IFES
 

May 7, 2015 Held

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Election for British House of Commons

Results

Voter Participation


Cast Votes:30,698,210
Valid Votes:30,698,210
Invalid Votes:None
Voter
Turnout*

Seat Share By Party:

Hover to view number and percent of total seats won by party. Eight largest parties shown, with "others" combined if applicable.


Vote Share by Party:

Party Seats Won Seats Change Votes

Conservative Party 331 - 11,334,920

36.90%

Labour Party 232 - 9,347,326

30.40%

Scottish National Party 56 - 1,454,436

4.70%

Democratic Unionist Party 8 - - 184,260

0.60%

Liberal Democrats 8 - 2,415,888

7.90%

Sinn Fein 4 - 176,232

0.60%

Social Democratic and Labour Party 3 - - 99,809

0.30%

Plaid Cymru / Party of Wales 3 - - 181,694

0.60%

Ulster Unionist Party 2 - 114,935

0.40%

UK Independence Party 1 - 3,881,129

12.60%

Green Party 1 - - 1,157,613

3.80%

Independents (Independents) 1 - 164,826

0.50%
Election Results Modified: Jul 09, 2024

General Information

At stake in this election:      

  • The 650 seats in the House of Commons[1]

Description of government structure:

  • Chief of State: Queen ELIZABETH II *
  • Head of Government: Prime Minister David CAMERON
  • Assembly: United Kingdom has a bicameral Parliament consisting of the House of Lords (780 seats) and the House of Commons (650 seats).

* Heir Apparent Prince CHARLES (son of the queen, born 14 November 1948)

Description of electoral system:

  • The Queen is hereditary.
  • The Prime Minister is elected by parliament to serve a 5-year term. Following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of the majority coalition is usually the prime minister.
  • There are 780 seats in the House of Lords.* As of 2014 there are 667 life peers, 88 hereditary peers, and 25 clergy.** The House of Commons has had 650 seats since the 2010 election.  Members are elected by simple majority vote in single-member constituencies to serve 5-year terms.

* Members of the House of Lords are not elected.  The Queen formally appoints life peers based on a recommendation from the Prime Minister. The number of seats is not fixed.

**The right of hereditary Peers to sit and vote in the House of Lords was ended in 1999 by the House of Lords Act. 

Main parties in the electoral race[2]:

*Co-Operative Party candidates run jointly with the Labour Party as “Labour and Co-operative Party” candidates. The 32 seats are therefore included within the 258 Labour seats shown above. This arrangement has been in place since 1927.[3] 

** UKIP did not win any seats at the 2010 General election but have since won two by-elections and had two MPs before the 2015 election.

Last election:

  • The last election for the House of Commons was held on 6 May 2010.  There were 45,597,461registered voters for the election.  The Conservative Party won 306 seats (of 650), the Labour Party won 258 seats, the Liberal Democrats won 57 seats, the Democratic Unionists won 8 seats, the Scottish National Party won 6 seats, Sinn Fein won 5 seats, Plaid Cymru won 3 seats, the Social Democratic and Labour Party won 3 seats, the Alliance Party won 1 seat, the Green Party won 1 seat, and an independent candidate (Sylvia Hermon, formerly of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP)) won 1 seat.[4] 

Population and number of registered voters:

  • Population: 64,105,700 (2013 est.)[5]
  • Registered Voters: 45,325,078  (2014)[6]

Gender Data:

  • Female Population: 32,572,800 (2013 est.)[7]
  • Is the United Kingdom a signatory to CEDAW: Yes (22 July 1981)
  • Has the United Kingdom ratified CEDAW: Yes (7 April 1986)
  • Gender Quota:  No legislated quotas.  However, voluntary quotas have been adopted by some political parties.[8]
  • Female Candidates in this election: Yes
  • Number of Female Legislators: 148 (22.8%) of 650 seats in the House of Commons[9]
  • Human Development Index (HDI) Position: 14[10]
  • Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: N/A[11]

Disability Data[12]:

  • Is the United Kingdom a signatory to CRPD: Yes (30 March 2007)
  • Has the United Kingdom ratified CRPD: Yes (8 June 2009)
 

[6] http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/pop-estimate/electoral-statistics-for-uk/2014/index.html

Election Modified: Jun 21, 2024

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With Participation Rates