2004 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom

none March 2013 September 2020 2004 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom United Kingdom parliamentary no 1999 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom 1999 List of members of the European Parliament for the United Kingdom (1999–2004) 2009 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom 2009 All 78 of the United Kingdom's seats in the European Parliament List of members of the European Parliament for the United Kingdom (2004–2009) 10 June 2004 38.5%http://www.europarl.europa.eu/about-parliament/en/in-the-past/previous-elections Previous European Parliamentary Elections – About Parliament European Parliament 26 May 2019 14.5% Member of European Parliament for Wales Jonathan Peter Evans.jpg 120 120 160 0 0 Jonathan Evans 14 December 2001 Wales Conservative Party (UK) European People's Party Group 36 seats, 33.5% 35Notional Notional 1999 results. 27 8* 4,397,087 25.9% 7.6% Gary Titley- British Politician.jpg 135 120 160 0 5 Gary Titley 2002 Labour Party (UK) North East England Party of European Socialists 29 seats, 26.3% 25Notional 19 6* 3,718,683 21.9% 4.4% Roger Knapman (3x4 crop).jpg 120 120 160 0 0 Roger Knapman 5 October 2002 UK Independence Party Ran in South West England (won) Independence/Democracy 3 seats, 6.5% 2Notional 12 10* 2,650,768 15.6% 9.1% GrahamWatsonMEPHead and Shoulders.jpg 120 120 160 0 0 Graham Watson January 2002 Liberal Democrats (UK) South West England Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe 10 seats, 11.9% 10Notional 12 2* 2,452,327 14.4% 2.6% Caroline Lucas 2010.jpg 120 120 160 0 0 Caroline LucasLucas was one of the party's Principal Speakers. 30 November 2003 Green Party of England and Wales South East England Green 2 seats, 5.3% 2Notional 2 948,588 5.6% 0.3% Ian Stewart Hudghton MEP 1994.jpg 120 120 160 0 0 Ian HudghtonHudghton was the SNP's lead candidate. June 1999 Scottish National Party Scotland EFA 2 seats, 2.6% 2Notional 2 231,505 1.4% 1.2% European Parliament election 2004 - UK results.png 320px Colours denote the winning party, as shown in the results tables *Seat change has been adjusted to allow for direct comparison with the results from the 1999 election.https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/bsp/hi/vote2004/euro_uk/html/front.stm European Election: United Kingdom Result BBC News 22 May 2014 300px The 2004 European Parliament election was the United Kingdom's part of the wider 2004 European Parliament election which was held between 10 and 13 June 2004 in the 25 member states of the European Union. The United Kingdom's part of this election was held on Thursday 10 June 2004. The election also coincided with the 2004 local elections and the London Assembly and mayoral elections. In total, 78 Members of the European Parliament were elected from the United Kingdom using proportional representation. The Conservative Party and the Labour Party both polled poorly. The Conservatives experienced their second-lowest ever recorded vote share in a national election (even less than their 1832 nadir, although the party would do worse still in the 2014 and 2019 elections), and Labour their lowest since 1918. The UK Independence Party (UKIP) saw a large increase in support, increasing its number of MEPs from 3 to 12 and on popular vote pushed the Liberal Democrats, who themselves had increased their representation from 10 to 12 seats into fourth place. In Northern Ireland, Sinn Féin beat the SDLP in the polls and took its first Northern Ireland seat. Background Electoral system The United Kingdom elected 78 Members of the European Parliament using proportional representation. The United Kingdom was divided into twelve multi-member constituencies. The eleven of these regions which form Great Britain used a closed-list party list system method of proportional representation, calculated using the D'Hondt method. Northern Ireland used the Single Transferable Vote (STV). As a consequence of the 2004 enlargement of the European Union, the number of seats allocated to the United Kingdom was fewer than in 1999. It was the first European election to be held in the United Kingdom using postal-only voting in four areas: the North East, North West, Yorkshire and the Humber, and East Midlands regions.Research Paper 04/50 European Parliament elections 2004 House of Commons Library 23 June 2004 Regional seat allocations A combination of the effects of the Treaty of Nice and the 2004 enlargement of the European Union meant that the number of seats allocated to the United Kingdom for the 2004 election was reduced from the 87 MEPs allocated for the 1999 election to 78 MEPs.http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/institutional_affairs/treaties/nice_treaty/nice_treaty_bodies_en.htm Treaty of Nice: The other institutions and bodies of the Union Europa 25 May 2014http://www.cvce.eu/c/portal/layout?p_l_id=245975&p_p_state=normal&originalUrl=%2Fobj%2Fchanges_in_the_distribution_of_seats_in_the_european_parliament-en-e6d28948-3fa8-4fe7-a552-1b062bc6fb47.html&p_p_lifecycle=0&p_p_id=viewer_display2_WAR_ena2010viewerportlet&_viewer_display2_WAR_ena2010viewerportlet_objectId=e6d28948-3fa8-4fe7-a552-1b062bc6fb47&_viewer_display2_WAR_ena2010viewerportlet_contentLocale=en&languageId=en&_viewer_display2_WAR_ena2010viewerportlet_parentObjectId=null&p_p_mode=view Changes in the distribution of seats in the European Parliament Centre Virtuel de la Connaissance sur l'Europe 25 May 2014 As a result of the successful challenge of Matthews v United Kingdom before the European Court of Human Rights in 1999http://cmiskp.echr.coe.int/tkp197/view.asp?action=html&documentId=696787&portal=hbkm&source=externalbydocnumber&table=F69A27FD8FB86142BF01C1166DEA398649 ECHR Portal HTML View 16 May 2012 https://web.archive.org/web/20120516144735/http://cmiskp.echr.coe.int/tkp197/view.asp?action=html&documentId=696787&portal=hbkm&source=externalbydocnumber&table=F69A27FD8FB86142BF01C1166DEA398649 16 May 2012 residents of Gibraltar, voted in the European Parliament election for the first time, as part of the South West England region.https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/5338822.stm Court upholds Rock voting rights BBC News 22 May 2014 +Changes in regional seat allocationsResearch Paper 04/50 European Parliament elections 2004 8 House of Commons Library 23 June 2004ConstituencyRepresentation in 1999Representation in 2004Net Gain/LossEast Midlands66 East of England87 1London109 1North East England43 1North West England109 1Northern Ireland33 Scotland87 1South East England1110 1South West England177 Wales54 1West Midlands87 1Yorkshire and the Humber76 1Overall8778 9 1 Includes Gibraltar, the only British overseas territory which was part of the EU. Results Results of the 2004 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom thumb|Partial map, showing most popular party by counting area in Great Britain only. Turnout for all the regions was 38.2% on an electorate of 44,157,267Fisher Stephen Smith Shawna 2005 United Kingdom https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1475-6765.2005.00286.x European Journal of Political Research en 44 7–8 1211–1220 10.1111/j.1475-6765.2005.00286.x 0304-4130 subscription (43,084,598 in Great Britain and 1,072,669 in Northern Ireland).https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/RP04-50/RP04-50.pdf European Parliament elections 2004 Mellows-Facer Adam Cracknell Richard Yonwin Jessica 11-25 23 June 2004 House of Commons Library 11 October 2022 The Conservatives and Labour both polled poorly. The Conservatives, although getting a vote share 4.1% greater than Labour, experienced their lowest vote share in a national election since 1832. Labour's vote share was its lowest since 1918. Labour's decline in votes was regarded as being largely due to widespread public dissatisfaction about the Iraq War and (as with the Conservatives) the increased popularity of UK Independence Party (UKIP). UKIP saw a large increase in support, increasing its number of MEPs from 3 to 12, drawing level with the Liberal Democrats, who themselves had increased their representation from 10 to 12 seats. UKIP polled higher than the Liberal Democrats to push the latter into fourth place. Turnout was lowest in Scotland, which did not hold local elections on the same day. In Scotland, Labour topped the poll, followed by the Scottish National Party (SNP). The Conservatives' share of the vote declined by 2 per cent, making it the region with the smallest swing against them. Wales was the only region were Labour increased its share of the vote compared to 1999. The Conservatives managed to make gains pushing Plaid Cymru into third and whose share of the vote fell by 12 percentage points relative to 1999. Similarly UKIP narrowly beat the Liberal Democrats into fourth place. Wales was the region where the Green Party polled their lowest share of the vote. United Kingdom Party Votes won % of vote Loss/Gain Seats Loss/Gain† % of seats Conservative Party (UK) 4,397,090 25.9 -7.6 27 -8 34.6 Labour Party (UK) 3,718,683 21.9 -4.4 19 -6 24.4 UK Independence Party 2,650,768 15.6 +9.1 12 +10 15.4 Liberal Democrats (UK) 2,452,327 14.4 +2.6 12 +2 15.4 Green Party of England and Wales 948,588 5.6 +0.3 2 0 2.6 British National Party 808,201 4.8 +3.8 0 0 0 RESPECT The Unity Coalition 252,216 1.5 New 0 0 0 Scottish National Party 231,505 1.4 -1.2 2 0 2.6 Democratic Unionist Party 175,761 1.0 -0.8 1 0 1.3 Plaid Cymru 159,888 0.9 -0.8 1 0 1.3 Sinn Féin 144,541 0.9 -0.3 1 +1 1.3 English Democrats Party 130,056 0.8 New 0 0 0 Liberal Party (UK, 1989) 96,325 0.6 -0.3 0 0 0 Independent - Martin Bell 93,028 0.6 New 0 0 0 Ulster Unionist Party 91,164 0.5 -0.6 1 0 1.3 Social Democratic and Labour Party 87,559 0.5 -1.3 0 -1 0 Scottish Greens 79,695 0.5 -0.1 0 0 0 Scottish Socialist Party 61,356 0.4 New 0 0 0 Christian Peoples Alliance 56,771 0.3 New 0 0 0 Senior Citizens Party 42,861 0.3 New 0 0 0 Countryside Party (UK) 42,107 0.2 New 0 0 0 Independent - Herron 39,658 0.2 New 0 0 0 Independent - Gilliland 36,270 0.2 New 0 0 0 Pensioners Party (England) 33,501 0.2 New 0 0 0 Operation Christian Vote 21,056 0.1 New 0 0 0 ProLife Alliance 20,393 0.1 New 0 0 0 Forward Wales 17,280 0.1 New 0 0 0 Independent - Ellis 14,762 0.1 New 0 0 0 People's Party for Better Government 13,776 0.1 New 0 0 0 Peace Party (UK) 12,572 0.1 New 0 0 0 Socialist Environmental Alliance 9,172 0.1 New 0 0 0 The Common Good (political party) 8,650 0.1 New 0 0 0 Independent - Neal 8,318 0.0 New 0 0 0 Scottish Wind Watch 7,255 0.0 New 0 0 0 Christian Democratic Party 6,821 0.0 New 0 0 0 Independent - Rhodes 5,671 0.0 New 0 0 0 Independent - Naisbitt 5,137 0.0 New 0 0 0 Green Party in Northern Ireland 4,810 0.0 New 0 0 0 Independent - Tait 3,624 0.0 New 0 0 0 Independent - Rogers 2,615 0.0 New 0 0 0 Independent - Shadmyraine 847 0.0 New 0 0 0Total16,443,397 ——78—— All parties listed. †Loss/gain figures for seats are losses/gains versus the 1999 notional result, as the number of MEPs overall fell. Great Britain Summary of the election results for Great Britain Party Votes won % of vote Loss/Gain Seats Loss/Gain† % of seats Conservative Party (UK) 4,397,090 26.7 -9.0 27 -8 36.0 Labour Party (UK) 3,718,683 22.6 -5.4 19 -6 25.3 UK Independence Party 2,650,768 16.1 +9.2 12 +10 16.0 Liberal Democrats (UK) 2,452,327 14.9 +2.3 12 +2 16.0 Green Party of England and Wales 948,588 5.8 +0.1 2 0 2.7 British National Party 808,201 4.9 +3.9 0 0 0 RESPECT The Unity Coalition 252,216 1.5 New 0 0 0 Scottish National Party 231,505 1.4 -1.3 2 0 2.7 Plaid Cymru 159,888 1.0 -0.9 1 0 1.3 English Democrats Party 130,056 0.8 New 0 0 0 Liberal Party (UK, 1989) 96,325 0.6 -0.3 0 0 0 Independent - Martin Bell 93,028 0.6 New 0 0 0 Scottish Green Party 79,695 0.5 -0.1 0 0 0 Scottish Socialist Party 61,356 0.4 New 0 0 0 Christian Peoples Alliance 56,771 0.3 New 0 0 0 Senior Citizens Party 42,861 0.3 New 0 0 0 Countryside Party (UK) 42,107 0.3 New 0 0 0 Independent - Herron 39,658 0.2 New 0 0 0 Pensioners Party (England) 33,501 0.2 New 0 0 0 Operation Christian Vote 21,056 0.1 New 0 0 0 ProLife Alliance 20,393 0.1 New 0 0 0 Forward Wales 17,280 0.1 New 0 0 0 Independent - Herron 14,762 0.1 New 0 0 0 People's Party for Better Government 13,776 0.1 New 0 0 0 Peace Party (United Kingdom) 12,572 0.1 New 0 0 0 The Common Good (political party) 8,650 0.1 New 0 0 0 Independent - Neal 8,318 0.1 New 0 0 0 Scottish Wind Watch 7,255 0.0 New 0 0 0 Christian Democratic Party 6,821 0.0 New 0 0 0 Independent - Rhodes 5,671 0.0 New 0 0 0 Independent - Naisbitt 5,137 0.0 New 0 0 0 Independent - Tait 3,624 0.0 New 0 0 0 Independent - Rogers 2,615 0.0 New 0 0 0 Independent - Shadmyraine 847 0.0 New 0 0 0Total16,443,397 ——75—— All parties listed. †Loss/gain figures for seats are losses/gains versus the 1999 notional result, as the number of MEPs overall fell. Gibraltar 2004 European Parliament election in Gibraltar Gibraltar participated in the United Kingdom's election for the first time in 2004 as part of the South West England constituency. Gibraltar is a British overseas territory (BOT) and therefore is under the jurisdiction and sovereignty of the United Kingdom but does not form part of it.https://www.gov.uk/international/government-topics-foreign-affairs-uk-overseas-territories UK Overseas Territories - GOV.UK www.gov.uk Gibraltar was however part of the EU, the only BOT to be so included. Following however, the result of the successful challenge of Matthews v United Kingdom before the European Court of Human Rights in 1999 residents of Gibraltar were given the right to vote in the European Parliament elections. The British government decided not to give Gibraltar its own seat due to its small electorate of just over 20,000 which would have meant with just one seat Gibraltar would have been over-represented by about 30 times the average. None of the main Gibraltar political parties contested the election, so voters chose from United Kingdom party lists. However, Lyana Armstrong-Emery of Gibraltar's Reform Party had a place on a joint list with the Green Party. In addition both the leader of the Conservative Party, Michael Howard, and his deputy, Michael Ancram, campaigned in Gibraltar.https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/spain/1462148/The-Tories-won%27t-let-you-down,-Howard-tells-Gibraltar.html The Tories won't let you down, Howard tells Gibraltar 19 September 2008 Wilkinson Isambard 18 May 2004 The Daily Telegraph 13 September 2012 https://archive.today/20120913160439/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/spain/1462148/The-Tories-won%27t-let-you-down,-Howard-tells-Gibraltar.html dead Turnout in Gibraltar was 57.5%, higher than the 37.6% for the South West England electoral region as a whole.Reyes, Brian Landslide for Tories Disappointment for Labour Gibraltar Chronicle 2009-06-08 http://www.chronicle.gi/headlines_details.php?id=16340 2009-06-08 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20090610233104/http://www.chronicle.gi/headlines_details.php?id=16340 10 June 2009 dmy () The Conservative Party polled over two-thirds of the Gibraltar vote, with no other party exceeding 10% support. Northern Ireland Turnout in Northern Ireland was 51.2%.https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/3766315.stm European Election: Northern Ireland Result BBC News 14 June 2004 24 May 2014 Sinn Féin beat the SDLP in the polls and took its first Northern Ireland seat. Sinn Féin also won a seat in the corresponding elections in the Republic of Ireland.https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2004/jun/15/uk.northernireland Vote further polarises Ulster politics The Guardian 15 June 2004 25 May 2014 Sinn Féin and the DUP increased their shares of the vote relative to the 1999 European Parliament elections, while the shares for both the SDLP and the UUP fell. This was also the final election in which a Unionist candidate topped the poll in Northern Ireland.https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/8090294.stm DUP's worst ever Euro poll result BBC News 8 June 2009 25 May 2014 Jim Allister of the DUP and Bairbre de Brún of Sinn Féin were elected in the first round while Jim Nicholson of the UUP was elected in the third stage, after the votes of the other candidates were reallocated. Summary of the election results for Northern Irelandhttps://www.ark.ac.uk/elections/fe04.htm The 2004 European Election www.ark.ac.uk Party Candidate(s) Seats Loss/Gain First Preference Votes Number % of vote Democratic Unionist PartyJim Allister1175,76131.9 Sinn FéinBairbre de Brún1 1144,54126.3 Ulster Unionist PartyJim Nicholson191,16416.6 Social Democratic and Labour PartyMartin Morgan0 187,55915.9 Independent (politician)John Gilliland036,2706.6 Socialist Environmental AllianceEamonn McCann09,1721.6 Green Party of Northern IrelandLindsay Whitcroft04,8100.9Total549,277 Turnout 51.2% MEPs defeated Labour David Bowe (Yorkshire and the Humber) Bill Miller (Scotland) Brian Simpson (North West England) - returned to the European Parliament in September 2006 and defended his seat in 2009.http://news.bbc.co.uk/democracylive/hi/representatives/profiles/28970.stm Democracy Live Brian Simpson MEP BBC 22 May 2014 22 May 2014 https://web.archive.org/web/20140522233909/http://news.bbc.co.uk/democracylive/hi/representatives/profiles/28970.stm dead Mo O'Toole (North East England) Mark F. Watts (South East England) Conservative Jacqueline Foster (North West England) - was reelected in the 2009 election.http://www.europarl.europa.eu/meps/en/4553/JACQUELINE_FOSTER_history.html MEP profiles - Jacqueline Foster European Parliament 25 May 2014 Alexander Macmillan (South West England) Roy Perry (South East England) Ian Twinn (London) - only took seat on 21 October 2003 after the ill-health resignation of Lord Bethell.http://www.johnbowis.com/031020news.htm Conservative MEPs salute Lord Bethell on his retirement as an MEP & welcome his successor, Ian Twinn 4 July 2010 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20080719174714/http://www.johnbowis.com/031020news.htm 19 July 2008 dmy-all Plaid Cymru Eurig Wyn (Wales) Aftermath Both Tony Blair and Michael Howard faced criticism for their results with then Secretary of State for Health John Reid calling the results "disappointing" for Labour and "disastrous" for the Conservatives.https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3805929.stm Leaders meet MPs over EU results BBC News 22 May 2014 Shortly after the election UKIP's Robert Kilroy-Silk, who was credited with raising the profile of the party during the election, was interviewed by Channel 4 television about leadership ambitions, Kilroy-Silk did not deny having ambitions to lead the party, but stressed that Roger Knapman would lead it into the next general election.August 2013 However, the next day, on Breakfast with Frost, he criticised Knapman's leadership."Kilroy-Silk wants UKIP leadership", Daily Telegraph, 3 October 2004 After further disagreement with the leadership, Kilroy-Silk resigned the UKIP whip in the European Parliament on 27 October 2004.https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3958273.stm Kilroy quits UKIP group of MEPs BBC News 27 October 2004 Initially, he remained a member, while seeking a bid for the party leadership.https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2004/oct/27/otherparties.uk Kilroy resigns Ukip whip The Guardian Tempest Matthew 7 October 2004 However, this was not successful and he resigned completely from UKIP on 20 January 2005, calling it a "joke".https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/4189537.stm Kilroy-Silk quits shameful UKIP BBC News 21 January 2005 Two weeks later, he founded his own party, Veritas, taking a number of UKIP members, including both of the London Assembly members, with him.http://www.mayorwatch.co.uk/ukip-on-the-london-assembly-what-farage-and-the-politics-show-didnt-say/201115092 UKIP on the London Assembly? What Farage and the Politics Show didn't say… MayorWatch 23 March 2011 UKIP formed a new European Parliament Group, Independence/Democracy which was co-chaired by Nigel Farage and Hanne Dahl. See also 2005 United Kingdom general election List of political parties in the United Kingdom Notes References External links European Election News by European Election Law Association (Eurela) Guide and results at the UK Office of the European Parliament Guide and links Richard Kimber's at Political Science Resources Manifestos and documents Guardian (newspaper): incomplete collection of manifestos Conservative manifesto European Greens manifesto; Successes of the Greens in the European Parliament; A Green Contract for Europe; European Election Manifesto: Green Party of England and Wales Manifesto: Northern Ireland Labour document Liberal Democrat manifesto Democratic Unionist Party manifesto Social Democratic and Labour Party manifesto Socialist Environmental Alliance manifesto Ulster Unionist Party manifesto European manifesto (ED) Scottish National Party manifesto Plaid Cymru / The Party of Wales Manifesto European Parliament election United Kingdom European Parliament election 2004