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1999 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom

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1999 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom
← 1994 10 June 1999 2004 →
All 87 seats of the United Kingdom's seats
in the European Parliament
Turnout24.0% (Decrease12.4%)[1]
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader William Hague Tony Blair Paddy Ashdown
Party Conservative Labour Liberal Democrats
Alliance EPP PES ALDE
Leader since 19 June 1997 21 July 1994 16 July 1988
Last election 18 seats, 26.8% 62 seats, 42.6% 2 seats, 17%
Seats before 18 62 2
Seats won 36 29 10
Seat change Increase18 Decrease33 Increase8
Popular vote 3,578,218 2,803,821 1,266,549
Percentage 33.5% 26.3% 11.9%
Swing Increase6.5% Decrease16.4% Decrease4.3%
Colours denote the winning party, as shown in the main table of results
Leader of Largest Party before election

Tony Blair
Labour

Subsequent Leader of Largest Party

William Hague
Conservative

Part of a series of articles on
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(1973–2020)
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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.

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.[2] 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 United Kingdom in electoral history.[1]

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

United Kingdom

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.[3] 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.[2]

style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #0087DC;" data-sort-value="Conservative Party (UK)" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #E4003B;" data-sort-value="Labour Party (UK)" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #FAA61A;" data-sort-value="Liberal Democrats (UK)" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #6D3177;" data-sort-value="UK Independence Party" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #02A95B;" data-sort-value="Green Party of England and Wales" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #FDF38E;" data-sort-value="Scottish National Party" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #D46A4C;" data-sort-value="Democratic Unionist Party" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #2AA82C;" data-sort-value="Social Democratic and Labour Party" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #005B54;" data-sort-value="Plaid Cymru" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #31649D;" data-sort-value="Pro-Euro Conservative Party" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #48A5EE;" data-sort-value="Ulster Unionist Party" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #326760;" data-sort-value="Sinn Féin" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #2e3b74;" data-sort-value="British National Party" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #EB7A43;" data-sort-value="Liberal Party (UK, 1989)" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #EE1C25;" data-sort-value="Socialist Labour Party (UK)" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #00B140;" data-sort-value="Scottish Green Party" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #ff0000;" data-sort-value="Scottish Socialist Party" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #2B45A2;" data-sort-value="Progressive Unionist Party" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #ffe4e1;" data-sort-value="Natural Law Party" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #660066;" data-sort-value="UK Unionist Party" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #F6CB2F;" data-sort-value="Alliance Party of Northern Ireland" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: red;" data-sort-value="Socialist Alliance (England)" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: orange;" data-sort-value="Humanist Party (UK)" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #DC241f;" data-sort-value="Socialist Party of Great Britain" |
Party Votes won % of vote Change Seats % of seats Loss/Gain
vs actual
'94 result 		Loss/Gain
vs notional
'94 result
Conservative 3,578,218 33.5 Increase6.5 36 41.4 Increase18 Increase10
Labour 2,803,821 26.3 Decrease16.4 29 33.3 Decrease33 Decrease14
Liberal Democrats 1,266,549 11.9 Decrease4.3 10 11.9 Increase8 Decrease1
UKIP 696,057 6.5 Increase5.6 3 3.4 Increase3 Increase3
Green 568,236 5.3 Increase2.3 2 2.4 Increase2 Increase2
SNP 268,528 2.5 Decrease0.6 2 2.3 Steady Decrease1
DUP 192,762 1.8 Increase0.8 1 1.1 Steady Steady
SDLP 190,731 1.8 Increase0.8 1 1.1 Steady Steady
Plaid Cymru 185,235 1.7 Increase0.7 2 2.3 Increase2 Increase1
Pro-Euro Conservative 138,097 1.3 New 0 Steady Steady Steady
UUP 119,507 1.1 Increase0.3 1 1.1 Steady Steady
Sinn Féin 117,643 1.1 Increase0.8 0 Steady Steady Steady
BNP 102,647 1.0 New 0 Steady Steady Steady
Liberal 93,051 0.9 Increase0.3 0 Steady Steady Steady
Socialist Labour 86,749 0.8 New 0 Steady Steady Steady
Scottish Green 57,142 0.5 Increase0.4 0 Steady Steady Steady
Scottish Socialist 39,720 0.4 New 0 Steady Steady Steady
PUP 22,494 0.2 New 0 Steady Steady Steady
Natural Law 21,327 0.2 Decrease0.4 0 Steady Steady Steady
UK Unionist 20,283 0.2 New 0 Steady Steady Steady
Alliance 14,391 0.1 Steady 0 Steady Steady Steady
Socialist Alliance 7,203 0.1 New 0 Steady Steady Steady
Humanist 2,586 0.0 New 0 Steady Steady Steady
Weekly Worker 1,724 0.0 New 0 Steady Steady Steady
Socialist (GB) 1,510 0.0 New 0 Steady Steady Steady
Others 84,872 0.8 0 Steady Steady Steady
Total 10,681,083 87 100
Source: BBC News,[4] UK Parliament Briefing[2]

Great Britain

Summary of the election results for Great Britain

style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #0087DC;" data-sort-value="Conservative Party (UK)" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #E4003B;" data-sort-value="Labour Party (UK)" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #FAA61A;" data-sort-value="Liberal Democrats (UK)" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #6D3177;" data-sort-value="UK Independence Party" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #02A95B;" data-sort-value="Green Party of England and Wales" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #FDF38E;" data-sort-value="Scottish National Party" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #005B54;" data-sort-value="Plaid Cymru" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #31649D;" data-sort-value="Pro-Euro Conservative Party" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #2e3b74;" data-sort-value="British National Party" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #EB7A43;" data-sort-value="Liberal Party (UK, 1989)" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #EE1C25;" data-sort-value="Socialist Labour Party (UK)" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #00B140;" data-sort-value="Scottish Green Party" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #ff0000;" data-sort-value="Scottish Socialist Party" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #ffe4e1;" data-sort-value="Natural Law Party" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: red;" data-sort-value="Socialist Alliance (England)" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: orange;" data-sort-value="Humanist Party (UK)" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #DC241f;" data-sort-value="Socialist Party of 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 3,578,218 35.8 Increase7.9 36 42.9 Increase18
Labour 2,803,821 28.0 Decrease16.1 29 34.5 Decrease33
Liberal Democrats 1,266,549 12.7 Decrease4.1 10 11.9 Increase8
UKIP 696,057 7.0 Increase6.0 3 3.6 Increase3 Increase3
Green 568,236 6.3 Increase2.6 2 2.4 Increase2 Increase2
SNP 268,528 2.7 Decrease0.5 2 2.4 Steady Decrease1
Plaid Cymru 185,235 1.9 Increase0.8 2 2.4 Increase2 Increase1
Pro-Euro Conservative 138,097 1.4 New 0 Steady Steady Steady
BNP 102,647 1.0 New 0 Steady Steady Steady
Liberal 93,051 0.9 Increase0.3 0 Steady Steady Steady
Socialist Labour 86,749 0.9 New 0 Steady Steady Steady
Scottish Green 57,142 0.6 Increase0.4 0 Steady Steady Steady
Scottish Socialist 39,720 0.4 New 0 Steady Steady Steady
Natural Law 20,329 0.4 Decrease0.2 0 Steady Steady Steady
Socialist Alliance 7,203 0.1 New 0 Steady Steady Steady
Humanist 2,586 0.0 New 0 Steady Steady Steady
Weekly Worker 1,724 0.0 New 0 Steady Steady Steady
Socialist (GB) 1,510 0.1 New 0 Steady Steady Steady
Others 84,872 0.8 0 Steady Steady Steady
Total 10,002,273 84 100
Source: BBC News,[4] UK Parliament Briefing[2]

Northern Ireland

Summary of the election results for Northern Ireland[4]

style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #D46A4C;" data-sort-value="Democratic Unionist Party" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #2AA82C;" data-sort-value="Social Democratic and Labour Party" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #48A5EE;" data-sort-value="Ulster Unionist Party" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #326760;" data-sort-value="Sinn Féin" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #2B45A2;" data-sort-value="Progressive Unionist Party" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #660066;" data-sort-value="UK Unionist Party" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #F6CB2F;" data-sort-value="Alliance Party of Northern Ireland" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #ffe4e1;" data-sort-value="Natural Law Party" |
European Parliament election 1999: Northern Ireland[5]
Party Candidate(s) Seats Loss/GainFirst Preference Votes
Number % of vote
DUP Ian Paisley 1 0 192,762 28.4
SDLP John Hume 1 0 190,731 28.1
UUP Jim Nicholson 1 0 119,507 17.6
Sinn Féin Mitchel McLaughlin 0 0 117,643 17.3
PUP David Ervine 0 0 22,494 3.3
UK Unionist Robert McCartney 0 0 20,283 3.0
Alliance Seán Neeson 0 0 14,391 2.1
Natural Law James Anderson 0 0 998 0.2
Turnout 678,809

MEPs defeated

Labour

Liberal Democrat

Conservative

Pro-Euro Conservative Party

Independent Labour

Scottish Socialist Party

Leeds Left Alliance

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.[6] 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.[7]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Previous European Parliamentary Elections – About Parliament". European Parliament. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
  2. ^ a b c d "European Parliament Elections June 1999 - Commons Library briefing". UK Parliament. 21 June 1999. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
  3. ^ "Success for smaller parties". BBC News. 14 June 1999. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
  4. ^ a b c "Euro Elections, Results - Great Britain and Northern Ireland". BBC News. Retrieved 24 May 2014.
  5. ^ The 1999 European Election, Northern Ireland Elections
  6. ^ "Labour postmortem begins". BBC News. 14 June 1999. Retrieved 25 May 2014.
  7. ^ "Robin Oakley's Westminister Week - The Euro fallout". BBC News. 14 June 1999. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
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