Wikiwand AI

2015 United Kingdom general election in England

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

On Thursday 7 May 2015, the 2015 United Kingdom general election was held in England, to elect all 650 members of the House of Commons, with 533 constituencies being in England. The Conservatives won a majority of seats in England for the second time since 1992.

Quick facts All 533 English seats to the House of Commons 267 seats needed for English majority, Turnout ...
2015 United Kingdom general election in England

 2010
7 May 2015 (2015-05-07)
2017 

All 533 English seats to the House of Commons
267 seats needed for English majority
Turnout66.0% (Increase0.5 pp)
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader David Cameron Ed Miliband Nick Clegg
Party Conservative Labour Liberal Democrats
Leader since 6 December 2005 25 September 2010 18 December 2007
Leader's seat Witney Doncaster North Sheffield Hallam
Last election 297 seats, 39.5% 191 seats, 28.1% 43 seats, 24.2%
Seats won 318* 206 6
Seat change Increase21 Increase15 Decrease37
Popular vote 10,483,261 8,087,706 2,098,430
Percentage 40.9% 31.6% 8.2%
Swing Increase1.4 pp Increase3.6 pp Decrease16.0 pp

  Fourth party Fifth party
 
Leader Nigel Farage Natalie Bennett
Party UKIP Green
Leader since 5 November 2010 3 September 2012
Leader's seat South Thanet
(lost seat)
Holborn and St Pancras
(lost seat)
Last election 1 seat, 3.5% 1 seat, 1.0%
Seats before 0 1
Seats won 1 1
Seat change Increase 1 Steady
Popular vote 3,611,367 1,073,242
Percentage 14.1% 4.2%
Swing Increase10.7 pp Increase3.2 pp

A map of English parliamentary constituencies
*Seat figure does not include the Speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow, who was included in the Conservative seat total by some media outlets.
Close

Both major parties made gains at the expense of the Liberal Democrats, whose support collapsed to its lowest level since 1970. Their vote share declined by 16 percentage points, and the party lost 37 of its 43 seats. The party won 6 seats and 8% of the vote overall. This was the worst result for the Lib Dems or the Liberals in 45 years, while the 16-point drop in vote share was the biggest decline in Lib Dem or Liberal support since 1931.

Although Labour increased their share of the vote by 4% and gained 15 seats, the Conservatives made 21 gains for a total of 318, including winning 6 seats directly from Labour. Together with seats from Scotland and Wales, this allowed the Conservatives to form a majority government with 330 seats, leading to the first majority Conservative government since 1992.

Political context

The general election was fought with the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats having been in coalition since 2010, with Labour being the main opposition, though with the Conservatives holding the majority of English seats. It was also fought following the victory of the UK Independence Party at the European Parliament Elections and in two by-elections the year before, along with George Galloway of the Respect Party having won the 2012 Bradford West by-election from Labour.

Results

More information Party, Seats ...
Party[1] Seats Aggregate Votes
Total Gains Losses Net Of all (%) Total Of all (%) Difference
Conservative 318 32 11 Increase21 59.7 10,483,261 40.9 Increase1.4
Labour 206 21 6 Increase15 38.6 8,087,684 31.6 Increase3.6
UKIP 1 1 0 Increase1 0.2 3,611,367 14.1 Increase10.7
Liberal Democrats 6 0 37 Decrease37 1.1 2,098,404 8.2 Decrease16.0
Green 1 0 0 Steady 0.2 1,073,242 4.2 Increase3.2
Speaker 1 0 0 Steady 0.2 34,617 0.1 Steady
TUSC 0 0 0 Steady 32,868 0.1 Increase0.1
NHA 0New20,2100.1New
Respect 0 0 0 Steady 9,989 0.0 Decrease0.1
Yorkshire First 0New6,8110.0New
English Democrat 0 0 0 Steady 6,431 0.0 Decrease0.2
CISTA 0New4,5690.0New
Monster Raving Loony 0 0 0 Steady 3,432 0.0 Steady
CPA 0 0 0 Steady 3,260 0.0 Steady
BNP 0 0 0 Steady 1,667 0.0 Decrease2.1
Class War 0New5260.0New
  Others 000Steady127,1330.5Decrease0.2
Total 533 25,571,204 66.0[2] Increase0.5
Close
Popular vote
Conservative
40.9%
Labour
31.6%
UKIP
14.1%
Liberal Democrats
8.2%
Green
4.2%
Other
0.9%
Parliament seats
Conservative
59.7%
Labour
38.6%
Liberal Democrats
1.1%
UKIP
0.2%
Green
0.2%
Speaker
0.2%

Analysis

The Conservatives emerged as the largest party, increasing both their seats and votes. They took seats both from the Liberal Democrats and from the Labour Party, as well as holding on to many of their key marginal seats.

Labour increased its numbers both in number of votes and seats after making gains against the Liberal Democrats, along with limited gains against the Conservatives, but failed to become the largest party. Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls lost his seat in Morley and Outwood to the Conservative candidate Andrea Jenkyns,[3] whilst Ed Miliband resigned as Labour leader.[4]

The Liberal Democrats lost the vast majority of their seats, going from 43 seats down to just 6.[5] Leader Nick Clegg, who saw his nearly 30-point majority in Sheffield Hallam massively reduced to 4.2%, resigned on the morning of the election results.[6]

UKIP made large gains in the percentage of votes, but failed to retain Rochester and Strood or take any other seats, leading to the resignation of party leader Nigel Farage. His resignation was rejected, however, and he subsequently stayed on.[7]

The Green Party increased their share of the vote and held Brighton Pavilion, but failed to gain any new seats.[8]

By region

Regional vote shares and changes are sourced from the House of Commons Library.[9]

East Midlands

More information Party, Seats ...
Party Seats Aggregate Votes
TotalGainsLosses Net Of all (%) Total Of all (%) Difference
Conservative 3210Increase169.6969,37943.5Increase2.3
Labour 1401Decrease130.4705,76731.6Increase1.9
UKIP 000Steady0.0351,77715.8Increase12.5
Liberal Democrats 000Steady0.0124,0395.6Decrease15.3
Green 000Steady0.066,2393.0Increase2.4
  Others 000Steady0.013,2010.6
Total 46 2,230,402 65.5 Decrease1.0
Close

East of England

More information Party, Seats ...
Party Seats Aggregate Votes
TotalGainsLosses Net Of all (%) Total Of all (%) Difference
Conservative 5211Steady89.71,445,94649.0Increase1.9
Labour 420Increase26.9649,32122.0Increase2.4
UKIP 110Increase11.7478,51716.2Increase12.0
Liberal Democrats 103Decrease31.7243,1918.2Decrease15.8
Green 000Steady0.0116,2743.9Increase2.5
  Others 000Steady0.015,3740.5
Total 58 2,948,623 67.5 Increase0.2
Close

Greater London

More information Party, Seats ...
Party Seats Aggregate Votes
TotalGainsLosses Net Of all (%) Total Of all (%) Difference
Labour 4570Increase761.61,545,04843.7Increase7.3
Conservative 2734Decrease137.01,233,38634.9Increase0.3
UKIP 000Steady0.0286,9818.1Increase6.4
Liberal Democrats 106Decrease61.4272,5447.7Decrease14.4
Green 000Steady0.0171,6704.9Increase3.3
  Others 000Steady0.026,6220.8
Total 73 3,536,251 65.4 Increase0.8
Close

North East England

More information Party, Seats ...
Party Seats Aggregate Votes
TotalGainsLosses Net Of all (%) Total Of all (%) Difference
Labour 2610Increase189.7557,10046.9Increase3.3
Conservative 310Increase110.3300,88325.3Increase1.6
UKIP 000Steady0.0198,82316.7Increase14.0
Liberal Democrats 002Decrease20.077,0956.5Decrease17.1
Green 000Steady0.043,0513.6Increase3.3
  Others 000Steady0.011,2010.9
Total 29 1,188,153 61.8 Increase0.9
Close

North West England

More information Party, Seats ...
Party Seats Aggregate Votes
TotalGainsLosses Net Of all (%) Total Of all (%) Difference
Labour 5151Increase468.01,502,04744.6Increase5.2
Conservative 2233Steady29.31,050,12431.2Decrease0.5
UKIP 000Steady0.0459,07113.6Increase10.5
Liberal Democrats 204Decrease42.7219,9986.5Decrease15.1
Green 000Steady0.0107,8893.2Increase2.7
  Others 000Steady0.024,9260.7
Total 75 3,364,055 64.3 Increase0.7
Close

South East England

More information Party, Seats ...
Party Seats Aggregate Votes
TotalGainsLosses Net Of all (%) Total Of all (%) Difference
Conservative 7851Increase492.92,234,36050.8Increase1.5
Labour 411Steady4.8804,77418.3Decrease0.5
UKIP 000Steady0.0646,95914.7Increase10.6
Liberal Democrats 004Decrease40.0413,5869.4Decrease16.8
Green 100Steady1.2227,8825.2Increase3.7
Speaker 100Steady1.234,6170.8
  Others 000Steady0.032,3150.7
Total 84 4,394,493 68.6 Increase0.6
Close

South West England

More information Party, Seats ...
Party Seats Aggregate Votes
TotalGainsLosses Net Of all (%) Total Of all (%) Difference
Conservative 51150Increase1592.71,319,99446.5Increase3.7
Labour 411Steady7.3501,68417.7Increase2.3
Liberal Democrats 0015Decrease150.0428,92715.1Decrease19.6
UKIP 000Steady0.0384,54613.6Increase9.1
Green 000Steady0.0168,1305.9Increase4.8
  Others 000Steady0.033,0131.2
Total 55 2,836,294 69.5 Increase0.4
Close

West Midlands

More information Party, Seats ...
Party Seats Aggregate Votes
TotalGainsLosses Net Of all (%) Total Of all (%) Difference
Conservative 3421Increase157.61,097,75041.8Increase2.2
Labour 2521Increase142.4865,07532.9Increase2.3
UKIP 000Steady0.0412,77015.7Increase11.7
Liberal Democrats 002Decrease20.0145,0095.5Decrease14.9
Green 000Steady0.085,6533.3Increase2.7
  Others 000Steady0.022,3220.8
Total 59 2,628,579 64.1 Decrease0.5
Close

Yorkshire and the Humber

More information Party, Seats ...
Party Seats Aggregate Votes
TotalGainsLosses Net Of all (%) Total Of all (%) Difference
Labour 3321Increase161.1956,83739.1Increase4.8
Conservative 1911Steady35.2796,82232.6Decrease0.2
UKIP 000Steady0.0391,92316.0Increase13.2
Liberal Democrats 201Decrease13.7174,0697.1Decrease15.8
Green 000Steady0.086,4713.5Increase2.7
  Others 000Steady0.038,0551.6
Total 54 2,444,177 63.1 Decrease0.1
Close

Campaign events

  • 31 March: First official day of the general election campaign
  • 13 April: The Labour Party launches its manifesto[10]
  • 14 April: The Conservative Party and the Green Party launch their manifestos
  • 15 April: UKIP and the Liberal Democrats launch their manifestos
  • 7 May: BBC Exit poll shows the Conservatives as the largest single party
  • 8 May: The Conservatives emerge as the largest party in England, gaining a majority of MPs in the House of Commons and forming the next Government of the United Kingdom as a majority, contrary to predictions made at the start of the election campaign.

Target seats

The recorded swing in each case is calculated as two-way swing from the party that won in 2010 to the party targeting the seat. Negative swing implies that the targeting party lost votes to the incumbent party.

Conservative Party

More information Rank, Constituency ...
Close

Labour Party

More information Rank, Constituency ...
Close

Liberal Democrats

More information Rank, Constituency ...
Rank Constituency Region Winning party 2010 Swing
required (%)
Result Swing to
LD (±%)
1 Camborne and Redruth South West England Conservative 0.08 Conservative hold −13.8
2 Oxford West and Abingdon South East England Conservative 0.16 Conservative hold −8.3
3 Sheffield Central Yorkshire and the Humber Labour 0.20 Labour hold −22.5
4 Ashfield East Midlands Labour 0.20 Labour hold −12.9
5 Truro and Falmouth South West England Conservative 0.45 Conservative hold −13.2
Close

UKIP

More information Rank, Constituency ...
Rank[11] Constituency Region Winning party 2010 Swing
required (%)
Result Swing to
UKIP (±%)
1 Thanet South South East England Conservative 21.2 Conservative hold +18.4
2 Thurrock East of England Conservative 14.7 Conservative hold +13.7
3 Castle Point East of England Conservative (No candidate in 2010) Conservative hold (Vote share: 31.2%)
4 Boston and Skegness East of England Conservative 20.0 Conservative hold +15.0
5 Great Grimsby Yorkshire and the Humber Labour 13.3 Labour hold +5.9
Close

Green Party

Swing for the Greens is measured as one-party swing, i.e. the change in the party's share of the vote.

More information Rank, Constituency ...
Close

Opinion polling

More information Date(s) conducted, Polling organisation/client ...
Date(s)
conducted
Polling organisation/clientSample sizeConLabLDUKIPGreenOthersLead
7 May 2015General Election 2015 Results25,571,20441.0%31.6%8.2%14.1%4.2%0.9%9.4%
30 Apr–1 May 2015Survation/Daily Mirror97836%34%10%17%4%<0.5%2%
30 Apr 2015Question Time featuring David Cameron, Nick Clegg and Ed Miliband broadcast on BBC One; Ask Nicola Sturgeon, Ask Leanne Wood and Ask Nigel Farage programmes also shown
27–28 Apr 2015ComRes/ITV News, Daily Mail Archived 18 May 2015 at the Wayback Machine87236%36%8%12%6%2%Tied
25–27 Apr 2015BMG/May2015.com87739%31%11%15%4%<0.5%8%
24–26 Apr 2015Lord Ashcroft[13]87037%32%9%12%8%1%5%
24–26 Apr 2015ICM/The Guardian[14]86339%32%7%15%6%<0.5%7%
24–25 Apr 2015Survation/Mail on Sunday87936%31%9%20%4%<0.5%5%
21–24 Apr 2015Opinium/The Observer1,66836%33%9%15%7%1%3%
22–23 Apr 2015Survation/Daily Mirror1,07236%29%10%20%5%<0.5%7%
21–22 Apr 2015ComRes/ITV News, Daily Mail Archived 30 April 2015 at the Wayback Machine89039%34%8%11%5%3%5%
17–19 Apr 2015Lord Ashcroft[13]86336%33%9%14%5%2%3%
17–19 Apr 2015ICM/The Guardian[14]86338%35%9%12%5%1%3%
16–17 Apr 2015Opinium/The Observer1,65538%32%9%14%6%1%6%
16–17 Apr 2015Survation/Daily Mirror98635%34%8%18%3%1%1%
16 Apr 2015Five-way Opposition Leaders' Debate held on BBC One
12–15 Apr 2015Ipsos MORI/Evening Standard60035%37%8%11%8%1%2%
10–12 Apr 2015Lord Ashcroft[13]87034%36%9%14%6%1%2%
10–12 Apr 2015ICM/The Guardian[14]90041%35%7%8%8%1%6%
8–9 Apr 2015Opinium/The Observer1,62639%35%8%12%6%1%4%
8–9 Apr 2015Survation/Daily Mirror83833%36%9%16%5%1%3%
7–8 Apr 2015ComRes/ITV News, Daily Mail Archived 16 April 2015 at the Wayback Machine71836%35%11%13%4%1%1%
2–3 Apr 2015Survation/Daily Mirror85634%33%9%21%3%<0.5%1%
2–3 Apr 2015Opinium/The Observer1,71035%34%7%15%7%1%1%
2 Apr 2015Seven-way Leaders' Debate on ITV
30 Mar 2015Dissolution of Parliament and the official start of the election campaign
28–29 Mar 2015ComRes/ITV News, Daily Mail Archived 19 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine86438%32%9%13%6%2%6%
27–29 Mar 2015Lord Ashcroft[13]86540%34%7%11%7%1%6%
26 Mar 2015First TV election interview by Jeremy Paxman with David Cameron and Ed Miliband on Sky and Channel 4
24–25 Mar 2015Opinium/The Observer1,69035%34%9%13%7%<0.5%1%
24–25 Mar 2015Survation/Daily Mirror85134%34%8%20%4%<0.5%Tied
20–22 Mar 2015ComRes/ITV News, Daily Mail Archived 2 April 2015 at the Wayback Machine86438%35%8%11%7%1%3%
20–22 Mar 2015Lord Ashcroft[13]86036%33%8%14%6%2%3%
20–21 Mar 2015Survation/Mail on Sunday86131%35%10%19%3%1%4%
18–19 Mar 2015Opinium/The Observer1,70237%33%7%14%7%1%4%
13–15 Mar 2015Lord Ashcroft[13]86334%29%8%18%9%3%5%
13–15 Mar 2015ICM/The Guardian[14]91038%37%6%11%5%3%1%
10–12 Mar 2015Opinium/The Observer1,65435%35%7%15%7%<0.5%Tied
8–11 Mar 2015Ipsos MORI/Evening Standard86334%37%8%14%6%1%3%
6–8 Mar 2015Lord Ashcroft[13]85936%31%5%18%9%1%5%
3–6 Mar 2015Opinium/The Observer1,62636%33%7%15%7%3%3%
27 Feb–1 Mar 2015Lord Ashcroft[13]86036%32%8%14%7%2%4%
24–26 Feb 2015Opinium/The Observer1,67935%36%7%14%6%1%1%
23 Feb 2015Survation/Daily Mirror92130%34%10%21%3%2%4%
20–23 Feb 2015ComRes/Daily Mail Archived 24 February 2015 at the Wayback Machine86536%32%7%14%9%2%4%
20–22 Feb 2015Lord Ashcroft[13]86732%38%6%13%8%2%6%
17–20 Feb 2015Opinium/The Observer1,70436%33%7%16%7%1%3%
13–15 Feb 2015Lord Ashcroft[13]86331%31%9%18%9%3%Tied
13–15 Feb 2015ICM/The Guardian[14]86038%34%7%10%8%2%4%
10–12 Feb 2015Opinium/The Observer1,71335%35%8%15%5%1%Tied
8–10 Feb 2015Ipsos MORI/Evening Standard84438%37%7%10%8%0%1%
6–8 Feb 2015Lord Ashcroft[13]86036%31%9%16%7%1%5%
3–6 Feb 2015Opinium/The Observer1,94733%35%7%15%8%2%2%
30 Jan–1 Feb 2015Lord Ashcroft[13]85734%30%8%17%10%1%4%
25 Jan 2015Survation/Daily Mirror89034%30%7%25%4%<0.5%4%
23–25 Jan 2015ComRes/The Independent[permanent dead link]85233%29%9%20%8%1%4%
22–25 Jan 2015Lord Ashcroft[13]85933%34%5%17%9%2%1%
16–19 Jan 2015ICM/The Guardian[14]86332%35%8%14%10%1%3%
16–18 Jan 2015Lord Ashcroft[13]87131%27%9%17%12%4%4%
11–13 Jan 2015Ipsos MORI/Evening Standard85435%35%8%12%8%2%Tied
9–11 Jan 2015Lord Ashcroft[13]85837%29%7%17%8%2%8%
12–16 Dec 2014ICM/The Guardian[14]86131%33%11%17%5%3%2%
13–15 Dec 2014Ipsos MORI/Evening Standard84036%31%9%14%10%0%5%
12–14 Dec 2014ComRes/The Independent[permanent dead link]89729%34%12%17%6%2%5%
5–7 Dec 2014Lord Ashcroft[13]86031%31%7%23%6%2%Tied
6 May 2010General Election Results25,085,09739.6%28.1%24.2%3.5%1.0%3.6%11.5%
Close

Endorsements

Donations

Electoral commission data[15] shows that in 2015 Q2, total donations for each major political party, over £7,500, are as follows:

More information Party, Donations ...
Party Donations
Conservative £9,159,884
Labour £8,783,492
Liberal Democrats £2,434,159
UKIP £2,203,921
Green £55,152
Close

See also

References

Related Articles

Timelines

Top Qs

Fact Checks