1979 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom European Parliament election, 1979
81 seats to the European Parliament
Turnout	32.7%
	Leader of Largest Party ; Margaret Thatcher; Conservative

The European Assembly Election, 1979, was the first European election to be held in the United Kingdom after the European Community (EC) decided to directly elect representatives to the European Parliament. It was held on 7 June. Elections were also held in eight other EC states. European elections were incorporated into UK law by the European Assembly Elections Act 1978. Out of the 410 members of the European Parliament, 81 were elected from the UK. The electoral system was First Past the Post in England, Scotland and Wales (electing 78 MEPs in total) and Single Transferable Vote in Northern Ireland (electing 3 MEPs).

The result was a landslide victory for the Conservative Party, which won 60 of the 78 seats available in England, Wales and Scotland. Their decisive victory in the general election of the previous month and divisions within the Labour party on whether to stay in the EC probably helped the Conservatives to such a comprehensive victory. There was a very low turnout in the election compared with other states, the lowest in Europe. Voter apathy was an explanation, but it is likely the large number of elections in 1979 had a significant negative effect on turnout. There were referendums in Scotland and Wales on devolution in March and the general election in May, as well as local elections in England (not including London) and Wales.

Overall (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) turnout: 32.7% (EC average: 63%)
Overall votes cast: 13,460,091

Result (UK-wide)

Source: UK Parliament Briefing

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: #FFD700;" data-sort-value="Liberal Party (UK)" | 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: #48A5EE;" data-sort-value="Ulster Unionist Party" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #005B54;" data-sort-value="Plaid Cymru" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #F6CB2F;" data-sort-value="Alliance Party of Northern Ireland" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #aadfff;" data-sort-value="Independent Unionist" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #d1ffb2;" data-sort-value="Independent Republican (Ireland)" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #DCDCDC;" data-sort-value="Independent (politician)" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: yellowgreen;" data-sort-value="Ecology Party" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #d5c229;" data-sort-value="Mebyon Kernow" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #DDEEFF;" data-sort-value="Independent Conservative" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #F8F9FA;" data-sort-value="Workers' Party of Ireland" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #ffa07a;" data-sort-value="Unionist Party of Northern Ireland" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: red;" data-sort-value="International Marxist Group" |

Party		Votes won	% of vote	Seats	% of seats
Conservative	6,508,492	48.4	60	75.0
Labour	4,253,247	31.6	17	21.3
Liberal	1,690,638	12.6	0	—
SNP	247,836	1.8	1	1.3
DUP	170,688	1.3	1	1.3
SDLP	140,622	1.0	1	1.3
UUP	125,169	0.9	1	1.3
Plaid Cymru	83,399	0.6	0	—
Alliance	39,026	0.3	0	—
Ind. Unionist	38,198	0.3	0	—
Ind. Republican	33,969	0.3	0	—
	United Against the Common Market	27,506	0.2	0	—
Independent	23,539	0.2	0	—
Ecology	17,953	0.1	0	—
Mebyon Kernow	10,205	0.1	0	—
	United Community	9,383	0.1	0	—
	United Labour	6,122	0.0	0	—
Ind. Conservative	4,804	0.0	0	—
Workers' Party of Ireland	4,418	0.0	0	—
Unionist Party NI	3,712	0.0	0	—
	Independent Democratic	2,473	0.0	0	—
International Marxist	1,635	0.0	0	—
	Ulster Liberal Party	932	0.0	0	—
	EFP	497	0.0	0	—
	Others	1,628	0.0	0	—

Results Breakdown

England, Scotland and Wales

Source: UK Parliament Briefing

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: #FFD700;" data-sort-value="Liberal Party (UK)" | 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: #DCDCDC;" data-sort-value="Independent (politician)" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: yellowgreen;" data-sort-value="Ecology Party" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #d5c229;" data-sort-value="Mebyon Kernow" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #DDEEFF;" data-sort-value="Independent Conservative" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: red;" data-sort-value="International Marxist Group" |

Party		Votes won	% of vote	Seats	% of seats
Conservative	6,508,492	50.6	60	76.9
Labour	4,253,247	33.0	17	21.8
Liberal	1,690,638	13.1	0	—
SNP	247,836	1.9	1	1.3
Plaid Cymru	83,399	0.6	0	—
	United Against the Common Market	27,506	0.2	0	—
Independent	23,539	0.2	0	—
Ecology	17,953	0.1	0	—
Mebyon Kernow	10,205	0.1	0	—
Ind. Conservative	4,804	0.0	0	—
	Independent Democratic	2,473	0.0	0	—
International Marxist	1,635	0.0	0	—
	EFP	497	0.0	0	—
	Others	1,628	0.0	0	—

Total votes cast - 12,873,852.

Northern Ireland

Source Northern Ireland Social and Political Archive

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: #F6CB2F;" data-sort-value="Alliance Party of Northern Ireland" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #aadfff;" data-sort-value="Independent Unionist" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #d1ffb2;" data-sort-value="Independent Republican (Ireland)" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #F8F9FA;" data-sort-value="Workers' Party of Ireland" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #ffa07a;" data-sort-value="Unionist Party of Northern Ireland" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #DAA520;" data-sort-value="Ulster Liberal Party" |

Party		Candidate(s)	Seats	First Preference Votes
Party		Candidate(s)	Seats	Number	% of vote
DUP	Ian Paisley	1	170,688	29.8
SDLP	John Hume	1	140,622	25.5
UUP	John Taylor, Harry West	1	125,169	21.9
Alliance	Oliver Napier	0	39,026	6.8
Ind. Unionist	James Kilfedder	0	38,198	6.7
Ind. Republican	Bernadette McAliskey	0	33,969	5.9
	United Community	David Bleakley	0	9,383	1.6
	United Labour	Paddy Devlin	0	6,122	1.1
Workers' Party of Ireland	Brian Brennan, Francis Donnelly	0	4,418	0.8
Unionist Party NI	Eddie Cummings	0	3,712	0.6
Ulster Liberal	James Murray	0	932	0.2

Total votes cast - 572,239.

Constituency Results

Constituency	Constituency result by party							Winning party 1984
Constituency	Con	Lab	Lib	PC	SNP	Others		Winning party 1984
Bedfordshire						style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #0087DC;" data-sort-value="Conservative Party (UK)" \|	Conservative
Birmingham North						style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #0087DC;" data-sort-value="Conservative Party (UK)" \|	Conservative
Birmingham South						style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #0087DC;" data-sort-value="Conservative Party (UK)" \|	Conservative
Bristol						style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #0087DC;" data-sort-value="Conservative Party (UK)" \|	Conservative
Cambridgeshire						style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #0087DC;" data-sort-value="Conservative Party (UK)" \|	Conservative
Cheshire East						style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #0087DC;" data-sort-value="Conservative Party (UK)" \|	Conservative
Cheshire West						style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #0087DC;" data-sort-value="Conservative Party (UK)" \|	Conservative
Cleveland						style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #0087DC;" data-sort-value="Conservative Party (UK)" \|	Conservative
Cornwall and Plymouth						style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #0087DC;" data-sort-value="Conservative Party (UK)" \|	Conservative
Cotswolds						style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #0087DC;" data-sort-value="Conservative Party (UK)" \|	Conservative
Cumbria						style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #0087DC;" data-sort-value="Conservative Party (UK)" \|	Conservative
Derbyshire						style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #0087DC;" data-sort-value="Conservative Party (UK)" \|	Conservative
Devon						style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #0087DC;" data-sort-value="Conservative Party (UK)" \|	Conservative
Durham						style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #E4003B;" data-sort-value="Labour Party (UK)" \|	Labour
Essex North East						style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #0087DC;" data-sort-value="Conservative Party (UK)" \|	Conservative
Essex South West						style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #0087DC;" data-sort-value="Conservative Party (UK)" \|	Conservative
Glasgow	41,144	73,846	11,073		24,776	style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #E4003B;" data-sort-value="Labour Party (UK)" \|	Labour
Greater Manchester North						style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #E4003B;" data-sort-value="Labour Party (UK)" \|	Labour
Greater Manchester South						style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #0087DC;" data-sort-value="Conservative Party (UK)" \|	Conservative
Greater Manchester West						style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #0087DC;" data-sort-value="Conservative Party (UK)" \|	Conservative
Hampshire West						style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #0087DC;" data-sort-value="Conservative Party (UK)" \|	Conservative
Hereford and Worcester						style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #0087DC;" data-sort-value="Conservative Party (UK)" \|	Conservative
Hertfordshire						style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #0087DC;" data-sort-value="Conservative Party (UK)" \|	Conservative
Highlands and Islands	30,776	10,846	36,109		39,991	style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #FDF38E;" data-sort-value="Scottish National Party" \|	SNP
Humberside						style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #0087DC;" data-sort-value="Conservative Party (UK)" \|	Conservative
Kent East						style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #0087DC;" data-sort-value="Conservative Party (UK)" \|	Conservative
Kent West						style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #0087DC;" data-sort-value="Conservative Party (UK)" \|	Conservative
Lancashire Central						style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #0087DC;" data-sort-value="Conservative Party (UK)" \|	Conservative
Lancashire East						style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #0087DC;" data-sort-value="Conservative Party (UK)" \|	Conservative
Lancashire West						style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #0087DC;" data-sort-value="Conservative Party (UK)" \|	Conservative
Leeds						style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #E4003B;" data-sort-value="Labour Party (UK)" \|	Labour
Leicester						style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #0087DC;" data-sort-value="Conservative Party (UK)" \|	Conservative
Lincolnshire						style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #0087DC;" data-sort-value="Conservative Party (UK)" \|	Conservative
Liverpool						style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #0087DC;" data-sort-value="Conservative Party (UK)" \|	Conservative
London Central	84,915	45,721	19,010			6,448 style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #0087DC;" data-sort-value="Conservative Party (UK)" \|	Conservative
London East	77,955	64,925	16,783			style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #0087DC;" data-sort-value="Conservative Party (UK)" \|	Conservative
London North	74,042	59,077	15,838			style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #0087DC;" data-sort-value="Conservative Party (UK)" \|	Conservative
London North East	36,200	61,004	8,839			style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #E4003B;" data-sort-value="Labour Party (UK)" \|	Labour
London North West	87,596	49,268	21,618			style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #0087DC;" data-sort-value="Conservative Party (UK)" \|	Conservative
London South	98,298	44,967	23,526			style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #0087DC;" data-sort-value="Conservative Party (UK)" \|	Conservative
London South East	94,180	54,798	21,494			890 style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #0087DC;" data-sort-value="Conservative Party (UK)" \|	Conservative
London South Inner	60,652	67,830	10,509			style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #E4003B;" data-sort-value="Labour Party (UK)" \|	Labour
London South West	83,498	51,742	21,251			3,810 style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #0087DC;" data-sort-value="Conservative Party (UK)" \|	Conservative
London West	89,433	67,193	17,077			1,635 style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #0087DC;" data-sort-value="Conservative Party (UK)" \|	Conservative
Lothians	66,761	61,180	29,518		29,935	style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #0087DC;" data-sort-value="Conservative Party (UK)" \|	Conservative
Mid and West Wales	67,226	77,474	17,628	22,730		1,826 style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #E4003B;" data-sort-value="Labour Party (UK)" \|	Labour
Mid Scotland and Fife	66,255	58,768	18,112		45,426	style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #0087DC;" data-sort-value="Conservative Party (UK)" \|	Conservative
Midlands Central						style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #0087DC;" data-sort-value="Conservative Party (UK)" \|	Conservative
Midlands East						style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #0087DC;" data-sort-value="Conservative Party (UK)" \|	Conservative
Midlands West						style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #0087DC;" data-sort-value="Conservative Party (UK)" \|	Conservative
Norfolk						style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #0087DC;" data-sort-value="Conservative Party (UK)" \|	Conservative
North East Scotland	51,930	38,139	38,516		28,886	style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #0087DC;" data-sort-value="Conservative Party (UK)" \|	Conservative
North Wales	74,173	46,627	21,989	34,171		style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #0087DC;" data-sort-value="Conservative Party (UK)" \|	Conservative
Northamptonshire						style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #0087DC;" data-sort-value="Conservative Party (UK)" \|	Conservative
Northumbria						style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #E4003B;" data-sort-value="Labour Party (UK)" \|	Labour
Nottingham						style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #E4003B;" data-sort-value="Labour Party (UK)" \|	Labour
Salop and Stafford						style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #0087DC;" data-sort-value="Conservative Party (UK)" \|	Conservative
Sheffield						style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #E4003B;" data-sort-value="Labour Party (UK)" \|	Labour
Somerset						style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #0087DC;" data-sort-value="Conservative Party (UK)" \|	Conservative
South East Wales	51,478	93,093	10,534	12,469		2,182 style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #E4003B;" data-sort-value="Labour Party (UK)" \|	Labour
South of Scotland	66,816	43,145	16,825		28,694	style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #0087DC;" data-sort-value="Conservative Party (UK)" \|	Conservative
South Wales	66,852	77,784	17,811	14,029		style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #E4003B;" data-sort-value="Labour Party (UK)" \|	Labour
Staffordshire East						style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #0087DC;" data-sort-value="Conservative Party (UK)" \|	Conservative
Strathclyde East	41,482	72,263	10,325		21,013	style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #E4003B;" data-sort-value="Labour Party (UK)" \|	Labour
Strathclyde West	65,608	63,781	17,955		29,115	style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #0087DC;" data-sort-value="Conservative Party (UK)" \|	Conservative
Suffolk						style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #0087DC;" data-sort-value="Conservative Party (UK)" \|	Conservative
Surrey						style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #0087DC;" data-sort-value="Conservative Party (UK)" \|	Conservative
Sussex East						style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #0087DC;" data-sort-value="Conservative Party (UK)" \|	Conservative
Sussex West						style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #0087DC;" data-sort-value="Conservative Party (UK)" \|	Conservative
Thames Valley						style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #0087DC;" data-sort-value="Conservative Party (UK)" \|	Conservative
Tyne South and Wear						style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #E4003B;" data-sort-value="Labour Party (UK)" \|	Labour
Upper Thames						style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #0087DC;" data-sort-value="Conservative Party (UK)" \|	Conservative
Wessex						style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #0087DC;" data-sort-value="Conservative Party (UK)" \|	Conservative
Wight and Hampshire East						style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #0087DC;" data-sort-value="Conservative Party (UK)" \|	Conservative
Wiltshire						style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #0087DC;" data-sort-value="Conservative Party (UK)" \|	Conservative
Yorkshire North						style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #0087DC;" data-sort-value="Conservative Party (UK)" \|	Conservative
Yorkshire South						style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #E4003B;" data-sort-value="Labour Party (UK)" \|	Labour
Yorkshire South West						style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #E4003B;" data-sort-value="Labour Party (UK)" \|	Labour
Yorkshire West						style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #E4003B;" data-sort-value="Labour Party (UK)" \|	Labour

Party Leaders in June 1979

Conservative - Margaret Thatcher
Labour - James Callaghan
Liberal - David Steel
SNP - Gordon Wilson
DUP - Ian Paisley
SDLP - John Hume
UUP - Harry West

v t e Elections to the European Parliament
1979	Belgium Denmark (including Greenland) France Ireland Italy Luxembourg Netherlands United Kingdom West Germany
1984	Belgium Denmark (including Greenland) France Greece Ireland Italy Luxembourg Netherlands United Kingdom West Germany
1989	Belgium Denmark France Greece Ireland Italy Luxembourg Netherlands Portugal Spain United Kingdom West Germany
1994	Belgium Denmark France Germany Greece Ireland Italy Luxembourg Netherlands Portugal Spain United Kingdom
1999	Austria Belgium Denmark Finland France Germany Greece Ireland Italy Luxembourg Netherlands Portugal Spain Sweden United Kingdom
2004	Austria Belgium Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Finland France Germany Greece Hungary Ireland Italy Latvia Lithuania Luxembourg Malta Netherlands Poland Portugal Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden United Kingdom (including Gibraltar)
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Off-year	Greece (1981) Portugal (1987) Spain (1987) Sweden (1995) Austria (1996) Finland (1996) Bulgaria (2007) Romania (2007) Croatia (2013) UK by-elections (1979–1998)

v t e Elections and referendums in the United Kingdom
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See also Elections in England Northern Ireland Scotland Wales Great Britain