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| United Kingdom general election, 2001 All 659 seats to the House of Commons |
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| 7 June 2001 | ||||
| First Party | Second Party | Third Party | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
 |
 |
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| Leader | Tony Blair | William Hague | Charles Kennedy | |
| Party | Labour | Conservative | Liberal Democrat | |
| Leader since | 21 July 1994 | 19 June 1997 | 9 August 1999 | |
| Leader's seat | Sedgefield | Richmond | Ross, Skye and Lochaber | |
| Last election | 418 seats, 43.2% | 165 seats, 30.7% | 46 seats, 16.8% | |
| Seats won | 413 | 166 | 52 | |
| Seat change | -5 | +1 | +6 | |
| Popular vote | 10,724,953 | 8,357,615 | 4,814,321 | |
| Percentage | 40.7% | 31.7% | 18.3% | |
| Swing | -2.5% | +1% | +1.5% | |
| 1992 election • MPs |
| 1997 election • MPs |
| 2001 election • MPs |
| 2005 election • MPs |
The UK general election, 2001 was held on 7 June 2001 and was dubbed "the quiet landslide" by the media. There was little change at all - outside Northern Ireland - with 620 out of 641 seats remaining unchanged. Labour enjoyed its second so-called 'landslide victory' (not a landslide but more of a slip back as the Labour Party share of the vote dropped by 2.5% from 1997) in a row, maintaining its position from the previous election. Tony Blair became the first Labour prime minister to win enough seats to have a full second consecutive term in office. Labour won a majority of 167 overall (previously 179) and 247 over the Conservatives (previously 254).
The Conservatives netted a gain of only 1 seat after their crushing defeat of 1997 (gaining a few seats from Labour, but losing to the Liberal Democrats). Conservative leader William Hague resigned immediately, becoming the first Conservative leader since Austen Chamberlain to leave office without becoming Prime Minister. The Liberal Democrats, under Charles Kennedy, made a gain of 6 more seats from their already historical high of 1997.
The elections were also marked by voter apathy, with turnout falling to 59%, the lowest since the Coupon Election of 1918. Throughout the election the Labour Party had maintained a significant lead in the opinion polls and the result was deemed to be so certain that some bookmakers paid out for a Labour majority before the election day.
The election had been expected in May, to coincide with local elections, but both were postponed because of rural movement restrictions imposed in response to a foot and mouth outbreak. One of the more noted events of a quiet campaign was when a countryside protester Craig Evans threw an egg at Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott in Rhyl; Prescott then punched him and a struggle ensued, in front of television cameras. The 2001 Election also saw the rare election of an independent. Dr. Richard Taylor of Independent Kidderminster Hospital and Health Concern (usually now known simply as "Health Concern") unseated a government minister. There was also a high vote for British National Party leader Nick Griffin in Oldham, in the wake of recent race riots in the town.
In Northern Ireland, the election was far more dramatic and marked a move by unionists away from support for the Good Friday Agreement, with the moderate unionist Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) losing to the more hardline Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). This polarisation was also seen in the nationalist community, with the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) vote losing out to the hardline republican Sinn Féin. It also saw a tightening of the parties as the small UK Unionist Party lost its only seat.
During the election, Sharron Storer, a resident of Birmingham, England, criticised Prime Minister Tony Blair in front of television cameras about conditions in the National Health Service. The widely-televised incident happened on 16 May during a campaign visit by Blair to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham. Sharron Storer's partner, Keith Sedgewick, a cancer patient with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and therefore highly susceptible to infection, was being treated at the time in the bone marrow unit, but no bed could be found for him and he was transferred to the casualty unit for his first 24 hours.123
Contents |
Results
| UK General Election 2001 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Seats | Gains | Losses | Net Gain/Loss | Seats % | Votes % | Votes | +/- | |
| Labour | 413 | 2 | 8 | −6 | 62.5 | 40.7 | 10,724,953 | −2.5% | |
| Conservative | 166 | 9 | 8 | +1 | 25.2 | 31.7 | 8,357,615 | +1.0% | |
| Liberal Democrat | 52 | 8 | 2 | +6 | 7.9 | 18.3 | 4,814,321 | +1.5% | |
| Scottish National Party | 5 | 0 | 1 | −1 | 0.8 | 1.8 | 464,314 | −0.2% | |
| UK Independence | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 1.5 | 390,563 | 1.2% | |
| Ulster Unionist | 6 | 1 | 5 | −4 | 0.9 | 0.8 | 216,839 | 0.0% | |
| Plaid Cymru | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 195,893 | +0.2% | |
| Democratic Unionist | 5 | 3 | 0 | +3 | 0.8 | 0.7 | 181,999 | +0.4% | |
| Sinn Féin | 4 | 2 | 0 | +2 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 175,933 | +0.3% | |
| Social Democratic and Labour | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 169,865 | 0.0% | |
| Green | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.6 | 166,477 | +0.3% | |
| Independent | 0 | 0 | 1 | −1 | 0.0 | 0.4 | 97,070 | +0.3% | |
| Scottish Socialist | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 72,516 | N/A | |
| Socialist Alliance | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 57,553 | N/A | |
| Socialist Labour | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 57,288 | 0.0% | |
| British National | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 47,129 | +0.1% | |
| Alliance | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 28,999 | −0.1% | |
| Health Concern | 1 | 1 | 0 | +1 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 28,487 | N/A | |
| Liberal | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 13,685 | 0.0% | |
| UK Unionist | 0 | 0 | 1 | −1 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 13,509 | +0.1% | |
| ProLife Alliance | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 9,453 | −0.1% | |
| Legalise Cannabis | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 8,677 | N/A | |
| People's Justice | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 7,443 | N/A | |
| Monster Raving Loony | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 6,655 | 0.0% | |
| Progressive Unionist | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 4,781 | 0.0% | |
| Mebyon Kernow | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 3,199 | 0.0% | |
| NI Women's Coalition | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2,968 | 0.0% | |
| Scottish Unionist | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2,728 | N/A | |
| Rock 'n' Roll Loony | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2,634 | N/A | |
| National Front | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2,484 | 0.0% | |
| Workers' Party | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2,352 | 0.0% | |
| Neath Port Talbot Ratepayers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1,960 | N/A | |
| NI Unionist | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1,794 | N/A | |
| Socialist Alternative | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1,454 | 0.0% | |
| Reform 2000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1,418 | N/A | |
| Isle of Wight | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1,164 | N/A | |
| Muslim | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1,150 | N/A | |
| Communist | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1,003 | 0.0% | |
| New Britain | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 888 | 0.0% | |
| Free Party | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 832 | N/A | |
| Left Alliance | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 770 | N/A | |
| New Millennium Bean Party | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 727 | N/A | |
| Workers' Revolutionary | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 607 | 0.0% | |
| Tatton | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 505 | N/A | |
Total votes cast: 26,368,204. All parties with more than 500 votes shown.
The seat gains reflect changes on the 1997 general election result. Two seats had changed hands in by-elections in the intervening period. These were as follows:
- Romsey from Conservative to Liberal Democrats. This seat stayed Liberal Democrat in 2001.
- South Antrim from Ulster Unionists to Democratic Unionists. This seat reverted to the Ulster Unionists in 2001.
The results of the election give a Gallagher index of dis-proportionality of 17.74.
Votes summary
| Popular vote | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | 40.67% | |||
| Conservative | 31.7% | |||
| Liberal Democrat | 18.26% | |||
| Scottish National | 1.76% | |||
| UK Independence | 1.48% | |||
| Others | 6.13% | |||
Seats summary
| Parliamentary seats | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | 62.67% | |||
| Conservative | 25.19% | |||
| Liberal Democrat | 7.89% | |||
| Ulster Unionist | 0.91% | |||
| Scottish National | 0.76% | |||
| Democratic Unionist | 0.76% | |||
| Others | 1.82% | |||
See also
Manifestos
- Labour (Ambitions for Britain)
- Conservative (Time for Common Sense)
- Liberal Democrat (Freedom, Justice, Honesty)
- UK Independence Party
References
- ^ Duncan Watts (2006), British Government and Politics: A Comparative Guide, Edinburgh University, ISBN 074862323X, http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN074862323X&id=MiTDykvtbEkC&pg=PA320&lpg=PA320&ots=VOmOjxEveF&dq=%22Sharron+Storer%22&ie=ISO-8859-1&output=html&sig=1_H6vnU8r39jq9fbogjBfxnTAQs
- ^ BBC story from 16 May 2001
- ^ BBC story from 17 May 2001
External links
- BBC News: Vote 2001 - in depth coverage.
- Catalogue of 2001 general election ephemera at the Archives Division of the London School of Economics.
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Wikipedia content modification information:
- This page was last modified on 29 November 2008, at 15:19.
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