Elections in England

There are five types of elections in England: elections to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, elections to the devolved London Assembly, local council elections, metro mayor elections, and the Police and crime commissioner elections, in addition to by-elections for each aforementioned election. Elections are held on Election Day, which is conventionally a Thursday.

Under the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011, all five types of elections are held after fixed periods, though early elections to the UK parliament occurred in both 2017 and 2019.^[1][2] After winning the 2019 election, the Conservative Party committed to repealing the FTPA.^[3] On 1 December 2020, in fulfilment of this manifesto pledge, the government published a draft Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 (Repeal) Bill, which would repeal the FTPA and revive the royal prerogative power of dissolving Parliament as it existed before the Act.^[4] The legislation was formally announced as the Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Bill in the Queen's Speech of 11 May 2021, and granted Royal Assent on 24 March 2022.^[5]

The three electoral systems used for elections in England are: first-past-the-post (for UK elections and local elections, though individual local authorities are able to move to STV under recent legislation), the additional member system (for Mayor and London Assembly elections) and the supplementary vote (for Police and Crime Commissioner elections; although proposals by the UK Government to change Assembly, Mayor and PCC elections to FPTP have been made).^[6]

UK Parliament

Since 1918, the Conservative Party has predominantly received the most English votes in UK general elections, winning a plurality 21 times out of 29. The other seven elections (1945, 1950, 1951, 1966, October 1974, 1997, 2001 and 2024) saw the popular vote in England being won by the Labour Party.^[7]

1918

Main article: 1918 United Kingdom general election

Party		Seats					Votes
		Total	Gains	Losses	Net +/-	% seats	Total votes	% votes	Change
	Conservative	315	N/A			65.0	~3,140,000	39.5	N/A
	Liberal	107				22.1	~2,140,000	26.4
	Labour	42				8.7	~1,810,000	22.5
	Other parties	21				2.5	~690,000	8.5
		485				100	~8,050,000	100

1922

Main article: 1922 United Kingdom general election

Party		Seats					Votes
		Total	Gains	Losses	Net +/-	% seats	Total votes	% votes	Change
	Conservative	307	N/A		8	63.3	~4,810,000	41.1	N/A
	Labour	95			43	19.6	~3,370,000	28.8
	Liberal	75			32	15.5	~3,210,000	27.2
	Other parties	8			13	1.6	~310,000	2.5
		485	N/A			100	~11,700,000	100

1923

Main article: 1923 United Kingdom general election

Party		Seats					Votes
		Total	Gains	Losses	Net +/-	% seats	Total votes	% votes	Change
	Conservative	221	N/A		86	45.6	~4,730,000	39.8	N/A
	Labour	138			43	28.5	~3,550,000	29.7
	Liberal	123			48	25.4	~3,570,000	29.9
	Other parties	3			5	0.62	~70,000	0.6
		485	N/A			100	~11,930,000	100

1924

Main article: 1924 United Kingdom general election

Party		Seats					Votes
		Total	Gains	Losses	Net +/-	% seats	Total votes	% votes	Change
	Conservative	347	N/A		126	71.5	~6,460,000	47.7	N/A
	Labour	109			29	22.4	~4,470,000	32.8
	Liberal	19			104	3.9	~3,390,000	17.6
	Other parties	10			7	1.9	~250,000	0.6
		485	N/A			100	~13,560,000	100

1929

Main article: 1929 United Kingdom general election

Party		Seats					Votes
		Total	Gains	Losses	Net +/-	% seats	Total votes	% votes	Change
	Labour	226	N/A		117	46.6	~6,850,000	36.9	N/A
	Conservative	221			126	45.5	~7,180,000	38.8
	Liberal	35			16	7.2	~4,340,000	23.6
	Other parties	3			7	2.0	~130,000	0.7
		485	N/A			100	~18,500,000	100

1931

Main article: 1931 United Kingdom general election

Party		Seats					Votes
		Total	Gains	Losses	Net +/-	% seats	Total votes	% votes	Change
	Conservative	436	N/A		215	89.9	~11,480,000	63.3	N/A
	Labour	29			197	5.98	~7,180,000	30.2
	Liberal	19			16	3.91	~1,040,000	6.0
	Other parties	1			2	0.2	~100,000	0.5
		485	N/A			100	~18,080,000	100

1935

Main article: 1935 United Kingdom general election

Party		Seats					Votes
		Total	Gains	Losses	Net +/-	% seats	Total votes	% votes	Change
	Conservative	357	N/A		81	73.6	~9,990,000	54.5	N/A
	Labour	116			87	23.9	~7,050,000	38.5
	Liberal	11			16	2.26	~1,110,000	6.3
	Other parties	1			2	0.2	~120,000	0.7
		485	N/A			100	~18,270,000	100

1945

Main article: 1945 United Kingdom general election in England

Party		Seats			Votes
		Total	Net +/-	% seats	Total votes	% votes	Change
	Labour	331	215	64.9	~9,970,000	48.5	10.0%
	Conservative	167	190	32.7	~8,270,000	40.2	14.5%
	Liberal	5	6	0.98	~1,910,000	9.4	3.1%
	Other parties	7	6	1.37	~380,000	1.9
		510		100	~20,540,000	100

1950

Main article: 1950 United Kingdom general election in England

Party		Seats			Votes
		Total	Net +/-	% seats	Total votes	% votes	Change
	Labour	251	80	49.6	~11,050,000	46.1	2.4 %
	Conservative	253	68	50.0	~10,500,000	43.8	3.6 %
	Liberal	2	3	0.39	~2,250,000	9.4
		506		100	~23,950,000	100

1951

Main article: 1951 United Kingdom general election in England

Party		Seats			Votes
		Total	Net +/-	% seats	Total votes	% votes	Change
	Conservative	271	20	53.5	~11,620,000	48.76	4.9%
	Labour	233	20	48.8	~11,630,000	48.80	2.7%
	Liberal	2		0.39	~530,000	2.2	7.1%
		506		100	~23,830,000	100

1955

Main article: 1955 United Kingdom general election in England

Party		Seats			Votes
		Total	Net +/-	% seats	Total votes	% votes	Change
	Conservative	293	22	57.3	~11,170,000	50.4	1.6%
	Labour	216	17	42.3	~10,360,000	46.8	2.0%
	Liberal	2		0.39	~570,000	2.7	0.5%
		511		100	~22,140,000	100

1959

Main article: 1959 United Kingdom general election in England

Party		Seats			Votes
		Total	Net +/-	% seats	Total votes	% votes	Change
	Conservative	315	22	61.6	~11,560,000	50.0	0.4%
	Labour	193	23	37.7	~10,090,000	43.6	3.2%
	Liberal	3	1	0.59	~1,450,000	6.3	3.6%
		511		100	~23,130,000	100

1964

Main article: 1964 United Kingdom general election in England

Party		Seats			Votes
		Total	Net +/-	% seats	Total votes	% votes	Change
	Labour	246	53	48.1	~9,980,000	43.5	0.1%
	Conservative	262	53	51.2	~10,110,000	44.1	5.9%
	Liberal	3		0.59	~2,780,000	12.1	5.8%
		511		100	~22,940,000	100

1966

Main article: 1966 United Kingdom general election in England

Party		Seats			Votes
		Total	Net +/-	% seats	Total votes	% votes	Change
	Labour	285	39	55.8	~10,890,000	48.0	4.5%
	Conservative	219	43	42.8	~9,690,000	42.7	1.4%
	Liberal	6	3	1.17	~2,040,000	9.0	3.1%
		511		100	~22,690,000	100

1970

Main article: 1970 United Kingdom general election in England

Party		Seats			Votes
		Total	Net +/-	% seats	Total votes	% votes	Change
	Conservative	292	73	57.1	~11,280,000	48.3	5.6%
	Labour	216	69	42.2	~10,130,000	43.4	4.6%
	Liberal	2	4	0.39	~1,850,000	7.9	1.1%
		511		100	~23,360,000	100

February 1974

Main article: February 1974 United Kingdom general election in England

Party		Seats			Votes
		Total	Net +/-	% seats	Total votes	% votes	Change
	Labour	237	21	45.9	~9,840,000	37.7	5.7%
	Conservative	268	24	51.9	~10,510,000	40.2	8.1%
	Liberal	9	7	1.75	~5,570,000	21.3	13.4%
		516		100	~26,140,000	100

October 1974

Main article: October 1974 United Kingdom general election in England

Party		Seats			Votes
		Total	Net +/-	% seats	Total votes	% votes	Change
	Labour	255	18	49.4	~9,700,000	40.1	2.4%
	Conservative	253	15	49.0	~9,410,000	38.9	1.3%
	Liberal	9	1	1.55	~4,880,000	20.2	1.1%
		516		100	~24,190,000	100

1979

Main article: 1979 United Kingdom general election in England

Party		Seats			Votes
		Total	Net +/-	% seats	Total votes	% votes	Change
	Conservative	306	53	59.0	~12,260,000	47.2	8.3%
	Labour	203	52	39.3	~9,530,000	36.7	3.4%
	Liberal	7	1	1.35	~3,880,000	14.9	5.3%
		516		100	~25,970,000	100

1983

Main article: 1983 United Kingdom general election in England

Party[8]		Seats					Votes
		Total	Gains	Losses	Net +/-	% seats	Total votes	% votes	Change
	Conservative	362	N/A	N/A	37	69.2	11,711,519	46.0	1.2
	Labour	148	N/A	N/A	45	28.3	6,862,422	26.8	9.8
	Alliance	13	N/A	N/A	8	2.5	6,714,957	26.4	11.5
	Other parties	0	N/A	N/A		—	183,748	0.7	0.5
							25,472,646	72.5

Popular vote Conservative   46.0% Labour   26.8% SDP–Liberal Alliance   26.4% Other   0.7%

Parliament seats Conservative   69.2% Labour   28.3% SDP–Liberal Alliance   2.5%

1987

Main article: 1987 United Kingdom general election in England

Party[9]		Seats					Votes
		Total	Gains	Losses	Net +/-	% seats	Total votes	% votes	Change
	Conservative	358	9	13	4	68.5	12,546,186	46.2	0.2
	Labour	155	13	6	7	29.6	8,006,466	29.5	2.5
	Alliance	10	2	5	3	1.9	6,467,350	23.8	2.4
	Other parties	0	0	0		—	113,520	0.4	0.3
							27,133,522	75.4	2.9

Popular vote Conservative   46.2% Labour   29.5% SDP–Liberal Alliance   23.8% Other   0.4%

Parliament seats Conservative   68.5% Labour   29.6% SDP–Liberal Alliance   1.9%

1992

Main article: 1992 United Kingdom general election in England

Party[10]		Seats					Votes
		Total	Gains	Losses	Net +/-	% seats	Total votes	% votes	Change
	Conservative	319	1	40	39	60.9	12,796,772	45.5	0.8
	Labour	195	40	0	40	37.2	9,551,910	33.9	4.4
	Liberal Democrats	10	4	4		1.9	5,398,293	19.2	4.7
	Other parties	0	0	0		—	401,531	1.4	1.0
							28,148,506	78.0

Popular vote Conservative   45.5% Labour   33.9% Liberal Democrats   19.2% Other   1.4%

Parliament seats Conservative   60.9% Labour   37.2% Liberal Democrats   1.9%

1997

Main article: 1997 United Kingdom general election in England

Party[11]		Seats					Votes
		Total	Gains	Losses	Net +/-	% seats	Total votes	% votes	Change
	Labour	328	133	1	132	62.0	11,347,882	43.5	9.6
	Conservative	165	0	159	159	31.2	8,780,881	33.7	11.8
	Liberal Democrats	34	26	1	25	6.4	4,677,565	18.0	1.3
	Referendum	0	0	0		—	746,624	2.9	N/A
	UKIP	0	0	0		—	103,521	0.4	N/A
	Independent	1	1	0	1	0.2	69,464	0.3	0.2
	Green	0	0	0		—	60,013	0.2	0.4
	Liberal	0	0	0		—	44,516	0.2
	Socialist Labour	0	0	0		—	44,114	0.2	N/A
	BNP	0	0	0		—	35,181	0.1	0.1
	Natural Law	0	0	0		—	25,958	0.1	0.1
	Independent Labour	0	0	0		—	24,447	0.1
	Speaker	1	1	0	1	0.2	24,447	0.1	N/A
	Ind. Conservative	0	0	0		—	18,667	0.1
	Prolife Alliance	0	0	0		—	13,890	0.1	N/A
	Other parties	0	0	0		—	42,020	0.2	N/A
							26,058,712	71.5	6.5

Popular vote Labour   43.5% Conservative   33.7% Liberal Democrats   18.0% Referendum   2.9% Other   2.1%

Parliament seats Labour   62.0% Conservative   31.2% Liberal Democrats   6.4% Other   0.4%

2001

Main article: 2001 United Kingdom general election in England

Party[12]		Seats					Votes
		Total	Gains	Losses	Net +/-	% seats	Total votes	% votes	Change
	Labour	323	1	6	5	61.1	9,056,824	41.4	2.1
	Conservative	165	8	8		31.2	7,705,870	35.2	1.5
	Liberal Democrats	40	8	2	6	8.1	4,246,853	19.4	1.5
	UKIP	0	0	0		—	374,775	1.7	1.3
	Green	0	0	0		—	158,173	0.7	0.5
	Independent	0	0	1	1	—	79,559	0.4	0.1
	Socialist Alliance	0	0	0		—	55,295	0.3	N/A
	Socialist Labour	0	0	0		—	51,299	0.2	0.1
	BNP	0	0	0		—	46,851	0.2	0.1
	Health Concern	1	1	0	1	0.2	28,487	0.1	N/A
	Liberal	0	0	0		—	13,302	0.1	0.1
	Other parties	0	0	0	1	—	53,474	0.2	N/A
							21,870,762	59.1	12.2

Popular vote Labour   41.4% Conservative   35.2% Liberal Democrats   19.4% UKIP   1.7% Other   1.5%

Parliament seats Labour   61.1% Conservative   31.2% Liberal Democrats   7.6% Other   0.2%

2005

Main article: 2005 United Kingdom general election in England

Party[13]		Seats					Votes
		Total	Gains	Losses	Net +/-	% seats	Total votes	% votes	Change
	Labour	286	0	37	37	54.1	8,043,461	35.4	6.0
	Conservative	194	32	3	29	36.7	8,116,005	35.7	0.5
	Liberal Democrats	47	12	5	7	8.9	5,201,286	22.9	3.6
	Respect	1	1	0	1	0.2	67,422	0.3	0.3
	Health Concern	1	0	0		0.2	18,739	0.1
	UKIP	0	0	0		0.0	592,417	2.6	0.9
	Green	0	0	0		0.0	251,051	1.1	0.4
	BNP	0	0	0		0.0	189,570	0.8	0.6
	Veritas	0	0	0		0.0	39,044	0.2	New
	Liberal	0	0	0		0.0	17,547	0.1
	Others	0	0	0		0.0	177,343	0.8	N/A
							22,713,855	61.0	1.9

Popular vote Conservative   35.7% Labour   35.4% Liberal Democrats   22.9% UKIP   2.6% Greens   1.1% Other   2.3%

Parliament seats Labour   54.1% Conservative   36.7% Liberal Democrats   8.9% Respect   0.2% ICHC   0.2%

2010

Main article: 2010 United Kingdom general election in England

Party[14]		Seats					Votes
		Total	Gains	Losses	Net +/-	% seats	Total votes	% votes	Change
	Conservative	297	95	4	91	55.7	9,908,169	39.5	3.8
	Labour	191	2	89	87	35.8	7,042,398	28.1	7.4
	Liberal Democrats	43	8	12	4	8.1	6,076,189	24.2	1.3
	UKIP	0	0	0		—	866,633	3.5	0.9
	BNP	0	0	0		—	532,333	2.1	1.3
	Green	1	0	0	1	0.2	258,954	1.0	0.1
	English Democrat	0	0	0		—	64,826	0.3	0.2
	Respect	0	0	0	1	—	33,251	0.1	0.2
	Speaker	1	1	0	1	0.2	22,860	0.1
	Health Concern	0	0	0	1	—	16,150	0.1
	Christian	0	0	0	0	—	15,841	0.1	N/A
	National Front	0	0	0	0	—	10,400	0.0
	TUSC	0	0	0	0	—	8,404	0.0	N/A
	Socialist Labour	0	0	0	0	—	4,368	0.0
	Other parties	0	0	0	0	—	224,341	0.9
							25,085,097	65.5	4.5

Popular vote Conservative   39.5% Labour   28.1% Liberal Democrats   24.2% UKIP   3.5% BNP   2.1% Greens   1.0% Other   1.5%

Parliament seats Conservative   55.7% Labour   35.8% Liberal Democrats   8.1% Greens   0.2% Speaker   0.2%

2015

Main article: 2015 United Kingdom general election in England

Party[15]		Seats					Votes
		Total	Gains	Losses	Net +/-	% seats	Total votes	% votes	Change
	Conservative	318	32	11	21	59.7	10,483,261	40.9	1.4
	Labour	206	21	6	15	38.6	8,087,684	31.6	3.6
	UKIP	1	1	0	1	0.2	3,611,367	14.1	10.7
	Liberal Democrats	6	0	37	37	1.1	2,098,404	8.2	16.0
	Green	1	0	0		0.2	1,073,242	4.2	3.2
	Speaker	1	0	0		0.2	34,617	0.1
	TUSC	0	0	0		—	32,868	0.1	0.1
	NHA	0	0	0		—	20,210	0.1	New
	Respect	0	0	0		—	9,989	0.0	0.1
	Yorkshire First	0	0	0		—	6,811	0.0	New
	English Democrat	0	0	0		—	6,431	0.0	0.2
	CISTA	0	0	0		—	4,569	0.0	New
	Monster Raving Loony	0	0	0		—	3,432	0.0
	CPA	0	0	0		—	3,260	0.0
	BNP	0	0	0		—	1,667	0.0	2.1
	Class War	0	0	0		—	526	0.0	New
	Other parties	0	0	0		—	127,133	0.5	0.2
							25,571,204	65.9	0.4

Popular vote Conservative   40.9% Labour   31.6% UKIP   14.1% Liberal Democrats   8.2% Greens   4.2% Other   0.9%

Parliament seats Conservative   59.7% Labour   38.6% Liberal Democrats   1.1% UKIP   0.2% Greens   0.2% Speaker   0.2%

2017

Main article: 2017 United Kingdom general election in England

Party[16]		Seats					Votes
		Total	Gains	Losses	Net +/-	% seats	Total votes	% votes	Change
	Conservative	296	8	30	22	55.5	12,344,901	45.4	4.4
	Labour	227	27	6	21	42.6	11,390,099	41.9	10.3
	Liberal Democrats	8	5	3	2	1.5	2,121,810	7.8	0.4
	UKIP	0	0	1	1	—	557,390	2.1	12.1
	Green	1	0	0		0.2	506,969	1.9	2.3
	Speaker	1	0	0		0.2	34,299	0.1
	Yorkshire	0	0	0		—	20,958	0.1	0.1
	NHA	0	0	0		—	16,119	0.1
	CPA	0	0	0		—	5,869	0.0
	BNP	0	0	0		—	4,642	0.0
	Monster Raving Loony	0	0	0		—	3,733	0.0
	Women's Equality	0	0	0		—	3,066	0.0
	English Democrat	0	0	0		—	1,913	0.0
	Pirate	0	0	0		—	1,875	0.0
	Workers Revolutionary	0	0	0		—	771	0.0
	SDP	0	0	0		—	321	0.0
	Others	0	0	0		—	151,054	0.6	0.4
Total		533					27,165,789	Turnout	69.1

Popular vote Conservative   45.4% Labour   41.9% Liberal Democrats   7.8% UKIP   2.1% Green   1.9% Other   0.9%

Parliament seats Conservative   55.5% Labour   42.6% Liberal Democrats   1.5% Green   0.2% Speaker   0.2%

2019

Main article: 2019 United Kingdom general election in England

Party[17]		Seats					Votes
		Total	Gains	Losses	Net +/-	% seats	Total votes	% votes	Change
	Conservative	345	52	3	49	64.7	12,710,845	47.2	1.7
	Labour	180	1	48	47	33.7	9,152,034	34.0	7.9
	Liberal Democrats	7	2	3	1	1.3	3,340,835	12.4	4.6
	Green	1	0	0		0.2	819,751	3.0	1.2
	Brexit Party	0	0	0		—	545,172	2.0	2.0
	Yorkshire	0	0	0		—	29,201	0.1
	UKIP	0	0	0		—	18,891	0.1	2.0
	Liberal	0	0	0		—	10,876	0.0
	Change UK	0	0	0		—	10,006	0.0	new
	Monster Raving Loony	0	0	0		—	9,394	0.0
	CPA	0	0	0		—	6,246	0.0
	Animal Welfare	0	0	0		—	3,086	0.0
	SDP	0	0	0		—	3,000	0.0
	English Democrat	0	0	0		—	1,987	0.0
	Libertarian	0	0	0		—	1,375	0.0
	Workers Revolutionary	0	0	0		—	524	0.0
	Advance	0	0	0		—	351	0.0	new
	Others	0	0	0		—	246,094	0.9	0.8
							26,909,668	67.4	1.7

Note: the above figures include the Speaker being counted in the Labour totals, despite the Speaker being non-partisan.

Popular vote Conservative   47.2% Labour   34.0% Liberal Democrats   12.4% Green   3.0% Brexit Party   2.0% Other   1.4%

Parliament seats Conservative   64.7% Labour   33.7% Liberal Democrats   1.3% Green   0.2%

2024

Main article: 2024 United Kingdom general election in England

Party[18]		Seats					Aggregate votes
		Total	Gains	Losses	Net	Of all (%)	Total	Of all (%)	Differ­ence
	Labour	347	173	7	166	63.9	8,339,884	34.3	0.5
	Conservative	116	1	230	229	21.4	6,279,411	25.9	21.3
	Reform UK	5	5	0	5	0.9	3,726,224	15.3	13.3
	Liberal Democrats	65	59	0	59	12.0	3,199,060	13.2	0.8
	Green	4	3	0	3	0.7	1,780,226	7.3	4.3
	Independent	5	5	0	5	0.9	513,266	2.1	1.4
	Workers Party	0	0	0		—	208,234	0.9	0.9
	Speaker	1	0	0		0.2	25,238	0.1
	SDP	0	0	0		—	33,385	0.1	0.1
	Yorkshire	0	0	0		—	17,227	0.0
	TUSC	0	0	0		—	10,507	0.0
	Rejoin EU	0	0	0		—	9,245	0.0
	Liberal	0	0	0		—	5,894	0.0
	UKIP	0	0	0		—	5,617	0.0
	CPA	0	0	0		—	5,604	0.0
	Heritage	0	0	0		—	5,441	0.0
	Monster Raving Loony	0	0	0		—	5,421	0.0
	English Democrat	0	0	0		—	5,182	0.0
	Party of Women	0	0	0		—	5,077	0.0
	Hampshire Ind.	0	0	0		—	2,872	0.0
	Socialist Labour	0	0	0		—	2,397	0.0
	Climate	0	0	0		—	1,863	0.0
	Communist	0	0	0		—	1,585	0.0
	Others	0	0	0		—	99,262	0.9
Total		543					24,288,122	60.0	7.4

Aggregate votes Labour   34.4% Conservative   25.9% Reform UK   15.3% Liberal Democrats   13.2% Green   7.3% Independent   2.1% Other   1.7%

Members of parliament Labour   64.1% Conservative   21.4% Liberal Democrats   12.0% Reform UK   0.9% Independent   0.9% Green   0.7%

London mayor

Main article: London mayoral elections

The mayor of London is elected by the supplementary vote method for a fixed term of four years, with elections taking place in May. As with most elected posts in the United Kingdom, there is a deposit (in this case of £10,000), which is returnable on the candidate's winning of at least 5% of the first-choice votes cast.

See also

• Elections in the United Kingdom
• Elections in Northern Ireland
• Elections in Scotland
• Elections in Wales