1987-2019.
Other characteristics of MPs
Briefing Paper includes information on the following: 1. Age (Tables 6-7 (pp. 36) in the Briefing Paper) 2. Ethnicity (Table 8 (p. 37) in the Briefing Paper) 3. Parliamentary experience (Table 9 (p. 38) in the Briefing Paper) 4. Education (Table 10 (p. 39) in the Briefing Paper) 5. Occupation (Tables 11a-11c (p. 40-45) in the Briefing Paper)
Senedd Cymru
Since the establishment of the National Assembly for Wales in 1999 Labour has had the largest share of Assembly seats. In 2021 Labour won 30 seats. The Conservatives made the largest gains and replaced Plaid Cymru as the second largest party. UKIP failed to hold onto most of its 2016 gains. Table 16 (p. 70) in the Briefing Papershows National Assembly for Wales elections, 1999-2021.
Scottish Parliament
The Scottish National Party has dominated the Scottish Parliament since 2007 when it overtook the Labour Party by one seat. The Conservatives became the second largest party after overtaking Labour by seven seats in 2016. In 2021, the SNP won the most seats with 44.2% of the vote but failed to win an overall majority. Table 17 (p. 72) in the Briefing Papershows Scottish Parliament elections, 1999-2021.
Northern Ireland Assembly
With the election of 27 Sinn Féin MLAs, a nationalist party became the largest party in the Assembly for the first time following the 2022 Northern Ireland Assembly elections. As of December 2022, no Executive has been formed and new elections are expected. Table 18 (p. 74) in the Briefing Papershows Northern Ireland Assembly elections: 1998-2022.
Council Elections
The chart below provides data on party affiliation of councillors in the period from 1973 to 2023. This chart and supporting reference table is available in the Briefing Paper section 6,pp 82-84. Mayoral elections Elections for the Mayor of London have been held every four years since 2000, using the Supplementary Vote system. In 2021 Labour’s Sadiq Khan was re-elected Mayor of London. Table 21 (p. 78) in the Briefing Papershows London Mayoral Elections, 2000-2021. Elected mayors currently ho...
Additional data
1. Women’s representation in devolved assemblies and the European Parliament (Section 5.6 (p. 80) in the Briefing Paper) 2. Referendums (Section 8 (p. 98) in the Briefing Paper) 3. General election results from 1918 to 2019
- Richard Cracknell, Sam Pilling
- 2021
Jun 20, 2019 · On 22 May 2014 elections were held for the United Kingdom’s 72 members of the European Parliament, for local councillors in approximately one third of English local authority areas and for the 11 new councils in Northern Ireland.
The UK general election took place on 4 July 2024. Bookmark this page for the latest impartial research and analysis of the results, explainers of what happens next, demographics and more. We will be updating this page regularly with our latest election-related content.
