European Parliament election, 1994 (United Kingdom)

United Kingdom European Parliament election, 1994
United Kingdom
9 June 1994
87 seats to the European Parliament
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Margaret Beckett John Major Paddy Ashdown
Party Labour Conservative Liberal Democrat
Alliance PES EPP ELDR
Leader since 12 May 1994 (acting) 28 November 1990 16 July 1988
Last election 45 seats, 37% 32 seats, 35% 0 seats, 6%
Seats won 62 18 2
Seat change Increase17 Decrease13 Increase2
Popular vote 6,753,863 4,254,114 2,552,730
Percentage 44 28 17
Swing Increase8% Decrease7% Increase11%
Leader of Largest Party before election

Margaret Beckett
Labour

 Subsequent Leader of Largest Party

Margaret Beckett
Labour

The European Parliament Election, 1994 was the fourth European election to be held in the United Kingdom. It was held on 9 June, though, as usual, the ballots were not counted until the evening of 12 June. The electoral system was, for the final European election, first past the post in England, Scotland and Wales and single transferable vote in Northern Ireland. This was the first election with 87 MEPs, the European Parliamentary Elections Act 1993 increased the number of seats for the UK from 81. For the first time, the UK did not have the lowest turnout in Europe. Turnout was lower in the Netherlands and Portugal.

This was the first European election contested by the recently formed UK Independence Party and the first European election in which the Liberal Democrats won seats. The Conservatives' performance in the election was very poor, losing a further 14 seats, taking their number of seats down to 18, which was 42 fewer seats than in the 1979 election, the year they defeated the Labour Party in the 1979 General Election. This reflected the general unpopularity of the Major government at the time.

Labour was under the interim leadership of Margaret Beckett following the sudden death of leader John Smith the previous month.

The Green Party was unable to build on its highly successful performance of the previous election, losing more than three-quarters of its votes.

Richard Huggett, standing as a "Literal Democrat", gained over 10,000 votes in the Devon and East Plymouth constituency and almost certainly prevented the Liberal Democrats from gaining a third seat from the Conservative Party.

England, Scotland and Wales

Map of the Scottish results.

Sources: *UK Office of the European Parliament *United Kingdom election results

Note: Percentages are approximate

Party Votes Seats Loss/Gain Share of Vote (%)
Labour 6,753,863 62 +17 44
Conservative 4,248,531 18 -13 28
Liberal Democrat 2,552,730 2 +2 17
Green 494,561 0 0 3
SNP 487,239 2 +1 3
Plaid Cymru 162,478 0 0 1
Independent 151,858 0 0 1
UKIP 150,251 0 0 1
Liberal 100,500 0 0 1
Natural Law 96,554 0 0 1
National Front 12,469 0 0 0
Moderate Labour 12,113 0 0 0
Independent Democrat 10,203 0 0 0
Monster Raving Loony 7,798 0 0 0
Independent Conservative 5,847 0 0 0
Independent Socialist 5,071 0 0 0
Communist 4,323 0 0 0
Mebyon Kernow 3,315 0 0 0

Total votes cast - 15,292,722. All parties with more than 3,000 votes shown.

Northern Ireland

European Parliament election, 1994 (United Kingdom): Northern Ireland - 3 seats[1][2]
Party Candidate % 1st Pref Count 1 Count 2
DUP Ian Paisley 29.2 163,246  
SDLP John Hume 28.9 161,992  
UUP Jim Nicholson 23.8 133,459 149,541.25
Alliance Mary Clark-Glass 4.1 23,157 23,375.55
Sinn Féin Tom Hartley 3.8 21,273 21,278.10
Sinn Féin Dodie McGuinness 3.1 17,195 17,238.95
Sinn Féin Francie Molloy 3.0 16,747 16.756.60
Ulster Independence Hugh Ross 1.4 7,858 12,575.05
NI Conservatives Myrtle Boal 1.0 5,583 6,106.95
Workers' Party John Lowry 0.5 2,543 2,579.00
Labour Party NI Niall Cusack 0.4 2,464 2,518.90
Natural Law James Anderson 0.2 1,418 1,492.70
Independent June Campion 0.2 1,088 1,127.15
Independent David Kerr 0.1 571 877.15
Natural Law Susannah Thompson 0.1 454 534.40
Independent Robert Mooney 0.1 400 455.95
Natural Law Michael Kennedy 0.1 419 443.90
Electorate: 1,151,389   Valid: 559,867   Spoilt: 9,234   Quota: 139,967   Turnout: 49.4%

    MEPs Retiring

    Conservative

    Labour

    MEPs Defeated

    Labour

    Conservative

    Party Leaders on 5 June 1994

    See also

    References

    1. ↑ The 1994 European Election, Northern Ireland Elections
    2. ↑ , Northern Ireland Social and Political Archive
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