The 2004 European Parliament election was the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...
's part of the wider
2004 European Parliament election which was held between 10 and 13 June 2004 in the 25 member states of the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are located primarily in Europe, Europe. The union has a total area of ...
. The United Kingdom's part of this election was held on Thursday 10 June 2004. The election also coincided with the
2004 local elections and the
London Assembly and
mayoral elections. In total, 78
Members of the European Parliament were elected from the United Kingdom using
proportional representation
Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...
.
The
Conservative Party
The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right.
Political parties called The Conservative P ...
and the
Labour Party both polled poorly. The Conservatives experienced their second-lowest ever recorded vote share in a national election (even less than their 1832 nadir, although the party would do worse still in the
2014
File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wa ...
and
2019 elections), and Labour their lowest since 1918. The
UK Independence Party (UKIP) saw a large increase in support, increasing its number of
MEPs from 3 to 12 and on popular vote pushed the
Liberal Democrats, who themselves had increased their representation from 10 to 12 seats into fourth place. In
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is #Descriptions, variously described as ...
,
Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin ( , ; en, " eOurselves") is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active throughout both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
The original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Gr ...
beat the
SDLP in the polls and took its first Northern Ireland seat.
Background
Electoral system
The United Kingdom elected 78
Members of the European Parliament using
proportional representation
Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...
. The United Kingdom was divided into twelve multi-member constituencies. The eleven of these regions which form
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It ...
used a closed-list
party list system method of
proportional representation
Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...
, calculated using the
D'Hondt method
The D'Hondt method, also called the Jefferson method or the greatest divisors method, is a method for allocating seats in parliaments among federal states, or in party-list proportional representation systems. It belongs to the class of highes ...
.
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is #Descriptions, variously described as ...
used the
Single Transferable Vote (STV). As a consequence of the
2004 enlargement of the European Union, the number of
seats allocated to the United Kingdom was fewer than in 1999.
It was the first European election to be held in the United Kingdom using postal-only voting in four areas: the North East, North West, Yorkshire and the Humber, and East Midlands
regions.
Regional seat allocations
A combination of the effects of the
Treaty of Nice
The Treaty of Nice was signed by European leaders on 26 February 2001 and came into force on 1 February 2003.
It amended the Maastricht Treaty (or the Treaty on European Union) and the Treaty of Rome (or the Treaty establishing the European ...
and the
2004 enlargement of the European Union meant that the number of
seats allocated to the United Kingdom for the 2004 election was reduced from the 87 MEPs allocated for the
1999
File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...
election to 78 MEPs.
As a result of the successful challenge of ''
Matthews v United Kingdom
''Matthews v United Kingdom'' is a human rights case (18 February 1999) on the right to vote, under the European Convention on Human Rights.
Gibraltarians, although EU citizens under the British Treaty of Accession, were unable to vote in electi ...
'' before the
European Court of Human Rights
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR or ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights. The court hears applications alleging that ...
in 1999
residents of
Gibraltar
)
, anthem = " God Save the King"
, song = "Gibraltar Anthem"
, image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg
, map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe
, map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green
, mapsize =
, image_map2 = Gibr ...
, voted in the European Parliament election for the first time, as part of the
South West England region.
1 Includes Gibraltar
)
, anthem = " God Save the King"
, song = "Gibraltar Anthem"
, image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg
, map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe
, map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green
, mapsize =
, image_map2 = Gibr ...
, the only British overseas territory which is part of the EU.
Results
Turnout for all the regions was 38.2% on an electorate of 44,157,267 (43,084,598 in Great Britain and 1,072,669 in Northern Ireland). The
Conservatives and
Labour both polled poorly. The Conservatives, although getting a vote share 4.1% greater than Labour, experienced their lowest vote share in a national election since 1832. Labour's vote share was its lowest since 1918. Labour's decline in votes was regarded as being largely due to widespread public dissatisfaction about the
Iraq War
{{Infobox military conflict
, conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish)
, partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...
and (as with the Conservatives) the increased popularity of
UK Independence Party (UKIP). UKIP saw a large increase in support, increasing its number of
MEPs from 3 to 12, drawing level with the
Liberal Democrats, who themselves had increased their representation from 10 to 12 seats. UKIP polled higher than the Liberal Democrats to push the latter into fourth place.
Turnout was lowest in Scotland, which did not hold local elections on the same day. In Scotland, Labour topped the poll, followed by the
Scottish National Party (SNP). The Conservatives' share of the vote declined by 2 percent, making it the region with the smallest swing against them.
Wales was the only region were Labour increased its share of the vote compared to 1999. The Conservatives managed to make gains pushing Plaid Cymru into third and whose share of the vote fell by 12 percentage points relative to 1999. Similarly UKIP narrowly beat the Liberal Democrats into fourth place. Wales was the region where the Green Party polled their lowest share of the vote.
United Kingdom
:''All parties listed.''
†Loss/gain figures for seats are losses/gains versus the 1999 notional result, as the number of MEPs overall fell.
Great Britain
Summary of the election results for Great Britain
:''All parties listed.''
†Loss/gain figures for seats are losses/gains versus the 1999 notional result, as the number of MEPs overall fell.
Gibraltar
Gibraltar participated in the United Kingdom's election for the first time in 2004 as part of the
South West England constituency. Gibraltar is a
British overseas territory (BOT) and therefore is under the
jurisdiction
Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' + 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, areas of jurisdiction apply to local, state, and federal levels.
J ...
and
sovereignty
Sovereignty is the defining authority within individual consciousness, social construct, or territory. Sovereignty entails hierarchy within the state, as well as external autonomy for states. In any state, sovereignty is assigned to the perso ...
of the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...
but does not form part of it.
Gibraltar is however part of the EU, the only BOT to be so. Following however, the result of the successful challenge of ''
Matthews v United Kingdom
''Matthews v United Kingdom'' is a human rights case (18 February 1999) on the right to vote, under the European Convention on Human Rights.
Gibraltarians, although EU citizens under the British Treaty of Accession, were unable to vote in electi ...
'' before the
European Court of Human Rights
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR or ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights. The court hears applications alleging that ...
in 1999
residents of
Gibraltar
)
, anthem = " God Save the King"
, song = "Gibraltar Anthem"
, image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg
, map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe
, map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green
, mapsize =
, image_map2 = Gibr ...
were given the right to vote in the European Parliament elections. The British government decided not to give Gibraltar its own seat due to its small electorate of just over 20,000 which would have meant with just one seat Gibraltar would have been over-represented by about 30 times the average.
None of the main
Gibraltar political parties contested the election, so voters chose from United Kingdom party lists. However, Lyana Armstrong-Emery of Gibraltar's
Reform Party had a place on a joint list with the
Green Party
A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence.
Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation f ...
. In addition both the leader of the Conservative Party,
Michael Howard, and his deputy,
Michael Ancram, campaigned in Gibraltar.
Turnout in Gibraltar was 57.5%, higher than the 37.6% for the South West England electoral region as a whole. The
Conservative Party
The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right.
Political parties called The Conservative P ...
polled over two-thirds of the Gibraltar vote, with no other party exceeding 10% support.
Northern Ireland
Turnout in Northern Ireland was 51.2%.
Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin ( , ; en, " eOurselves") is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active throughout both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
The original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Gr ...
beat the
SDLP in the polls and took its first Northern Ireland seat. Sinn Féin also won a seat in the
corresponding elections in the
Republic of Ireland
Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. ...
. Sinn Féin and the DUP increased their shares of the vote relative to the 1999 European Parliament elections, while the shares for both the SDLP and the UUP fell.
This was also the final election in which a Unionist candidate topped the poll in Northern Ireland. Jim Allister of the DUP and Bairbre de Brún of Sinn Féin were elected in the first round while Jim Nicholson of the UUP was elected in the third stage, after the votes of the other candidates were reallocated.
Summary of the election results for Northern Ireland
MEPs defeated
Labour
*
David Bowe (
Yorkshire and the Humber)
*
Bill Miller (
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...
)
*
Brian Simpson
Brian Simpson OBE (born 6 February 1953) is a British Labour Party politician who was Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for North West England.
Born in Leigh, Lancashire, Simpson was educated at the West Midlands College of Educati ...
(
North West England) - returned to the European Parliament in September 2006 and subsequently defended his seat in 2009.
*
Mo O'Toole
Barbara Maria O'Toole (born 24 February 1960), known as Mo O'Toole, is a former politician in the United Kingdom.
O'Toole attended Sacred Heart Convent School in Fenham, Newcastle upon Tyne, then studied at Northumbria University. (
North East England)
*
Mark F. Watts (
South East England)
Conservative
*
Jacqueline Foster
Jacqueline Foster, Baroness Foster of Oxton, (''née'' Renshaw) is a British Conservative politician and a former Member of the European Parliament for the North West England region.
In October 2019 she was appointed Dame Commander of the Mos ...
(North West England) - was subsequently reelected in the 2009 election.
*
Alexander Macmillan (
South West England)
*
Roy Perry
Roy Perry (born 12 February 1943) is a British Conservative Party politician. He was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from 1994 to 2004.
Background
Perry is a graduate of the University of Exeter with a degree in Government and Poli ...
(South East England)
*
Ian Twinn (
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
) - only took seat on 21 October 2003 after the ill-health resignation of
Lord Bethell.
Plaid Cymru
*
Eurig Wyn (
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...
)
Aftermath
Both
Tony Blair and
Michael Howard faced criticism for their results with then
Secretary of State for Health John Reid calling the results "disappointing" for Labour and "disastrous" for the Conservatives.
Shortly after the election UKIP's
Robert Kilroy-Silk
Robert Michael Kilroy-Silk (born Robert Michael Silk; 19 May 1942) is an English former politician and broadcaster. After a decade as a university lecturer, he served as a Labour Party Member of Parliament (MP) from 1974 to 1986. He left the H ...
, who was credited with raising the profile of the party during the election, was interviewed by
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...
television about leadership ambitions, Kilroy-Silk did not deny having ambitions to lead the party, but stressed that
Roger Knapman would lead it into the next general election. However, the next day, on ''
Breakfast with Frost'', he criticised Knapman's leadership. After further disagreement with the leadership, Kilroy-Silk resigned the UKIP whip in the European Parliament on 27 October 2004. Initially, he remained a member, while seeking a bid for the party leadership. However, this was not successful and he resigned completely from UKIP on 20 January 2005, calling it a "joke". Two weeks later, he founded his own party,
Veritas, taking a number of UKIP members, including both of the London Assembly members, with him.
UKIP formed a new
European Parliament Group,
Independence/Democracy which was co-chaired by
Nigel Farage and
Hanne Dahl.
See also
*
2005 United Kingdom general election
The 2005 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 5 May 2005, to elect 646 members to the House of Commons. The Labour Party, led by Tony Blair, won its third consecutive victory, with Blair becoming the second Labour leader aft ...
*
List of political parties in the United Kingdom
Notes
References
External links
European Election News by European Election Law Association (Eurela)*
ttp://www.psr.keele.ac.uk/area/uk/loc04/europe04.htm Guide and links Richard Kimber's at Political Science Resources
Manifestos and documents
Guardian (newspaper): incomplete collection of manifestosConservative manifestoSuccesses of the Greens in the European ParliamentA Green Contract for EuropeEuropean Election Manifesto: Green Party of England and WalesManifesto: Northern Ireland
Labour document
Liberal Democrat manifesto
Democratic Unionist Party manifesto
Social Democratic and Labour Party manifesto
Socialist Environmental Alliance manifesto
Ulster Unionist Party manifestoEuropean manifesto
( ED)
Scottish National Party manifesto
Plaid Cymru / The Party of Wales Manifesto
{{United Kingdom elections
2004 elections in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...
2004