1999 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom

None March 2013 November 2022 1999 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom United Kingdom parliamentary no 1994 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom 1994 List of members of the European Parliament for the United Kingdom (1994–1999) 2004 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom 2004 All 87 seats of the United Kingdom's seats in the European Parliament List of members of the European Parliament for the United Kingdom (1999–2004) 10 June 1999 24.0% (12.4%)http://www.europarl.europa.eu/about-parliament/en/in-the-past/previous-elections Previous European Parliamentary Elections – About Parliament European Parliament 26 May 2019 Edward McMillan-Scott MEP 1994.jpg 120 120 160 0 0 Edward McMillan-Scott 16 September 1997 Conservative Party (UK) Yorkshire and the HumberPreviously MEP for North Yorkshire before being elected to Yorkshire and the Humber at this election. European People's Party Group 18 seats, 26.8% 36 18 3,578,218 33.5% 6.5% Alan Donnelly 1999.jpg 120 120 160 0 0 Alan Donnelly 1997 Labour Party (UK) North East EnglandPreviously MEP for Tyne and Wear before being elected to North East England at this election. Party of European Socialists 62 seats, 42.6% 29 33 2,803,821 26.3% 16.4% Robin Teverson 1995 (cropped).jpg 120 120 160 0 0 Robin Teverson 1994 Liberal Democrats (UK) South West England (defeated) Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe 2 seats, 17% 10 8 1,266,549 11.9% 4.3% Michael Holmes 1999.jpg 120 120 160 0 0 Michael Holmes September 1997 UK Independence Party Ran in South West England (won) EDD 0 seats, 1.0% 3 3 696,057 6.5% 5.5% Lambert, Jean-2316.jpg 120 120 160 0 0 Jean LambertLambert was one of the party's Principal Speakers. 1998 Green Party of England and Wales Ran in London (won) Green 0 seats, 3.0% 2 2 568,236 5.3% 2.3% Ian Stewart Hudghton MEP 1994.jpg 120 120 160 0 0 Ian HudghtonHudghton was the SNP's lead candidate. 1999 Scottish National Party Scotland EFA 2 seats, 3.1% 2 268,528 2.5% 0.6% European Parliament election 1999 - UK results.png 400px Colours denote the winning party, as shown in the main table of results 300px Leader of Largest Party Subsequent Leader of Largest Party Tony Blair Labour Party (UK) William Hague Conservative Party (UK) The 1999 European Parliament election was the United Kingdom's part of the European Parliament election 1999. It was held on 10 June 1999. Following the European Parliamentary Elections Act 1999, it was the first European election to be held in the United Kingdom where the whole country used a system of proportional representation. In total, 87 Members of the European Parliament were elected from the United Kingdom across twelve new regional constituencies. The change in voting system resulted in significant changes in seats. The Conservatives won double the number of seats they had won in the previous European election, in 1994, while the Labour Party saw its seats reduced from 62 to 29. The Liberal Democrats saw their number of seats increase to 10 from just 2 in the previous election. The UK Independence Party (UKIP), Green Party and Plaid Cymru gained their first seats in the European Parliament. A by-election to the British Parliament also took place on the same day in the Leeds Central constituency - Labour held the seat but with significantly reduced turnout. The House of Commons Library calculated notional seat changes based on what the result would have been if the 1994 European elections had been held under proportional representation.http://researchbriefings.parliament.uk/ResearchBriefing/Summary/RP99-64 European Parliament Elections June 1999 – Commons Library briefing UK Parliament 1999-06-21 2019-03-05 The notional results and seat changes are shown in the results box for this article. It was the first European Parliament election to be held since the 1997 general election which resulted in a change of government from Conservative to Labour. Turnout was 24%, the lowest of any member state in the 1999 election where the EU average was 49.51%. It was also the lowest of any European election in the United Kingdom, and the lowest of any member state until the 2009 election and to date is the lowest turnout for any national election in the history of the United Kingdom. Background Electoral system The European Parliamentary Elections Act 1999 introduced a closed-list party list system method of proportional representation, calculated using the D'Hondt method into Great Britain. In Northern Ireland, the Single Transferable Vote, which is also a form of proportional representation, which had been used since the first European election in 1979 was retained. The Act also created twelve new electoral regions, which were based on the British government's nine administrative Regions of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. The effect of the introduction of proportional representation was that many small parties won seats to the European Parliament for the first time. Results Results of the 1999 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom United Kingdom thumb|Map showing most popular party by counting area. The Conservatives doubled the number of seats from the last European election. Labour saw their 62 seats reduced to just 29. It was the first European Parliament election to be held since the change of United Kingdom government from Conservative to Labour two years earlier. The Liberal Democrats saw their number of seats increase to 10 from just 2 in the previous election. The UK Independence Party, Green Party and Plaid Cymru won their first seats in the European Parliament. These changes were largely due to the move to proportional representation from first-past-the-post.https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/events/euros_99/news/368249.stm Success for smaller parties BBC News 14 June 1999 26 May 2014 The House of Commons Library calculated that if the 1994 European elections had been held under proportional representation, Labour would have won 43 MEPs, the Conservatives 26, the Lib Dems 11, the SNP 3 and Plaid Cymru 1. Party Votes won % of vote Change Seats % of seats Loss/Gain vs actual '94 result Loss/Gain vs notional '94 result Conservative Party (UK) 3,578,218 33.5 6.5 36 41.4 18 10 Labour Party (UK) 2,803,821 26.3 16.4 29 33.3 33 14 Liberal Democrats (UK) 1,266,549 11.9 4.3 10 11.9 8 1 UK Independence Party 696,057 6.5 5.6 3 3.4 3 3 Green Party of England and Wales 568,236 5.3 2.3 2 2.4 2 2 Scottish National Party 268,528 2.5 0.6 2 2.3 1 Democratic Unionist Party 192,762 1.8 0.8 1 1.1 Social Democratic and Labour Party 190,731 1.8 0.8 1 1.1 Plaid Cymru 185,235 1.7 0.7 2 2.3 2 1 Pro-Euro Conservative Party 138,097 1.3 New 0 Ulster Unionist Party 119,507 1.1 0.3 1 1.1 Sinn Féin 117,643 1.1 0.8 0 British National Party 102,647 1.0 New 0 Liberal Party (UK, 1989) 93,051 0.9 0.3 0 Socialist Labour Party (UK) 86,749 0.8 New 0 Scottish Greens 57,142 0.5 0.4 0 Scottish Socialist Party 39,720 0.4 New 0 Progressive Unionist Party 22,494 0.2 New 0 Natural Law Party 21,327 0.2 0.4 0 UK Unionist Party 20,283 0.2 New 0 Alliance Party of Northern Ireland 14,391 0.1 0 Socialist Alliance (England) 7,203 0.1 New 0 Humanist Party (UK) 2,586 0.0 New 0 Communist Party of Great Britain (Provisional Central Committee) Weekly Worker 1,724 0.0 New 0 Socialist Party of Great Britain 1,510 0.0 New 0 Others 84,872 0.8 0 Total 10,681,083 87 100 Source: BBC News,https://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/euros_99/regional_html/full_sop.stm Euro Elections, Results – Great Britain and Northern Ireland BBC News 24 May 2014 UK Parliament Briefing Great Britain Summary of the election results for Great Britain Party Votes won % of vote Loss/Gain Seats % of seats Loss/Gain vs actual '94 result Loss/Gain vs notional '94 result Conservative Party (UK) 3,578,218 35.8 7.9 36 42.9 18 Labour Party (UK) 2,803,821 28.0 16.1 29 34.5 33 Liberal Democrats (UK) 1,266,549 12.7 4.1 10 11.9 8 UK Independence Party 696,057 7.0 6.0 3 3.6 3 3 Green Party of England and Wales 568,236 6.3 2.6 2 2.4 2 2 Scottish National Party 268,528 2.7 0.5 2 2.4 1 Plaid Cymru 185,235 1.9 0.8 2 2.4 2 1 Pro-Euro Conservative Party 138,097 1.4 New 0 British National Party 102,647 1.0 New 0 Liberal Party (UK, 1989) 93,051 0.9 0.3 0 Socialist Labour Party (UK) 86,749 0.9 New 0 Scottish Green Party 57,142 0.6 0.4 0 Scottish Socialist Party 39,720 0.4 New 0 Natural Law Party 20,329 0.4 0.2 0 Socialist Alliance (England) 7,203 0.1 New 0 Humanist Party (UK) 2,586 0.0 New 0 Communist Party of Great Britain (Provisional Central Committee) Weekly Worker 1,724 0.0 New 0 Socialist Party of Great Britain 1,510 0.1 New 0 Others 84,872 0.8 0 Total 10,002,273 84 100 Source: BBC News, UK Parliament Briefing Northern Ireland Summary of the election results for Northern Ireland {| class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;" |- ! colspan="7" | European Parliament election 1999: Northern IrelandThe 1999 European Election, Northern Ireland Elections |- ! colspan="2" rowspan="2" | Party ! rowspan="2" | Candidate(s) ! rowspan="2" | Seats ! rowspan="2" | Loss/GainFirst Preference Votes |- ! Number ! % of vote |- style="text-align:right;" | Democratic Unionist Party | style="text-align:left;"|Ian Paisley | 1 | 0 | 192,762 | 28.4 |- style="text-align:right;" | Social Democratic and Labour Party | style="text-align:left;"|John Hume | 1 | 0 | 190,731 | 28.1 |- style="text-align:right;" | Ulster Unionist Party | style="text-align:left;"|Jim Nicholson | 1 | 0 | 119,507 | 17.6 |- style="text-align:right;" | Sinn Féin | style="text-align:left;"|Mitchel McLaughlin | 0 | 0 | 117,643 | 17.3 |- style="text-align:right;" | Progressive Unionist Party |align="left"|David Ervine | 0 | 0 | 22,494 | 3.3 |- style="text-align:right;" | UK Unionist Party | style="text-align:left;"|Robert McCartney | 0 | 0 | 20,283 | 3.0 |- style="text-align:right;" | Alliance Party of Northern Ireland | style="text-align:left;"|Seán Neeson | 0 | 0 | 14,391 | 2.1 |- style="text-align:right;" | Natural Law Party | style="text-align:left;"|James Anderson | 0 | 0 | 998 | 0.2 |- style="text-align:right;" |colspan=5|Turnout||678,809|| |} MEPs defeated Labour Angela Billingham (East Midlands) Sue Waddington (East Midlands) Veronica Hardstaff (East Midlands) Clive Needle (East of England) Peter Truscott (East of England) David Thomas (East of England) Carole Tongue (London) Shaun Spiers (London) Mary Honeyball (London) Michael Elliot (London) Dr Gordon Adam (North East) Tony Cunningham (North West) Mark Hendrick (North West) Hugh McMahon (Scotland) Anita Pollack (South East England) Ian White (South West England) Joe Wilson (Wales) David Morris (Wales) Michael Tappin (West Midlands) David Hallam (West Midlands) Roger Barton (Yorkshire and the Humber) Barry Seal (Yorkshire and the Humber) Liberal Democrat Robin Teverson (South West England) Conservative Edward Kellett-Bowman (South East England) Bryan Cassidy (South West England) Pro-Euro Conservative Party John Stevens, former Conservative MEP (South East England) Brendan Donnelly, former Conservative MEP (West Midlands) Independent Labour Christine Oddy, former Labour MEP (West Midlands) Scottish Socialist Party Hugh Kerr, former Labour MEP (Essex West and Hertfordshire East) Leeds Left Alliance Ken Coates, former Labour MEP (East Midlands) Aftermath Labour's results brought about a debate within the party about the introduction of proportional representation. In September 1998, a poll of 150 MPs had found that 58% backed the introduction of proportional representation. A follow-up poll ran on the Sunday after the election found that this had decreased to 43%, with the majority wanting a return to the first-past-the-post system.https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/events/euros_99/news/368450.stm Labour postmortem begins BBC News 14 June 1999 25 May 2014 It has also been argued, however, that the introduction of proportional representation actually reduced Labour's losses, as first-past-the-post is more sensitive to swings in public opinion.https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/events/euros_99/news/368580.stm Robin Oakley's Westminster Week – The Euro fallout BBC News 14 June 1999 26 May 2014 See also Elections in the United Kingdom: European elections List of members of the European Parliament for the United Kingdom (1999–2004) Members of the European Parliament for the United Kingdom 1999–2004 by region Notes References External links Breakdown of results by Region House of Commons Research Paper 99/64 "Elections to the European Parliament – June 1999" 1999 United Kingdom European Parliament election European Parliament election