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1999 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom

None

Field	Value
election_name	1999 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom
country	United Kingdom
type	parliamentary
ongoing	no
previous_election	1994 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom
previous_year	1994
outgoing_members	List of members of the European Parliament for the United Kingdom (1994–1999)
next_election	2004 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom
next_year	2004
seats_for_election	All 87 seats of the United Kingdom's seats
in the European Parliament
elected_members	List of members of the European Parliament for the United Kingdom (1999–2004)
election_date	10 June 1999
turnout	24.0% (12.4%)
image1
leader1	Edward McMillan-Scott
leader_since1	16 September 1997
party1	Conservative Party (UK)
leaders_seat1	Yorkshire and the Humber
alliance1	European People's Party Group
last_election1	18 seats, 26.8%
seats1	36
seat_change1	18
popular_vote1	3,578,218
percentage1	33.5%
swing1	6.5%
image2
leader2	Alan Donnelly
leader_since2	1997
party2	Labour Party (UK)
leaders_seat2	North East
England
alliance2	Party of European Socialists
last_election2	62 seats, 42.6%
seats2	29
seat_change2	33
popular_vote2	2,803,821
percentage2	26.3%
swing2	16.4%
image3
leader3	Robin Teverson
leader_since3	1994
party3	Liberal Democrats (UK)
leaders_seat3	South West England (defeated)
alliance3	Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe
last_election3	2 seats, 17%
seats3	10
seat_change3	8
popular_vote3	1,266,549
percentage3	11.9%
swing3	4.3%
image4
leader4	Michael Holmes
leader_since4	September 1997
party4	UK Independence Party
leaders_seat4	South West
England
alliance4	EDD
last_election4	0 seats, 1.0%
seats4	3
seat_change4	3
popular_vote4	696,057
percentage4	6.5%
swing4	5.5%
image5
leader5	Jean Lambert
leader_since5	1998
party5	Green Party of England and Wales
leaders_seat5	London
alliance5	Green
last_election5	0 seats, 3.0%
seats5	2
seat_change5	2
popular_vote5	568,236
percentage5	5.3%
swing5	2.3%
image6
leader6	Ian Hudghton
leader_since6	1999
party6	Scottish National Party
leaders_seat6	Scotland
alliance6	EFA
last_election6	2 seats, 3.1%
seats6	2
seat_change6
popular_vote6	268,528
percentage6	2.5%
swing6	0.6%
map_image	European Parliament election 1999 - UK results.png
map_size	400px
map_caption	Colours denote the winning party, as shown in the main table of results
map2	[[File:1999 UK European Parliament election.svg	300px]]
title	Leader of Largest Party
posttitle	Subsequent Leader of Largest Party
before_election	Tony Blair
before_party	Labour Party (UK)
after_election	William Hague
after_party	Conservative Party (UK)

in the European Parliament

England](north-east-england-european-parliament-constituency)

England](south-west-england-european-parliament-constituency)

The 1999 European Parliament election was the United Kingdom's part of the European Parliament election 1999. It was held on 10 June 1999. Following the European Parliamentary Elections Act 1999, it was the first European election to be held in the United Kingdom where the whole country used a system of proportional representation. In total, 87 Members of the European Parliament were elected from the United Kingdom across twelve new regional constituencies.

The change in voting system resulted in significant changes in seats. The Conservatives won double the number of seats they had won in the previous European election, in 1994, while the Labour Party saw its seats reduced from 62 to 29. The Liberal Democrats saw their number of seats increase to 10 from just 2 in the previous election. The UK Independence Party (UKIP), Green Party and Plaid Cymru gained their first seats in the European Parliament.

A by-election to the British Parliament also took place on the same day in the Leeds Central constituency - Labour held the seat but with significantly reduced turnout.

The House of Commons Library calculated notional seat changes based on what the result would have been if the 1994 European elections had been held under proportional representation. The notional results and seat changes are shown in the results box for this article.

It was the first European Parliament election to be held since the 1997 general election which resulted in a change of government from Conservative to Labour.

Turnout was 24%, the lowest of any member state in the 1999 election where the EU average was 49.51%. It was also the lowest of any European election in the United Kingdom, and the lowest of any member state until the 2009 election and to date is the lowest turnout for any national election in the history of the United Kingdom.

Background

Electoral system

The European Parliamentary Elections Act 1999 introduced a closed-list party list system method of proportional representation, calculated using the D'Hondt method into Great Britain. In Northern Ireland, the Single Transferable Vote, which is also a form of proportional representation, which had been used since the first European election in 1979 was retained. The Act also created twelve new electoral regions, which were based on the British government's nine administrative Regions of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. The effect of the introduction of proportional representation was that many small parties won seats to the European Parliament for the first time.

Results

United Kingdom

Map showing most popular party by counting area.

The Conservatives doubled the number of seats from the last European election. Labour saw their 62 seats reduced to just 29. It was the first European Parliament election to be held since the change of United Kingdom government from Conservative to Labour two years earlier. The Liberal Democrats saw their number of seats increase to 10 from just 2 in the previous election. The UK Independence Party, Green Party and Plaid Cymru won their first seats in the European Parliament.

These changes were largely due to the move to proportional representation from first-past-the-post. The House of Commons Library calculated that if the 1994 European elections had been held under proportional representation, Labour would have won 43 MEPs, the Conservatives 26, the Lib Dems 11, the SNP 3 and Plaid Cymru 1.

Party	Votes won	% of vote	Change	Seats	% of seats	Loss/Gain
vs actual
'94 result	Loss/Gain
vs notional
'94 result
	3,578,218	33.5	6.5	36	41.4	18	10
	2,803,821	26.3	16.4	29	33.3	33	14
	1,266,549	11.9	4.3	10	11.9	8	1
	696,057	6.5	5.6	3	3.4	3	3
	568,236	5.3	2.3	2	2.4	2	2
	268,528	2.5	0.6	2	2.3		1
	192,762	1.8	0.8	1	1.1
	190,731	1.8	0.8	1	1.1
	185,235	1.7	0.7	2	2.3	2	1
	138,097	1.3	New	0
	119,507	1.1	0.3	1	1.1
	117,643	1.1	0.8	0
	102,647	1.0	New	0
	93,051	0.9	0.3	0
	86,749	0.8	New	0
	57,142	0.5	0.4	0
	39,720	0.4	New	0
	22,494	0.2	New	0
	21,327	0.2	0.4	0
	20,283	0.2	New	0
	14,391	0.1		0
	7,203	0.1	New	0
	2,586	0.0	New	0
	Weekly Worker	1,724	0.0	New	0
	1,510	0.0	New	0
	Others	84,872	0.8		0
Total		10,681,083						87	100
Source: BBC News, UK Parliament Briefing

Great Britain

Summary of the election results for Great Britain

Party	Votes won	% of vote	Loss/Gain	Seats	% of seats	Loss/Gain
vs actual
'94 result	Loss/Gain
vs notional
'94 result
	3,578,218	35.8	7.9	36	42.9	18
	2,803,821	28.0	16.1	29	34.5	33
	1,266,549	12.7	4.1	10	11.9	8
	696,057	7.0	6.0	3	3.6	3	3
	568,236	6.3	2.6	2	2.4	2	2
	268,528	2.7	0.5	2	2.4		1
	185,235	1.9	0.8	2	2.4	2	1
	138,097	1.4	New	0
	102,647	1.0	New	0
	93,051	0.9	0.3	0
	86,749	0.9	New	0
	57,142	0.6	0.4	0
	39,720	0.4	New	0
	20,329	0.4	0.2	0
	7,203	0.1	New	0
	2,586	0.0	New	0
	Weekly Worker	1,724	0.0	New	0
	1,510	0.1	New	0
	Others	84,872	0.8		0
Total		10,002,273						84	100
Source: BBC News, UK Parliament Briefing

Northern Ireland

Summary of the election results for Northern Ireland

[European Parliament election 1999](1999-european-parliament-election): Northern Ireland	Party	Candidate(s)	Seats	Loss/GainFirst Preference Votes	Number
	Ian Paisley	1	0	192,762	28.4
	John Hume	1	0	190,731	28.1
	Jim Nicholson	1	0	119,507	17.6
	Mitchel McLaughlin	0	0	117,643	17.3
	David Ervine	0	0	22,494	3.3
	Robert McCartney	0	0	20,283	3.0
	Seán Neeson	0	0	14,391	2.1
	James Anderson	0	0	998	0.2
Turnout	678,809

MEPs defeated

Labour

Angela Billingham (East Midlands)
Sue Waddington (East Midlands)
Veronica Hardstaff (East Midlands)
Clive Needle (East of England)
Peter Truscott (East of England)
David Thomas (East of England)
Carole Tongue (London)
Shaun Spiers (London)
Mary Honeyball (London)
Michael Elliot (London)
Dr Gordon Adam (North East)
Tony Cunningham (North West)
Mark Hendrick (North West)
Hugh McMahon (Scotland)
Anita Pollack (South East England)
Ian White (South West England)
Joe Wilson (Wales)
David Morris (Wales)
Michael Tappin (West Midlands)
David Hallam (West Midlands)
Roger Barton (Yorkshire and the Humber)
Barry Seal (Yorkshire and the Humber)

Liberal Democrat

Robin Teverson (South West England)

Conservative

Edward Kellett-Bowman (South East England)
Bryan Cassidy (South West England)

Pro-Euro Conservative Party

John Stevens, former Conservative MEP (South East England)
Brendan Donnelly, former Conservative MEP (West Midlands)

Independent Labour

Christine Oddy, former Labour MEP (West Midlands)

Scottish Socialist Party

Hugh Kerr, former Labour MEP (Essex West and Hertfordshire East)

Leeds Left Alliance

Ken Coates, former Labour MEP (East Midlands)

Aftermath

Labour's results brought about a debate within the party about the introduction of proportional representation. In September 1998, a poll of 150 MPs had found that 58% backed the introduction of proportional representation. A follow-up poll ran on the Sunday after the election found that this had decreased to 43%, with the majority wanting a return to the first-past-the-post system. It has also been argued, however, that the introduction of proportional representation actually reduced Labour's losses, as first-past-the-post is more sensitive to swings in public opinion.

Notes

References

"Previous European Parliamentary Elections – About Parliament". European Parliament.
(1999-06-21). "European Parliament Elections June 1999 – Commons Library briefing". UK Parliament.
(14 June 1999). "Success for smaller parties". BBC News.
"Euro Elections, Results – Great Britain and Northern Ireland". BBC News.
[http://www.ark.ac.uk/elections/fe99.htm The 1999 European Election], Northern Ireland Elections
(14 June 1999). "Labour postmortem begins". BBC News.
(14 June 1999). "Robin Oakley's Westminster Week – The Euro fallout". BBC News.

Info: Wikipedia Source

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