2015 United Kingdom general election

election of members to the House of Commons in 2015

The United Kingdom general election of 2015 elected the 56th Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was held on 7 May 2015. The three main political parties after the election are the Conservatives, the Labour Party and the Scottish National Party. The Conservative Party won enough seats to form a majority government.

2015 United Kingdom general election

← 20107 May 20152017 →

All 650 seats in the House of Commons
326 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Turnout66.4%[1] (Increase1.3%)
 First partySecond party
 
LeaderDavid CameronEd Miliband
PartyConservativeLabour
Leader's seatWitneyDoncaster North
Last election306 seats, 36.1%258 seats, 29.0%
Seats won330*232
Seat changeIncrease24Decrease26
Popular vote11,334,2269,347,273
Percentage36.9%30.4%
SwingIncrease0.8%Increase1.4%

 Third partyFourth party
 
LeaderNicola SturgeonNick Clegg
PartySNPLiberal Democrats
Leader's seatDid not stand[n 1]Sheffield Hallam
Last election6 seats, 1.7%57 seats, 23.0%
Seats won568
Seat changeIncrease50Decrease49
Popular vote1,454,4362,415,916
Percentage4.7%7.9%
SwingIncrease3.0%Decrease15.1%

Colours denote the winning party, as shown in the main table of results.
* Figure does not include the Speaker of the House of Commons John Bercow, who was included in the Conservative seat total by some media outlets.

Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister before election

David Cameron (Conservative)
Nick Clegg (Liberal Democrat)

Prime Minister after election

David Cameron
Conservative

Voting took place in all 650 parliamentary constituencies of the United Kingdom, each electing one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons, the lower house of Parliament. Local elections also took place in most of England on the same day, but not Greater London.

Results change

Also, the Speaker of the House of Commons John Bercow, who does not have a political party, was re-elected.

Some important Labour MPs lost their seats including the Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls and the leader of the Scottish Labour Party, Jim Murphy.

Many important Liberal Democrat MPs who had served in the coalition government also lost their seats, including business secretary Vince Cable, energy secretary Ed Davey and chief secretary to the treasury Danny Alexander.

Aftermath change

The Conservative Party won 330 seats and managed to form a majority government. David Cameron continued as Prime Minister. Miliband, Clegg and Nigel Farage all resigned as leaders of their parties. Jim Murphy also resigned as leader of Scottish Labour. [2]

Notes change

  1. SNP party leader Nicola Sturgeon, a Member of the Scottish Parliament and First Minister of Scotland, participated in some of the main UK-wide televised debates, but did not stand for a Commons seat at this election. Angus Robertson, MP for Moray at the time, was the leader of the SNP delegation to the House of Commons.

References change

  1. "The May 2015 UK elections: Report on the administration of the 7 May 2015 elections, including the UK Parliamentary general election" (PDF). p. 3.
  2. Election 2015. BBC News. [1]