European Parliament election, 2004 (UK)

1979 election

1984 election

1989 election

1994 election

1999 election

2004 election

The European Parliament election, 2004 was the UK part of the European Parliament election, 2004. It was the first European election to be held in the United Kingdom using postal-only voting in four areas. It coincided with local and regional elections.

The Conservative Party and the Labour Party both polled poorly. The Conservatives, although getting a vote share 4.1% greater than Labour, still 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 the United Kingdom Independence Party.

The United Kingdom Independence Party did exceptionally well, and managed to increase its number of MEPs from 3 to 12, pushing the Liberal Democrats into fourth place. UKIP received a very large increase in media coverage before the elections, partly because of the appointment of Robert Kilroy-Silk as a candidate. The actress Joan Collins also became a member and announced her support for the party.

Other minor parties also posted vote gains.

In Northern Ireland, as expected, Sinn Féin beat the SDLP in the polls and took its first Northern Ireland seat. This coincided with its winning a seat in the corresponding elections in the Republic.

Gibraltar voted for the first time, as part of the South West England region. The Conservative Party won overwhelming support there on a higher than average turnout. For full results, see European Parliament Election, 2004 (Gibraltar).

Contents

1 Results 1.1 England, Scotland and Wales - Overall Result 1.2 England 1.2.1 East Midlands 1.2.2 Eastern 1.2.3 London 1.2.4 North East 1.2.5 North West 1.2.6 South East 1.2.7 South West 1.2.8 West Midlands 1.2.9 Yorkshire and Humber 1.3 Scotland 1.4 Wales 1.5 Northern Ireland 2 Members returned 2.1 East Midlands 2.2 East of England 2.3 London 2.4 North East England 2.5 North West England 2.6 Northern Ireland 2.7 Scotland 2.8 South East England 2.9 South West England 2.10 Wales 2.11 West Midlands 2.12 Yorkshire and the Humber 3 Party Leaders in June 2004 4 See also 5 External links 5.1 Source 5.2 Other guides 5.3 Manifestos and documents

Results

• Turnout for all the regions was 37.6% on an electorate of 45,309,760.

England, Scotland and Wales - Overall Result

Source: BBC

Party	Votes	%	Change	Seats	Change
Conservative Party	4,397,090	26.7	-9.0	27	-8
Labour Party	3,718,683	22.6	-5.4	19	-6
UK Independence Party	2,650,768	16.1	+9.2	12	+10
Liberal Democrats	2,452,327	14.9	+2.3	12	+2
Green Party	1,033,093	6.3	0.0	2	0
British National Party	808,200	4.9	+3.9	0	0
Scottish National Party	231,505	1.4	-1.3	2	0
Plaid Cymru	159,888	1.0	-0.9	1	0
Others	1,170,737	11.6
Total	17,028,947

England

There are 9 English regions:

East Midlands

Source: BBC

• Turnout was 43.4% on an electorate of 3,241,566

Party	Votes	%	Change	Seats
Conservative Party	371,362	26.4	-13.1	2
UK Independence Party	366,498	26.1	+18.5	2
Labour Party	294,198	21.0	-7.6	1
Liberal Democrats	181,964	12.9	+0.2	1
British National Party	91,860	6.5	+5.2	0
Green Party	76,633	5.5	+0.1	0
RESPECT	20,009	1.4	+1.4	0
Independent - Rogers	2,615	0.2	+0.2	0
Independent - Shadmyraine	847	0.1	+0.1	0

Eastern

Source: BBC

• Turnout was 36.5% on an electorate of 4,170,840

Party	Votes	%	Change	Seats
Conservative Party	465,526	30.8	-11.9	3
UK Independence Party	296,160	19.6	+10.7	2
Labour Party	244,929	16.2	-8.9	1
Liberal Democrats	211,378	14.0	+2.1	1
Independent - Bell	93,028	6.2	+6.2	0
Green Party	84,068	5.6	-0.6	0
British National Party	65,557	4.3	+3.4	0
English Democrats Party	26,807	1.8	+1.8	0
RESPECT	13,904	0.9	+0.9	0
Independent - Naisbitt	5,137	0.3	+0.3	0
Prolife Alliance	3,730	0.3	+0.3	0

London

Source: BBC

• Turnout was 37.3% on an electorate of 5,143,392

Party	Votes	%	Change	Seats
Conservative Party	504,941	26.8	-5.9	3
Labour Party	466,584	24.8	-10.3	3
Liberal Democrats	288,790	15.3	+3.7	1
UK Independence Party	232,633	12.3	+6.9	1
Green Party	158,986	8.4	+0.8	1
RESPECT	91,175	4.8	+4.8	0
British National Party	76,152	4.0	+2.5	0
Christian Peoples Alliance	45,038	2.4	+2.4	0
English Democrats Party	15,945	0.9	+0.9	0
PPBG	5,205	0.3	+0.3	0

North East

Source: BBC

• Turnout was 40.8% on an electorate of 1,922,446

Party	Votes	%	Change	Seats
Labour Party	266,057	34.1	-8.1	1
Conservative Party	144,969	18.6	-8.8	1
Liberal Democrats	138,791	17.8	+4.3	1
UK Independence Party	94,887	12.2	+3.3	0
British National Party	50,249	6.4	+5.5	0
Independent - Herron	39,658	5.1	+5.1	0
Green Party	37,247	4.8	+0.1	0
RESPECT	8,633	1.1	+1.1	0

North West

Source: BBC

• Turnout was 40.9% on an electorate of 5,188,717

Party	Votes	%	Change	Seats
Labour Party	576,388	27.4	-7.1	3
Conservative Party	509,466	24.2	-11.2	3
Liberal Democrats	335,063	15.9	+4.2	2
UK Independence Party	257,158	11.7	+5.2	1
British National Party	134,959	6.4	+5.1	0
Green Party	117,393	5.6	-	0
Liberal Party	96,325	4.6	+2.4	0
English Democrats Party	34,110	1.6	+1.6	0
RESPECT	24,636	1.2	+1.2	0
Countryside Party	11,283	0.5	+0.5	0
Prolife Alliance	10,084	0.5	+0.5	0
Independent - Neal	8,318	0.4	+0.4	0

South East

• Turnout was 36.5% on an electorate of 6,087,103

Party	Votes	%	Change	Seats
Conservative Party	776,370	35.2	-9.3	4
UK Independence Party	431,111	19.5	+9.8	2
Liberal Democrats	338,342	15.3	-	2
Labour Party	301,398	13.7	-6.0	1
Green Party	173,351	7.9	+0.4	1
British National Party	64,877	2.9	+2.1	0
Senior Citizens Party	42,861	1.9	+1.9	0
English Democrats Party	29,126	1.3	+1.3	0
RESPECT	13,426	0.6	+0.6	0
Peace Party	12,572	0.6	+0.6	0
Christian Peoples Alliance	11,733	0.5	+0.5	0
Prolife Alliance	6,579	0.3	+0.3	0
Independent - Rhodes	5,671	0.3	+0.3	0

South West

• Turnout was 37.6% on an electorate of 3,845,253

Party	Votes	%	Change	Seats
Conservative Party	457,371	31.6	-10.1	3
UK Independence Party	326,784	22.6	+11.9	2
Liberal Democrats	265,619	18.3	+1.9	1
Labour Party	209,908	14.5	-3.6	1
Green Party	103,821	7.2	-1.1	0
British National Party	43,653	3.0	+2.1	0
Countryside Party	30,824	2.1	+2.1	0
RESPECT	10,473	0.7	+0.7	0

Gibraltar was considered to be part of South West England for the purposes of the election. The Conservative Party won overwhelming support there. For full results, see European Parliament Election, 2004 (Gibraltar).

West Midlands

• Turnout was 36.0% on an electorate of 4,016,007

Party	Votes	%	Change	Seats
Conservative Party	392,937	27.3	-10.6	3
Labour Party	336,613	23.4	-4.6	2
UK Independence Party	251,366	17.5	+11.6	1
Liberal Democrats	197,479	13.7	+2.5	1
British National Party	107,794	7.5	+5.8	0
Green Party	73,991	5.2	-0.7	0
RESPECT	34,704	2.4	+2.4	0
Pensioners Party	33,501	2.3	+2.3	0
The Common Good	8,650	0.6	+0.6	0

Yorkshire and Humber

• Turnout was 42.6% on an electorate of 3,730,275

Party	Votes	%	Change	Seats
Labour Party	413,213	26.3	-5.1	2
Conservative Party	387,369	24.6	-12.0	2
Liberal Democrats	244,607	15.6	+1.2	1
UK Independence Party	228,666	14.5	+7.4	1
British National Party	126,538	8.0	+6.8	0
Green Party	90,337	5.7	-	0
RESPECT	29,865	1.9	+1.9	0
English Democrats Party	24,068	1.5	+1.5	0
Independent - Ellis	14,762	0.9	+0.9	0
Alliance for Green Socialism	13,776	0.9	+0.9	0

Scotland

Source: BBC

• Turnout was 30.9% on an electorate of 3,877,194

Party	Votes	%	Change	Seats
Labour Party	310,865	26.4	-2.3	2
Scottish National Party	231,505	19.7	-7.5	2
Conservative Party	209,028	17.8	-2.0	2
Liberal Democrats	154,178	13.1	+3.3	1
Green Party	79,695	6.8	+1.0	0
UK Independence Party	78,828	6.7	+5.4	0
Scottish Socialist Party	61,356	5.2	+1.2	0
Operation Christian Vote	21,056	1.8	+1.8	0
British National Party	19,427	1.7	+1.3	0
Scottish Wind Watch	7,255	0.6	+0.6	0
Independent - Tait	3,624	0.3	+0.3	0

Wales

Source: BBC

• Turnout was 41.4% on an electorate of 2,228,030

Party	Votes	%	Change	Seats
Labour Party	297,810	32.5	+0.6	2
Conservative Party	177,771	19.4	-3.4	1
Plaid Cymru	159,888	17.4	-12.2	1
UK Independence Party	96,677	10.5	+7.4	0
Liberal Democrats	96,166	10.2	+2.3	0
Green Party	32,761	3.6	+1.0	0
British National Party	27,135	3.0	+3.0	0
Forward Wales	17,280	1.9	+1.9	0
Christian Democratic Party	6,821	0.7	+0.7	0
RESPECT	5,427	0.6	+1.9	0

Northern Ireland

Source: BBC

• Turnout was 51.72 % on an electorate of 1,072,669

Party	Seats	Loss/Gain	First Preference Votes
			Number	% of vote
Democratic Unionist Party (DUP)	1	0	175,761	31.9
Sinn Fein (SF)	1	+1	144,541	26.3
Ulster Unionist Party (UUP)	1	0	91,164	16.6
Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP)	0	-1	87,559	15.9
Independent - Gilliland	0	0	36,270	6.6
Socialist Environmental Alliance	0	0	9,172	1.6
Green Party	0	0	4,810	0.9

Members returned

East Midlands

• Derek Clark (UKIP)
• Chris Heaton-Harris (Con)
• Roger Helmer (Con)
• Robert Kilroy-Silk (UKIP) now Veritas
• Bill Newton Dunn (LibDem)
• Phillip Whitehead (Lab)

East of England

• Christopher Beazley (Con)
• Andrew Duff (LibDem)
• Richard Howitt (Lab)
• Robert Sturdy (Con)
• Jeffrey Titford (UKIP)
• Geoffrey van Orden (Con)
• Tom Wise (UKIP)

London

• Gerard Batten (UKIP)
• John Bowis (Con)
• Robert Evans (Lab)
• Mary Honeyball (Lab)
• Jean Lambert (Green)
• Sarah Ludford (LibDem)
• Claude Moraes (Lab)
• Charles Tannock (Con)
• Theresa Villiers (Con)

North East England

• Martin Callanan (Con)
• Fiona Hall (LibDem)
• Stephen Hughes (Lab)

North West England

• John Whittaker (UKIP)
• Terry Wynn (Lab)
• Robert Atkins (Con)
• Chris Davies (LibDem)
• Den Dover (Con)
• Saj Karim (LibDem)
• Arlene McCarthy (Lab)
• David Sumberg (Con)
• Gary Titley (Lab)

Northern Ireland

• Jim Allister (DUP)
• Bairbre de Brun (Sinn Fein)
• Jim Nicholson (UUP)

Scotland

• Elspeth Attwooll (LibDem)
• Ian Hudghton (SNP)
• David Martin (Lab)
• John Purvis (Con)
• Alyn Smith (SNP)
• Struan Stevenson (Con)
• Catherine Stihler (Lab)

South East England

• Richard Ashworth (Con)
• Nirj Deva (Con)
• James Elles (Con)
• Nigel Farage (UKIP)
• Daniel Hannan (Con)
• Chris Huhne (LibDem)
• Caroline Lucas (Green)
• Emma Nicholson (LibDem)
• Ashley Mote (UKIP)
• Peter Skinner (Lab)

South West England

• Graham Booth (UKIP)
• Giles Chichester (Con)
• Glyn Ford (Lab)
• Caroline Jackson (Con)
• Roger Knapman (UKIP)
• Neil Parish (Con)
• Graham Watson (LibDem)

Wales

• Jill Evans (PC)
• Jonathan Evans (Con)
• Glenys Kinnock (Lab)
• Eluned Morgan (Lab)

West Midlands

• Philip Bradbourn (Con)
• Philip Bushill-Matthews (Con)
• Michael Cashman (Lab)
• Neena Gill (Lab)
• Malcolm Harbour (Con)
• Liz Lynne (LibDem)
• Mike Natrass (UKIP)

Yorkshire and the Humber

• Godfrey Bloom (UKIP)
• Richard Corbett (Lab)
• Timothy Kirkhope (Con)
• Linda McAvan (Lab)
• Edward McMillan-Scott (Con)
• Diana Wallis (LibDem)

Party Leaders in June 2004

• Conservative - Michael Howard
• Labour - Tony Blair
• Liberal Democrat - Charles Kennedy
• UK Independence Party - Roger Knapman
• Green Party Principal Speakers - Caroline Lucas and Mike Woodin
• SNP - John Swinney
• Plaid Cymru - Dafydd Iwan and Ieuan Wyn Jones
• BNP - Nick Griffin
• DUP - Ian Paisley
• SDLP - Mark Durkan
• UUP - David Trimble
• Sinn Fein - Gerry Adams

See also

• MEPs for the UK 2004 - 2009 (alphabetic order)

External links

Source

• BBC News: Vote 2004 (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/uk_politics/2004/vote_2004/)

Other guides

• Guide and results at the UK Office of the European Parliament (http://www.europarl.org.uk/guide/Gelectionsmain.html)
• Guide and links Richard Kimber's at Political Science Resources (http://www.psr.keele.ac.uk/area/uk/loc04/europe04.htm)

Manifestos and documents

• Guardian (newspaper): incomplete collection of manifestos (http://politics.guardian.co.uk/elections2004/page/0,14549,1214350,00.html)
• Conservative manifesto (http://www.conservatives.com/getfile.cfm?file=EuroManifesto2004&ref=GENUPLOAD/2523&type=pdf) (EPP/ED)
• European Greens manifesto (http://www.eurogreens.org/cms/default/dok/7/7635.a_common_manifesto_for_a_common_european.htm); Successes of the Greens in the European Parliament (http://greens-efa.org/pdf/documents/GreenAchievements_EN.pdf); A Green Contract for Europe (http://greens-efa.org/pdf/documents/GreenContract_EN.pdf); European Election Manifesto: Green Party of England and Wales (http://www.greenparty.org.uk/files/manifesto/EuroManifesto2004.pdf) Manifesto: Northern Ireland (http://www.greens-in.org/tiki-download_file.php?fileId=32) (Greens/EFA)
• Labour document (http://www.labour.org.uk/britainisworking/uploads/media/Europeanelectiondocument.pdf) (PES)
• Liberal Democrat manifesto (http://www.libdems.org.uk/documents/policies/Manifestos/2004EuroManifesto-small.pdf) (ELDR)
• UK Independence Party manifesto (http://www.independenceuk.org.uk/index.php?menu=manifesto&page=manifestotop) (EDD)

Northern Ireland only:

• Democratic Unionist Party manifesto (http://www.dup.org.uk/pdf/DUPManifesto.pdf) (NI - non-attached)
• Sinn Féin
• Social Democratic and Labour Party manifesto (http://www.sdlp.ie/preuropemanifesto2004.shtm) (PES)
• Socialist Environmental Alliance manifesto (http://seaderry.co.uk/pdfs/SEA.pdf)
• Ulster Unionist Party manifesto (http://www.uup.org/archive/Media%20centre/documents/pdfs/uup_manifesto.pdf) European manifesto (http://www.uup.org/archive/Media%20centre/documents/pdfs/uup_euro_manifesto.pdf) (EPP)

Scotland only:

• Scottish National Party manifesto (http://voteforscotland.snp.org/pdf/SNP%20European%20Manifesto.pdf) (Greens/EFA)

Wales only:

• Plaid Cymru / The Party of Wales Manifesto (http://www.plaidcymru.org/europeanmanifesto.pdf) (Greens/EFA)