European Parliament election, 1984 (United Kingdom)

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United Kingdom European Parliament election, 1984

← 1979 14 June 1984 1989 →

81 seats to the European Parliament
Turnout 33%
  First party Second party
  Margaret Thatcher cropped2.png 150x150px
Leader Margaret Thatcher Neil Kinnock
Party Conservative Labour
Alliance EPP PES
Leader since 11 February 1975 2 October 1983
Last election 60 seats, 51% 17 seats, 33%
Seats won 45 32
Seat change Decrease15 Increase15
Popular vote 5,426,866 4,865,224
Percentage 38.8% 34.7%
Swing Decrease9.60% Increase3.1

Leader of Largest Party before election

Margaret Thatcher
Conservative

Subsequent Leader of Largest Party

Margaret Thatcher
Conservative

The European Parliament Election, 1984 was the second European election to be held in the United Kingdom. It was held on 14 June. The electoral system was First Past the Post in England, Scotland and Wales and Single Transferable Vote in Northern Ireland. The turnout was again the lowest in Europe. In England, Scotland and Wales, the Liberal Party and Social Democratic Party were in alliance, collecting 2,591,635 votes but not a single seat.

The election represented a small recovery for Labour, under Michael Foot's replacement Neil Kinnock, taking 15 seats from the Conservatives. In the general election of 1983, they had only had a vote share of 2% more than the SDP–Liberal Alliance (although they had nearly 10 times more MP's elected) and 15% less than the Conservatives.

  • Overall (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) turnout: 33% (EC average: 61%)
  • Overall votes cast: 13,998,190

England, Scotland and Wales

Source: UK Office of the European Parliament

Note: percentages are approximate

Party Votes Seats Loss/Gain Share of Vote (%)
Conservative 5,426,866 45 -15 38.8
Labour 4,865,224 32 +15 34.7
SDP–Liberal Alliance 2,591,659 0 0 19.5
SNP 230,594 1 0 1.7
Plaid Cymru 103,031 0 0 0.8
Ecology 70,853 0 0 0.5
Independent 11,073 0 0 0
Independent Ecology 3,330 0 0 0
Independent Conservative 3,249 0 0 0
Independent Liberal 2,981 0 0 0
Wessex Regionalist 2,365 0 0 0
Cornish Nationalist 1,892 0 0 0
Federal Republican 1,494 0 0 0

Total votes cast - 13,312,898. All parties listed.

Constituency Results

Source: UK-Elect

Constituency Constituency result by party Winning party 1984
Con Lab Lib/All SDP/All PC SNP Others
Bedfordshire South 72,088 57,106 36,444 Conservative
Birmingham East 54,994 76,377 21,927 1,440 Labour
Birmingham West 55,702 61,946 19,422 Labour
Bristol 94,652 77,008 33,698 Conservative

Northern Ireland

Source: Northern Ireland Social and Political Archive

European Parliament election, 1984: Northern Ireland[1]
Party Candidate  % 1st Pref Count 1 Count 2 Count 3 Count 4
DUP Ian Paisley 33.6 230,251      
UUP John Taylor 21.5 147,169 185,714    
SDLP John Hume 22.1 151,399 151,664 156,310 183,256
Sinn Féin Danny Morrison 13.3 91,476 91,525 92,644 93,079
Alliance David Cook 5.0 34,046 34,892 37,401  
Ulster Popular Unionist James Kilfedder 2.9 20,092 38,293 38,854  
Workers' Party Seamus Lynch 1.3 8,712 8,813    
Ecology Colin McGuigan 0.3 2,172 2,236    
Electorate: 1,065,363   Valid: 685,317   Spoilt: 11,654   Quota: 171,330   Turnout: 696,994

Party Leaders in 1984

References

  1. The 1984 European Election, Northern Ireland Elections

See also