2005 United Kingdom general election

2005 United Kingdom general election

5 May 2005
All 646 seats to the House of Commons 324 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Registered	44,245,939
Turnout	61.4% (2.0%)
First party Second party Third party   Leader Tony Blair Michael Howard Charles Kennedy Party Labour Conservative Liberal Democrats Leader since 21 July 1994 6 November 2003 9 August 1999 Leader's seat Sedgefield Folkestone and Hythe Ross, Skye and Lochaber Last election 412 seats, 40.7% 166 seats, 31.7% 52 seats, 18.3% Seats before 403 165 51 Seats won 355‡ 198 62 Seat change 48* 33* 11* Popular vote 9,552,436 8,784,915 5,985,454 Percentage 35.2% 32.4% 22.0% Swing 5.5 pp 0.7 pp 3.7 pp
Colours denote the winning party, as shown in the main table of results. * Indicates boundary change – so this is a notional figure ‡ Figure does not include the Speaker, Michael Martin
Composition of the House of Commons after the election
Prime Minister before election Tony Blair Labour Prime Minister after election Tony Blair Labour

The 2005 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 5 May 2005, to elect 646 members to the House of Commons. The governing Labour Party, led by Tony Blair, won its third consecutive victory, with Blair becoming the second Labour leader after Harold Wilson to form three majority governments. However, its majority fell to 66 seats; the majority it won four years earlier had been of 167 seats. This would be the last election not won by the Conservative Party as of 2024.This was the first time the Labour Party had won a third consecutive election, and as of 2024 remains the party's most recent general election victory.

The Labour campaign emphasised a strong economy; however, Blair had suffered a decline in popularity, which was exacerbated by the decision to send British troops to invade Iraq in 2003. Despite this, Labour mostly retained its leads over the Conservatives in opinion polls on economic competence and leadership, and Conservative leaders Iain Duncan Smith (2001–2003) and Michael Howard (2003–2005) struggled to capitalise on Blair's unpopularity, with the party consistently trailing behind Labour in the polls throughout the 2001–2005 parliament.

The Conservatives campaigned on policies such as immigration limits, improving poorly managed hospitals, and reducing high crime rates. The Liberal Democrats, led by Charles Kennedy, took a strong stance against the Iraq War, particularly due to the absence of a second UN resolution, This anti-war position resonated with disenchanted Labour voters, leading to the Liberal Democrats achieving their largest share of seats in the party's history.

Tony Blair was returned as Prime Minister, with Labour having 355 MPs, but with a popular vote share of 35.2%, the smallest of any majority government in UK electoral history. In terms of votes Labour was only narrowly ahead of the Conservatives, but the party still held a comfortable lead in terms of seats. The Conservatives returned 198 MPs, with 32 more seats than they had won at the previous general election, and won the popular vote in England, while still ending up with 91 fewer MPs in England than Labour. The Liberal Democrats saw their share of the popular vote increase by 3.7%, and won the most seats of any third party since 1923, with 62 MPs. Anti-war activist and former Labour MP George Galloway was elected as the MP for Bethnal Green and Bow under the Respect – The Unity Coalition banner, unseating Oona King; Richard Taylor was re-elected for Kidderminster Health Concern in Wyre Forest; and independent candidate Peter Law was elected in Blaenau Gwent.

This is the most recent general election in which the winning political party won a majority of the seats that were contested in each of the constituent countries of Great Britain (i.e. England, Scotland and Wales) at the same time.

In Northern Ireland, the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), the more moderate of the main unionist parties, which had dominated Northern Irish politics since the 1920s, was reduced from six MPs to one, with party leader David Trimble himself being unseated. The more hardline Democratic Unionist Party became the largest Northern Irish party, with nine MPs elected.

Apart from Trimble, notable MPs leaving the House of Commons at this election included former SDLP leader John Hume, former Cabinet ministers Estelle Morris, Paul Boateng, Chris Smith, Gillian Shephard, Virginia Bottomley and Michael Portillo, the Father of the House of Commons Tam Dalyell, Tony Banks and Sir Teddy Taylor, while Stephen Twigg (see Portillo moment) lost the Enfield Southgate constituency back to the Conservatives. A notable MP who joined the House of Commons at this election was future Labour leader Ed Miliband.

Following the election, Michael Howard conceded defeat, resigned as Conservative leader and was succeeded by future prime minister David Cameron. Blair resigned as both prime minister and leader of the Labour Party in June 2007, and was replaced by then–Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown. The election results were broadcast live on the BBC and presented by Peter Snow, David Dimbleby, Tony King, Jeremy Paxman, and Andrew Marr.

Overview

For events leading up to the date of the election, see Pre-election day events of the 2005 United Kingdom general election.

The governing Labour Party, led by Tony Blair, was looking to secure a third consecutive term in office and to retain a large majority. The Conservative Party was seeking to regain seats lost to both Labour and the Liberal Democrats since the 1992 general election, and move from being the Official Opposition into government. The Liberal Democrats hoped to make gains from both main parties, but especially the Conservative Party, with a "decapitation" strategy targeting members of the Shadow Cabinet. The Lib Dems had also wished to become the governing party, or to make enough gains to become the Official Opposition, but more realistically hoped to play a major part in a parliament led by a minority Labour or Conservative government. In Northern Ireland the Democratic Unionist Party sought to make further gains from the Ulster Unionist Party in unionist politics, and Sinn Féin hoped to overtake the Social Democratic and Labour Party in nationalist politics. (Sinn Féin MPs do not take their seats in the House of Commons—they follow a policy of abstentionism.) The pro-independence Scottish National Party and Plaid Cymru (Party of Wales) stood candidates in every constituency in Scotland and Wales respectively.

Many seats were contested by other parties, including several parties without incumbents in the House of Commons. Parties that were not represented at Westminster, but had seats in the devolved assemblies and/or the European Parliament, included the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland, the UK Independence Party, the Green Party of England and Wales, the Scottish Green Party, and the Scottish Socialist Party. The Health Concern party also stood again. A full list of parties which declared their intention to run can be found on the list of parties contesting the 2005 general election.

All parties campaigned using such tools as party manifestos, party political broadcasts and touring the country in what are commonly referred to as battle buses.

Local elections in parts of England and in Northern Ireland were held on the same day. The polls were open for fifteen hours, from 07:00 to 22:00 BST (UTC+1). The election came just over three weeks after the dissolution of Parliament on 11 April by Queen Elizabeth II, at the request of the Prime Minister, Tony Blair.

Campaign

Main article: Pre-election day events of the 2005 United Kingdom general election

Following the death of Pope John Paul II on 2 April, it was announced that the calling of the election would be delayed until 5 April.

Thanks to eight years of sustained economic growth Labour could point to a strong economy, with greater investment in public services such as education and health. This was overshadowed, however, by the issue of the controversial 2003 invasion of Iraq, which met widespread public criticism at the time, and would dog Blair throughout the campaign. The Chancellor, Gordon Brown, played a prominent role in the election campaign, frequently appearing with Blair and ensuring that the economy would remain the central focus of Labour's message.

Recently elected Conservative leader Michael Howard brought a great level of experience and stability to a party that had ousted its former leader Iain Duncan Smith just 18 months prior. The Conservative campaign was managed by Australian strategist Lynton Crosby. The campaign focused on more traditional conservative issues like immigration, which created some controversy with the slogan "It's not racist to impose limits on immigration". They also criticised Labour's "dirty" hospitals and high crime levels, under the umbrella of the slogan "Are you thinking what we're thinking?"

However, Labour counter-attacked, by emphasising Howard's role in the unpopular Major Government of 1992–1997, airing a party election broadcast attacking Howard, showing a montage of scenes from Howard's tenure as Home Secretary, including prison riots and home repossessions. It also launched a billboard campaign showing Howard, and the Conservative Party's four previous leaders (Iain Duncan Smith, William Hague, John Major and Margaret Thatcher), with the caption "Britain's working, don't let the Tories wreck it again."

For the Liberal Democrats, this was the second and final election campaign fought by leader Charles Kennedy, who strongly opposed the Iraq War and personally offered a more down-to-earth approach to voters, which proved popular. There were some questions, however, over Kennedy's abilities when, at the Liberal Democrat manifesto launch, he was asked about local income tax, but appeared confused on the figures. Both the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives were keen to tackle Labour's introduction of tuition fees, which both opposition parties opposed and promised to abolish.

Ballot

Unofficial tellers, wearing party rosettes, sit outside polling stations collecting voter registration numbers

At the close of voting (2200 BST) the ballot boxes were sealed and returned to the counting centres, where counting proceeded under the supervision of the returning officer who was obliged to declare the result as soon as it was known. As previously, there was serious competition amongst constituencies to be first to declare. Sunderland South repeated its performance in the last three elections and declared Labour incumbent Chris Mullin re-elected as MP with a majority of 11,059 at approximately 2245 BST (failing by two minutes to beat its previous best, but making it eligible for entry into the Guinness Book of World Records as longest consecutive delivery of first results). The vote itself represented a swing (in a safe Labour seat, in a safe Labour region) of about 4% to the Conservatives and 4.5% to the Liberal Democrats, somewhat below the prediction of BBC/ITV exit polls published shortly after 2200 BST.

Sunderland North was the next to declare, followed by Houghton and Washington East, both of whose Labour MPs retained their seats but with reductions in the incumbent majorities of up to 9%. The first Scottish seat to declare was Rutherglen and Hamilton West — another safe Labour seat, also a Labour hold, but with the majority reduced by 4%. The first seat to change hands was Putney, where Labour's majority of 2,771 fell to a strong Conservative challenge, with a total swing of about 5,000 (6.2%). This was also the first seat to be declared for the Conservatives. The first Liberal Democrat seat to be declared was North East Fife, the constituency of Lib Dem deputy leader Sir Menzies Campbell which he had held since 1987.

The constituency of Crawley in West Sussex had the slimmest majority of any seat, with Labour's Laura Moffatt holding off the Conservatives' Henry Smith by 37 votes after three recounts.

Polling

Main article: Opinion polling for the 2005 United Kingdom general election

Following problems with exit polls in previous British elections, the BBC and ITV agreed for the first time to pool their respective data, using results from Mori and NOP. More than 20,000 people were interviewed for the poll at 120 polling stations across the country. The predictions were very accurate—initial projections saw Labour returned to power with a majority of 66 (down from 160), and the final result (including South Staffordshire, where the election was postponed due to the death of a candidate) was indeed a Labour majority of 66.

The projected shares of the vote in Great Britain were Labour 35% (down 6% on 2001), Conservatives 33% (up 1%), Liberal Democrats 22% (up 4%) and other parties 8% (up 1%). The Conservatives were expected to make the biggest gains, however — 44 seats according to the exit poll — with the Liberal Democrats expected to take as few as two. While the Lib Dems' vote share predicted by the exit poll was accurate (22.6% compared to the actual 22.0%), they did better in some Lib Dem-Labour marginals than predicted on the basis of the national share of the vote, and achieved a net gain of 11 seats.

2001 notional result

There were major boundary changes in Scotland, where the number of seats was reduced from 72 to 59. As a result of this each party lost some seats, and this notional election result below is based on the 2001 election results if they had been fought on these new 2005 boundaries.

2001 UK general election

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Labour	403	2	8	-6	62.38	40.7	10,724,953
	Conservative	165	9	8	+1	25.54	31.7	8,357,615
	Liberal Democrats	51	8	2	+6	7.89	18.3	4,814,321
	SNP	4			-1	0.62	1.8	464,314
	Other parties	23				3.57	7.5

Results

For results by county/region and analysis, see Results breakdown of the 2005 United Kingdom general election.

For results by constituency, see Results of the 2005 United Kingdom general election.

For details by MP, see List of MPs elected in the 2005 United Kingdom general election.

Party	Labour Party	Conservative and Unionist Party	Liberal Democrats	UK Independence Party	Scottish National Party	Greens (GPEW+SGP+GPNI)	Democratic Unionist Party
Leader	Tony Blair	Michael Howard	Charles Kennedy	Roger Knapman	Alex Salmond	Caroline Lucas (GPEW)	Ian Paisley
Votes	9,552,436 (35.2%)	8,784,915 (32.4%)	5,985,454 (22.0%)	605,973 (2.2%)	412,267 (1.5%)	257,758 (1.0%)	241,856 (0.9%)
Seats	355 (55.2%)	198 (30.7%)	62 (9.6%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (1.4%)

Result by countries and English regions

Votes cast by age group: Con, Lab, LD, other parties (green) and those not voting (grey).

At 04:28 BST, it was announced that Labour had won Corby, giving them 324 seats in the House of Commons out of those then declared and an overall majority, Labour's total reaching 355 seats out of the 646 House of Commons seats. Labour received 35.3% of the popular vote, equating to approximately 22% of the electorate on a 61.3% turnout, up from 59.4% turnout in 2001.

As expected, voter disenchantment led to an increase of support for many opposition parties, and caused many eligible to vote, not to turn out. Labour achieved a third successive term in office for the first time in their history, though with reduction of the Labour majority from 167 to 67 (as it was before the declaration of South Staffordshire). As it became clear that Labour had won an overall majority, Michael Howard, the leader of the Conservative Party, announced his intention to retire from frontline politics. The final seat to declare was the delayed poll in South Staffordshire, at just after 1 a.m. on Friday 24 June.

The election was followed by further criticism of the UK electoral system. Calls for reform came particularly from Lib Dem supporters, citing that they received only just over 10% of the overall seats with 22.1% of the popular vote. The only parties to win a substantially higher percentage of seats than they achieved in votes were Labour, the Democratic Unionist Party, Sinn Féin, and Health Concern, which ran only one candidate. The results of the election give a Gallagher index of dis-proportionality of 16.76.

Seats won in the election (outer ring) against number of votes (inner ring)

The Labour Government claimed that being returned to office for a third term for the first time ever showed the public approval of Labour's governance and the continued unpopularity of the Conservatives. Nevertheless, Labour's vote declined to 35.3%, the lowest share of the popular vote to have formed a majority government in the history of the UK House of Commons. In many areas the collapse in the Labour vote resulted in a host of seats changing hands. Labour also failed to gain any new seats, almost unique in any election since 1945. As well as losing seats to the Tories and the Liberal Democrats, Labour also lost Blaenau Gwent, its safest seat in Wales, to Independent Peter Law, and Bethnal Green and Bow to Respect candidate George Galloway.

The Conservatives claimed that their increased number of seats showed disenchantment with the Labour government and was a precursor of a Conservative breakthrough at the next election. Following three consecutive elections of declining representation and then in 2001 a net gain of just one seat, 2005 was the first general election since their famous 1983 landslide victory where the number of Conservative seats increased appreciably, although the Conservatives' vote share increased only slightly and this election did mark the third successive general election in which the Conservatives polled below 35%. In some areas the Conservative vote actually fell. The Conservatives claimed to have won the general election in England, since they received more votes than Labour although Labour still won a majority of seats.

The Liberal Democrats claimed that their continued gradual increase in seats and percentage vote showed they were in a position to make further gains from both parties. They pointed in particular to the fact that they were now in second place in roughly one hundred and ninety constituencies and that having had net losses to Labour in the 1992 general election and having not taken a single seat off Labour in 1997, they had held their gains off Labour from the 2001 general election and had actually made further gains from them. The Liberal Democrats also managed to take three seats from the Conservatives, one notable victory being that of Tim Farron over Tim Collins in Westmorland and Lonsdale, through the use of a "decapitation strategy", which targeted senior Tories.

The Liberal Democrats increased their percentage of the vote by 3.7%, the Conservatives by 0.6%, and Labour's dropped by 5.4%.

The UK media interpreted the results as an indicator of a breakdown in trust in the government, and especially in Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Meanwhile, the Scottish National Party improved its position in Scotland, regaining the Western Isles and Dundee East from Labour, having lost both seats in 1987. In Wales Plaid Cymru failed to gain any seats and lost Ceredigion to the Liberal Democrats. In Northern Ireland the Ulster Unionists were all but wiped out, only keeping North Down, with leader David Trimble losing his seat in Upper Bann. For the first time the DUP became the biggest party in Northern Ireland.

It was the first general election since 1929 in which no party received more than ten million votes. It was the most "three-cornered" election since 1923, though the Liberal Democrats failed to match the higher national votes of the SDP–Liberal Alliance in the 1980s either in absolute or percentage terms. The total combined vote for Labour, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats proved to be the lowest main three-party vote since 1922.

 Summary of the results of the 5 May 2005 United Kingdom general election to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom

Political party		Leader	Candidates	Elected	Seats gained	Seats lost	Net change in seats	% of seats	Number of votes	% of votes	Change in % of vote	Votes per seat won
	Labour	Tony Blair	627	355	0	47	–47	55.2	9,552,436	35.2	–5.5	26,908
	Conservative	Michael Howard	630	198	36	3	+33	30.7	8,784,915	32.4	+0.7	44,368
	Liberal Democrats	Charles Kennedy	626	62	16	5	+11	9.6	5,985,454	22.0	+3.8	96,540
	UKIP	Roger Knapman	496	0	0	0	0	0.0	605,973	2.2	+0.8	N/A
	SNP	Alex Salmond	59	6	2	0	+2	0.9	412,267	1.5	–0.2	68,711
	Green	Caroline Lucas and Keith Taylor	182	0	0	0	0	0.0	257,758	1.0	+0.4	N/A
	DUP	Ian Paisley	18	9	4	0	+4	1.4	241,856	0.9	+0.2	26,873
	BNP	Nick Griffin	119	0	0	0	0	0.0	192,745	0.7	+0.5	N/A
	Plaid Cymru	Ieuan Wyn Jones	40	3	0	1	–1	0.5	174,838	0.6	–0.1	58,279
	Sinn Féin	Gerry Adams	18	5	1	0	+1	0.8	174,530	0.6	–0.1	34,906
	UUP	David Trimble	18	1	0	5	–5	0.2	127,414	0.5	–0.3	127,414
	SDLP	Mark Durkan	18	3	1	1	0	0.5	125,626	0.5	–0.1	41,875
	Independent	N/A	180	1	1	0	+1	0.2	122,416	0.5	+0.1	122,416
	Respect	Linda Smith	26	1	1	0	+1	0.2	68,094	0.3	N/A	68,094
	Scottish Socialist	Colin Fox	58	0	0	0	0	0.0	43,514	0.2	–0.1	N/A
	Veritas	Robert Kilroy-Silk	65	0	0	0	0	0.0	40,607	0.1	N/A	N/A
	Alliance	David Ford	12	0	0	0	0	0.0	28,291	0.1	0.0	N/A
	Scottish Green	Shiona Baird and Robin Harper	19	0	0	0	0	0.0	25,760	0.1	+0.1	N/A
	Socialist Labour	Arthur Scargill	49	0	0	0	0	0.0	20,167	0.1	0.0	N/A
	Liberal	Michael Meadowcroft	14	0	0	0	0	0.0	19,068	0.1	0.0	N/A
	Health Concern	Richard Taylor	1	1	0	0	0	0.2	18,739	0.1	0.0	18,739
	Speaker	N/A	1	1	0	0	0	0.2	15,153	0.1	0.0	15,153
	English Democrat	Robin Tilbrook	24	0	0	0	0	0.0	15,149	0.1	N/A	N/A
	Socialist Alternative	Peter Taaffe	17	0	0	0	0	0.0	9,398	0.0	N/A	N/A
	National Front	Tom Holmes	13	0	0	0	0	0.0	8,079	0.0	N/A	N/A
	Legalise Cannabis	Alun Buffry	21	0	0	0	0	0.0	6,950	0.0	0.0	N/A
	Monster Raving Loony	Howling Laud Hope	19	0	0	0	0	0.0	6,311	0.0	0.0	N/A
	Community Action	Peter Franzen	3	0	0	0	0	0.0	5,984	0.0	N/A	N/A
	Christian Vote	George Hargreaves	10	0	0	0	0	0.0	4,004	0.0	N/A	N/A
	Mebyon Kernow	Dick Cole	4	0	0	0	0	0.0	3,552	0.0	0.0	N/A
	Forward Wales	John Marek	6	0	0	0	0	0.0	3,461	0.0	N/A	N/A
	CPA	Alan Craig	9	0	0	0	0	0.0	3,291	0.0	N/A	N/A
	Rainbow Dream Ticket	Rainbow George Weiss	23	0	0	0	0	0.0	2,463	0.0	N/A	N/A
	Community Group	Martin Williams	1	0	0	0	0	0.0	2,365	0.0	N/A	N/A
	Ashfield Independents	Roy Adkins	1	0	0	0	0	0.0	2,292	0.0	N/A	N/A
	Alliance for Green Socialism	Mike Davies	5	0	0	0	0	0.0	1,978	0.0	N/A	N/A
	Residents Association of London	Malvin Brown	2	0	0	0	0	0.0	1,850	0.0	N/A	N/A
	Workers' Party	Seán Garland	6	0	0	0	0	0.0	1,669	0.0	0.0	N/A
	Socialist Environmental	Goretti Horgan	1	0	0	0	0	0.0	1,649	0.0	N/A	N/A
	Scottish Unionist	Daniel Houston	1	0	0	0	0	0.0	1,266	0.0	0.0	N/A
	Workers Revolutionary	Sheila Torrance	10	0	0	0	0	0.0	1,241	0.0	0.0	N/A
	New England	Michael Tibby	1	0	0	0	0	0.0	1,224	0.0	N/A	N/A
	Communist	Robert Griffiths	6	0	0	0	0	0.0	1,124	0.0	0.0	N/A
	Community Group		1	0	0	0	0	0.0	1,118	0.0	N/A	N/A
	Peace and Progress	Chris Cooper	3	0	0	0	0	0.0	1,036	0.0	N/A	N/A
	Scottish Senior Citizens	John Swinburne	2	0	0	0	0	0.0	1,017	0.0	N/A	N/A
	Your Party	Daniel Thompson	2	0	0	0	0	0.0	1,006	0.0	N/A	N/A
	SOS! Northampton	Yvonne Dale	2	0	0	0	0	0.0	932	0.0	N/A	N/A
	Ind. Working Class	None	1	0	0	0	0	0.0	892	0.0	N/A	N/A
	Democratic Labour	Brian Powell	1	0	0	0	0	0.0	770	0.0	N/A	N/A
	British Public Party	Kashif Rana	1	0	0	0	0	0.0	763	0.0	N/A	N/A
	Free Scotland Party	Brian Nugent	3	0	0	0	0	0.0	743	0.0	N/A	N/A
	Pensioners Party Scotland	George Rodger	1	0	0	0	0	0.0	716	0.0	N/A	N/A
	Publican Party	Kit Fraser and Don Lawson	1	0	0	0	0	0.0	678	0.0	N/A	N/A
	English Independence Party	Andrew Constantine	1	0	0	0	0	0.0	654	0.0	N/A	N/A
	Socialist Unity	None	2	0	0	0	0	0.0	581	0.0	N/A	N/A
	Local Community Party	Jack Crossfield	1	0	0	0	0	0.0	570	0.0	N/A	N/A
	Clause 28	David Braid	3	0	0	0	0	0.0	516	0.0	N/A	N/A
	UK Community Issues Party	Michael Osman	3	0	0	0	0	0.0	502	0.0	N/A	N/A
Total			646					Turnout	27,148,510	61.4		42,026

Popular vote

  Labour (35.2%)

  Conservative (32.4%)

  Liberal Democrats (22.0%)

  UKIP (2.2%)

  SNP (1.5%)

  Greens (1%)

  DUP (0.9%)

  BNP (0.9%)

  Sinn Féin (0.9%)

  Plaid Cymru (0.9%)

The figure of 355 seats for Labour does not include the Speaker Michael Martin. See also the list of parties standing in Northern Ireland.

Government's new majority	66

Popular vote Labour   35.2% Conservative   32.4% Liberal Democrat   22.1% UK Independence   2.2% Scottish National   1.5% Green   1.0% Others   5.7%

Parliamentary seats Labour   55.1% Conservative   30.7% Liberal Democrat   9.6% Democratic Unionist   1.4% Scottish National   0.9% Sinn Féin   0.8% Others   1.6%

Seats changing hands

MPs who lost their seats

Party		Name	Constituency	Office held whilst in power	Year elected	Defeated by	Party
	Labour	Stephen Twigg	Enfield Southgate	Minister of State for Schools	1997	David Burrowes		Conservative Party
		Melanie Johnson	Welwyn Hatfield	Minister of State for Public Health	1997	Grant Shapps		Conservative Party
		Chris Leslie	Shipley	Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Department for Constitutional Affairs	1997	Philip Davies		Conservative Party
		Ivan Henderson	Harwich	Parliamentary Private Secretary at the Home Office	1997	Douglas Carswell		Conservative Party
		David Stewart	Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber (contested Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey)	Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for Scotland	1997	Danny Alexander		Liberal Democrats
		Peter Bradley	The Wrekin	Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Minister of State for Rural Affairs	1997	Mark Pritchard		Conservative Party
		Keith Bradley	Manchester Withington	Treasurer of the Household	1987	John Leech		Liberal Democrats
		Barbara Roche	Hornsey and Wood Green	Minister of State for Asylum and Immigration	1992	Lynne Featherstone		Liberal Democrats
		Calum MacDonald	Na h-Eileanan an Iar	Minister for Gaelic	1987	Angus MacNeil		Scottish National Party
		Roger Casale	Wimbledon		1997	Stephen Hammond		Conservative Party
		Paul Stinchcombe	Wellingborough		1997	Peter Bone		Conservative Party
		Kerry Pollard	St Albans		1997	Anne Main		Conservative Party
		Tony Clarke	Northampton South		1997	Brian Binley		Conservative Party
		Helen Clark	Peterborough		1997	Stewart Jackson		Conservative Party
		Tony Colman	Putney		1997	Justine Greening		Conservative Party
		Lorna Fitzsimons	Rochdale		1997	Paul Rowen		Liberal Democrats
		Andy King	Rugby and Kenilworth		1997	Jeremy Wright		Conservative Party
		Lawrie Quinn	Scarborough and Whitby		1997	Robert Goodwill		Conservative Party
		Brian White	North East Milton Keynes		1997	Mark Lancaster		Conservative Party
		Huw Edwards	Monmouth		1997	David Davies		Conservative Party
		Phil Sawford	Kettering		1997	Philip Hollobone		Conservative Party
		Linda Perham	Ilford North		1997	Lee Scott		Conservative Party
		John Cryer	Hornchurch		1997	James Brokenshire		Conservative Party
		Tony McWalter	Hemel Hempstead		1997	Mike Penning		Conservative Party
		Candy Atherton	Falmouth and Camborne		1997	Julia Goldsworthy		Liberal Democrats
		Nigel Beard	Bexleyheath and Crayford		1997	David Evennett		Conservative Party
		Oona King	Bethnal Green & Bow		1997	George Galloway		Respect Party
		Valerie Davey	Bristol West		1997	Stephen Williams		Liberal Democrats
		Anne Campbell	Cambridge		1992	David Howarth		Liberal Democrats
		Jon Owen Jones	Cardiff Central		1992	Jenny Willott		Liberal Democrats
		Gareth Thomas	Clwyd West		1997	David Jones		Conservative Party
		Geraint Davies	Croydon Central		1997	Andrew Pelling		Conservative Party
		John Lyons	Strathkelvin and Bearsden (contested East Dunbartonshire)		2001	Jo Swinson		Liberal Democrats
		Iain Luke	Dundee East		2001	Stewart Hosie		Scottish National Party
		Chris Pond	Gravesham	Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions	1997	Adam Holloway		Conservative Party
	Liberal Democrats	Brian Cotter	Weston-super-Mare	Small Business Spokesperson	1997	John Penrose		Conservative Party
		Sue Doughty	Guildford		2001	Anne Milton		Conservative Party
		Matthew Green	Ludlow		2001	Philip Dunne		Conservative Party
		David Rendel	Newbury		1993	Richard Benyon		Conservative Party
	Conservative	Tim Collins	Westmorland & Lonsdale	Shadow Secretary of State for Education and Skills	1997	Tim Farron		Liberal Democrats
		Peter Duncan	Galloway and Upper Nithsdale (contested Dumfries & Galloway)	Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland	2001	Russell Brown		Labour Party
		Adrian Flook	Taunton		2001	Jeremy Browne		Liberal Democrats
		John Taylor	Solihull		1983	Lorely Burt		Liberal Democrats
	Ulster Unionist Party	David Trimble	Upper Bann	Parliamentary Leader of the Ulster Unionists	1990	David Simpson		Democratic Unionist Party
		Roy Beggs	East Antrim		1983	Sammy Wilson		Democratic Unionist Party
		David Burnside	South Antrim		2001	William McCrea		Democratic Unionist Party
	Plaid Cymru	Simon Thomas	Ceredigion		2000	Mark Williams		Liberal Democrats
	Scottish National Party	Annabelle Ewing	Perth (contested Ochil and South Perthshire)		2001	Gordon Banks		Labour Party

Seats which changed allegiance

Labour to Conservative (31)

• Bexleyheath and Crayford
• Braintree
• Croydon Central
• Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale
• Enfield Southgate
• Forest of Dean
• Gravesham
• Hammersmith and Fulham
• Harwich
• Hemel Hempstead
• Hornchurch
• Ilford North
• Kettering
• Lancaster and Wyre
• Monmouth
• North East Milton Keynes
• Northampton South
• Peterborough
• Preseli Pembrokeshire
• Putney
• Reading East
• Rugby and Kenilworth
• St Albans
• Scarborough and Whitby
• Shipley
• Shrewsbury and Atcham
• Wellingborough
• Welwyn Hatfield
• Wimbledon
• The Wrekin

Labour to Liberal Democrat (11)

• Birmingham Yardley
• Bristol West
• Cambridge
• Cardiff Central
• East Dunbartonshire
• Falmouth and Camborne
• Hornsey and Wood Green
• Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey
• Leeds North West
• Manchester Withington
• Rochdale

Liberal Democrat to Conservative (5)

• Guildford
• Ludlow
• Newbury
• Torridge and West Devon
• Weston-Super-Mare

Conservative to Liberal Democrat (3)

• Solihull
• Taunton
• Westmorland and Lonsdale

Labour to SNP (2)

• Dundee East
• Na h-Eileanan an Iar

UUP to DUP (2)

• East Antrim
• South Antrim

Labour to Independent (1)

• Blaenau Gwent

Liberal Democrat to Labour (1)

• Leicester South

PC to Liberal Democrat (1)

• Ceredigion

UUP to SDLP (1)

• Belfast South

Labour to Respect (1)

• Bethnal Green and Bow

SDLP to Sinn Fein (1)

• Newry and Armagh

The disproportionality of the House of Commons in the 2005 election was 16.89 according to the Gallagher Index, mainly between Labour and the Liberal Democrats.

Post-election events

Formation of government

Following the election, Labour remained in power with Tony Blair remaining as Prime Minister. The morning after the election, Blair travelled to Buckingham Palace to inform The Queen of the election result and to receive permission to form a government, consequently beginning his third term as prime minister. Blair reshuffled his Cabinet and junior ministers over the following weekend, with formal announcements made on 9 May 2005. The most senior positions of Chancellor, Home Secretary and Foreign Secretary remained the same (Gordon Brown, Charles Clarke and Jack Straw respectively), but a few new faces were added. Most notably, David Blunkett returned to cabinet as the Work and Pensions Secretary, although he was forced to resign again due to another scandal before the end of the year that spawned a national press and opposition campaign for his dismissal. Patricia Hewitt became the new Health Secretary, Tessa Jowell remained as Culture Secretary, whilst Alan Johnson was promoted to Trade and Industry Secretary. Meanwhile, Ruth Kelly retained the Education job and Margaret Beckett stayed put at Environment.

The new Parliament met on 11 May for the election of the Speaker of the House of Commons.

New party leaders

On 6 May, Michael Howard announced he would be standing down as leader of the Conservative Party, but not before a review of the leadership rules. The formal leadership election began in October, and was ultimately won by David Cameron. On 7 May, David Trimble resigned as leader of the Ulster Unionist Party; Sir Reg Empey was elected as his successor at an Ulster Unionist Council meeting on 24 June.

End of the term

Blair's successor as Prime Minister, Gordon Brown (who came to office on 27 June 2007), visited Buckingham Palace on 6 April 2010 and asked the Queen to dissolve Parliament on 12 April. The next election was held on 6 May 2010.

Further reading

• John Bartle and Anthony King, eds. Britain at the Polls 2005 (2005) excerpt and text search
• Andrew Geddes and Jonathan Tonge, eds. Britain decides: the UK general election 2005 (2005) 311 pages
• Dennis Kavanagh and David Butler, eds. The British General Election of 2005 (2006) essays by political scientists

See also

• List of MPs elected in the 2005 United Kingdom general election
• 2005 United Kingdom general election in England
• 2005 United Kingdom general election in Scotland
• 2005 United Kingdom general election in Wales
• 2005 United Kingdom general election in Northern Ireland
• List of MPs for constituencies in England (2005–2010)
• List of MPs for constituencies in Northern Ireland (2005–2010)
• List of MPs for constituencies in Scotland (2005–2010)
• List of MPs for constituencies in Wales (2005–2010)
• 2005 United Kingdom local elections
• Results of the 2005 United Kingdom general election
• Results breakdown of the 2005 United Kingdom general election

External links

• Media related to 2005 United Kingdom general election at Wikimedia Commons
• NSD: European Election * http://news.bbc.co.uk/nol/ifs_news/hi/uk_news/politics/vote_2005/default.stm Database – UK

Manifestos

Main parties

• Are You Thinking What We're Thinking?, Conservative Party
• Britain forward, not back, Labour Party
• The REAL alternative, Liberal Democrats

Smaller parties which won seats

• Leadership That's Working, Democratic Unionist Party
• We can build a better Wales, Plaid Cymru
• Peace Justice Equality, Respect Party
• Let's Make Scotland Matter, Scottish National Party
• 2005 Westminster Election Manifesto, Sinn Féin
• SDLP Manifesto 2005, Social Democratic and Labour Party
• Ulster Unionist Manifesto 2005, Ulster Unionist Party

Other parties

• Alliance Works: Working for You at Westminster, Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
• Rebuilding British Democracy, British National Party
• The Real Choice For Real Change, Green Party of England and Wales
• The 2005 Manifesto, Liberal Party
• People, Planet, Peace, Scottish Green Party
• SSP Manifesto 2005, Scottish Socialist Party
• Programme For A Socialist Britain, Socialist Labour Party
• We Want Our Country Back, UK Independence Party
• Manifesto General Election 2005, Veritas