Electoral history of the Conservative Party (UK)

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The Conservative Party, officially the Conservative and Unionist Party and also known colloquially as the Tories, is one of the two main political parties in the United Kingdom, along with the Labour Party, and has been described as both right-wing and centre-right.

This article encompasses detailed results of previous UK general elections, Police and Crime Commissioner elections, devolved national elections, devolved London elections and European Parliament elections which the Conservative Party have participated in.

Background[edit]

Main article: Conservative Party (UK)

It is the current governing party, having won the 2019 general election, and has been the primary governing party in the United Kingdom since 2010. On the political spectrum the party has been described as right-wing[9] by various sources and as centre-right[10] by others, and encompasses various ideological factions including one-nation conservatives, Thatcherites, and traditionalist conservatives.

As of September 2023, the party has 354 members of Parliament, 260 members of the House of Lords, 9 members of the London Assembly, 31 members of the Scottish Parliament, 16 members of the Welsh Parliament, 4 directly elected mayors, 30 police and crime commissioners, and around 5,647 local councillors.[11] It holds the annual Conservative Party Conference.[12]

The Conservative Party was founded in 1834 from the Tory Party and was one of two dominant political parties in the 19th century, along with the Liberal Party.[13][14] In 1912, the Liberal Unionist Party merged with the party to form the Conservative and Unionist Party. Since the 1920s, the Labour Party emerged to be the Conservatives' main rival and the Conservative–Labour political rivalry has shaped modern British politics for the last century.

National results[edit]

UK general elections[edit]

United Kingdom general elections are held under the first past the post voting system.[15] Each constituency in the United Kingdom will elect one Member of Parliament; overall 650 Members of Parliament are currently elected at each election.[15] Following the Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Act 2022, the date of the general election is at the discretion of the prime minister within a five-year period from the last general election.[15] The next general election must be held by at least 28 January 2025.[15]

In the 1931 general election, the Conservatives earned their best result to date, by vote share (55.5%) and seat number (474).[16] In the post-war era, the 1983 general election was the most successful for the Conservatives in terms of seats won (397), whereas 1955 was the most successful election for vote share (49.7%).[16] However, the 1997 general election was the least successful election since 1918 for the Conservatives, winning 165 seats and gaining 30.7% of the vote.[16]

This chart shows the electoral performance of the Conservative Party in each general election since 1835.[17][18]

For results of the Tories, the party's predecessor, see here.

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Election Leader Votes Seats Position Government Ref
No. Share No. ± Share
1835 Robert Peel 261,269 40.8%
273 / 658
 Increase 98 41.5% Steady 2nd Whig [19]
1837 379,694 48.3%
314 / 658
 Increase 41 47.7% Steady 2nd Whig
1841 379,694 56.9%
367 / 658
 Increase 53 55.8% Increase 1st Conservative
1847 Earl of Derby 205,481 42.7%
325 / 656
Includes Peelites 		Decrease 42 49.5% Steady 1st Whig
1852 311,481 41.9%
330 / 654
Includes Peelites 		Increase 5 50.5% Steady 1st Conservative
1857 239,712 34.0%
264 / 654
 Decrease 66 40.4% Decrease 2nd Whig
1859 193,232 34.3%
298 / 654
 Increase 34 45.6% Steady 2nd Whig
1865 346,035 40.5%
289 / 658
 Decrease 9 43.9% Steady 2nd Liberal
1868[fn 1] Benjamin Disraeli 903,318 38.4%
271 / 658
 Decrease 18 41.2% Steady 2nd Liberal
1874 1,091,708 44.3%
350 / 652
 Increase 79 53.7% Increase 1st Conservative
1880 1,462,351 42.5%
237 / 652
 Decrease 113 36.3% Decrease 2nd Liberal
1885[fn 2] Marquess of Salisbury 2,020,927 43.5%
247 / 670
 Increase 10 36.9% Steady 2nd Liberal minority [17]
1886 1,520,886 51.1%
317 / 670
 Increase 70 47.3% Increase 1st Conservative–Liberal Unionist [17]
1892 2,159,150 47.0%
268 / 670
 Decrease 49 40.0% Decrease 2nd Liberal [17]
1895 1,894,772 49.0%
340 / 670
 Increase 72 50.7% Increase 1st Conservative–Liberal Unionist [17]
1900 1,767,958 50.3%
335 / 670
 Decrease 5 50.0% Steady 1st Conservative–Liberal Unionist [17]
1906 Arthur Balfour 2,422,071 43.4%
131 / 670
 Decrease 204 19.6% Decrease 2nd Liberal [17]
January 1910 3,104,407 46.8%
240 / 670
 Increase 109 35.8% Steady 2nd Liberal minority [17]
December 1910 2,420,169 46.6%
235 / 670
 Decrease 5 35.1% Steady 2nd Liberal minority [17]
Merged with Liberal Unionist Party in 1912 to become the Conservative and Unionist Party
1918[fn 3] Bonar Law 3,472,738 38.4%
379 / 707
332 elected with Coupon 		Increase 108 53.6% Increase 1st Coalition Liberal–Conservative [17]
1922 5,294,465 38.5%
344 / 615
 Decrease 35 55.9% Steady 1st Conservative [17]
1923 Stanley Baldwin 5,286,159 38.0%
258 / 625
 Decrease 86 41.3% Steady 1st Labour minority [17]
1924 7,418,983 46.8%
412 / 615
 Increase 124 67.0% Steady 1st Conservative [17]
1929[fn 4] 8,252,527 38.1%
260 / 615
 Decrease 152 42.3% Decrease 2nd Labour minority [17]
1931 11,377,022 55.0%
470 / 615
 Increase 210 76.4% Increase 1st Conservative–Liberal–National Labour [17]
1935 10,025,083 47.8%
386 / 615
 Decrease 83 62.8% Steady 1st Conservative–Liberal National–National Labour [17]
1945 Winston Churchill 8,716,211 36.2%
197 / 640
 Decrease 189 30.8% Decrease 2nd Labour [17]
1950 11,507,061 40.0%
282 / 625
 Increase 85 45.1% Steady 2nd Labour [17]
1951 13,724,418 48.0%
302 / 625
 Increase 20 48.3% Increase 1st Conservative–National Liberal [17]
1955 Anthony Eden 13,310,891 49.7%
324 / 630
 Increase 22 51.4% Steady 1st Conservative–National Liberal [17]
1959 Harold Macmillan 13,750,875 49.4%
345 / 630
 Increase 21 54.8% Steady 1st Conservative–National Liberal [17]
1964 Alec Douglas-Home 12,002,642 43.4%
298 / 630
 Decrease 47 47.3% Decrease 2nd Labour [17]
1966 Edward Heath 11,418,455 41.9%
250 / 630
 Decrease 48 39.7% Steady 2nd Labour [17]
1970[fn 5] 13,145,123 46.4%
330 / 630
 Increase 80 52.4% Increase 1st Conservative [17]
February 1974 11,872,180 37.9%
297 / 635
 Decrease 33 46.8% Decrease 2nd Labour minority [17]
October 1974 10,462,565 35.8%
277 / 635
 Decrease 20 43.6% Steady 2nd Labour [17]
1979 Margaret Thatcher 13,697,923 43.9%
339 / 635
 Increase 62 53.4% Increase 1st Conservative [17]
1983 13,012,316 42.4%
397 / 650
 Increase 38 61.1% Steady 1st Conservative
1987 13,760,935 42.2%
376 / 650
 Decrease 21 57.8% Steady 1st Conservative
1992 John Major 14,093,007 41.9%
336 / 651
 Decrease 40 51.6% Steady 1st Conservative
1997 9,600,943 30.7%
165 / 659
 Decrease 171 25.0% Decrease 2nd Labour
2001 William Hague 8,357,615 31.7%
166 / 659
 Increase 1 25.2% Steady 2nd Labour
2005 Michael Howard 8,785,941 32.4%
198 / 646
 Increase 32 30.7% Steady 2nd Labour
2010 David Cameron 10,703,654 36.1%
306 / 650
 Increase 96 47.1% Increase 1st Conservative–Liberal Democrats[20] [21]
2015 11,299,609 36.8%
330 / 650
 Increase 24 50.8% Steady 1st Conservative [22]
2017 Theresa May 13,636,684 42.3%
317 / 650
 Decrease 13 48.8% Steady 1st Conservative minority
with DUP confidence and supply[23] 		[24]
2019 Boris Johnson 13,966,454 43.6%
365 / 650
 Increase 48 56.2% Steady 1st Conservative [25]
Note
  1. ^ The first election held under the Reform Act 1867.
  2. ^ The first election held under the Representation of the People Act 1884 and the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885.
  3. ^ The first election held under the Representation of the People Act 1918 in which all men over 21, and most women over the age of 30 could vote, and therefore a much larger electorate.
  4. ^ The first election held under the Representation of the People Act 1928 which gave all women aged over 21 the vote.
  5. ^ Franchise extended to all 18- to 20-year-olds under the Representation of the People Act 1969.

Police and Crime Commissioner elections[edit]

Election Leader Votes Commissioners Position
No. Share No. ± Share
2012 David Cameron 1,480,323 27.6%
16 / 41
 34.8% 1st
2016 2,601,560 29.3%
20 / 40
 Increase4 50.0% 1st
2021 Boris Johnson 4,900,501 44.5%
30 / 39
 Increase10 76.9% 1st

Devolved national elections[edit]

Scottish Parliament elections[edit]

See also: Scottish Parliament and Scottish Conservatives
Election Leader Votes (Constituency) Votes (List) Seats Position Government
No. Share No. Share No. ± Share
1999 David McLetchie 364,225 15.6% 359,109 15.4%
18 / 129
 14.0% 3rd Labour–Liberal Democrats
2003 318,279 16.6% 296,929 15.6%
18 / 129
 Steady 0 14.0% Steady 3rd Labour–Liberal Democrats
2007 Annabel Goldie 334,743 16.6% 284,005 13.9%
17 / 129
 Decrease 1 13.4% Steady 3rd Scottish National minority
2011 276,652 13.9% 245,967 12.4%
15 / 129
 Decrease 2 11.6% Steady 3rd Scottish National
2016 Ruth Davidson 501,844 22.0% 524,222 22.9%
31 / 129
 Increase 16 24.0% Increase 2nd Scottish National minority
2021 Douglas Ross 592,526 21.9% 637,131 23.5%
31 / 129
 Steady 0 24.0% Steady 2nd Scottish National minority

Senedd elections[edit]

See also: Senedd and Welsh Conservatives
Election Leader Votes (Constituency) Votes (List) Seats Position Government
No. Share No. Share No. ± Share
1999 Rod Richards 162,133 15.8% 168,206 16.5%
9 / 60
 15.0% 3rd Labour–Liberal Democrats
2003 Nick Bourne 169,832 19.9% 162,725 19.2%
11 / 60
 Increase 2 18.3% Steady 3rd Labour
2007 218,739 22.4% 209,153 21.4%
12 / 60
 Increase 1 20.0% Steady 3rd Labour–Plaid Cymru
2011 237,388 25.0% 213,773 22.5%
14 / 60
 Increase 2 23.3% Increase 2nd Labour
2016 Andrew R. T. Davies 215,597 21.1% 190,846 18.8%
11 / 60
 Decrease 3 18.3% Decrease 3rd Labour minority
2021 289,802 26.1% 278,560 25.1%
16 / 60
 Increase 5 26.7% Increase 2nd Labour minority

Northern Ireland devolved elections[edit]

See also: Northern Ireland Assembly and Northern Ireland Conservatives

Prior to 1973, the Ulster Unionist Party acted as the de facto Northern Ireland branch of the Conservative Party. The UUP's results may be seen here.

Election Leader Votes Seats Position Government
No. Share No. ± Share
Elections to the Northern Ireland Forum in 1996
1996 Barbara Finney 3,595 0.48
0 / 110
 0.0% 12th Dissolution
Elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly from 1998
1998 Un­known 1,835 0.23
0 / 108
 Steady 0 0.0% Decrease 14th UUP–Sinn Féin
2003 Un­known 1,604 0.20
0 / 108
 Steady 0 0.0% Steady 14th Dissolution
2007 Un­known 3,457 0.50
0 / 108
 Steady 0 0.0% Increase 10th DUP–Sinn Féin
2011 Un­known Did not contest election DUP–Sinn Féin
2016 Alan Dunlop 2,554 0.40
0 / 108
 Steady 0 0.0% Decrease 11th DUP–Sinn Féin
2022 Matthew Robinson Did not contest election tbc

Devolved London elections[edit]

London Mayoral elections[edit]

See also: London Mayor and London Conservatives
Election Leader Candidate Votes (1st pref.) Votes (run-off) Position
No. Share No. Share
2000 William Hague Steven Norris 464,434 27.1% 564,137 42.1% 2nd
2004 Michael Howard 542,423 29.1% 667,180 44.6% Steady 2nd
2008 David Cameron Boris Johnson 1,043,761 43.2% 1,168,738 53.2% Increase 1st
2012 971,931 44.0% 1,054,811 51.5% Steady 1st
2016 Zac Goldsmith 909,755 35.0% 994,614 43.2% Decrease 2nd
2021 Boris Johnson Shaun Bailey 893,051 35.3% 977,601 44.8% Steady 2nd

London Assembly elections[edit]

See also: London Assembly and London Conservatives
Election Leader Assembly Leader Votes (Constituency) Votes (List) Seats Position
No. Share No. Share No. + Share
2000 William Hague Eric Ollerenshaw 526,422 33.2% 481,053 29.0%
9 / 25
 36.0% 1st
2004 Michael Howard Bob Neill 562,047 31.2% 533,696 28.5%
9 / 25
 Steady 0 36.0% Steady 1st
2008 David Cameron Richard Barnes 900,569 37.4% 835,535 34.1%
11 / 25
 Increase 2 44.0% Steady 1st
2012 James Cleverly 722,280 32.7% 708,528 32.0%
9 / 25
 Decrease 2 36.0% Decrease 2nd
2016 Gareth Bacon 812,415 31.1% 764,230 29.2%
8 / 25
 Decrease 1 32.0% Steady 2nd
2021 Boris Johnson Susan Hall 833,021 32.0% 795,081 30.7%
9 / 25
 Increase 1 36.0% Steady 2nd

Combined authority elections[edit]

Year Leader Mayoralties won Change
2017 Theresa May
4 / 6
2018
0 / 1
 Steady
2019
0 / 1
 Steady
2021 Boris Johnson
2 / 7
 Decrease 2

European[edit]

European Parliament elections[edit]

See also: European Parliament and Elections to the European Parliament
Election Party Group Leader Votes Seats Position
No. Share No. ± Share
1979 ED Margaret Thatcher 6,508,492 48.4
60 / 81
 75.0% 1st
1984 EPP 5,426,866 38.8
45 / 81
 Decrease 15 55.6% Steady 1st
1989 5,331,077 34.7
32 / 81
 Decrease 13 39.5% Decrease 2nd
1994 John Major 4,274,122 26.8
18 / 87
 Decrease 13 20.7% Steady 2nd
1999[fn 1] EPP-ED William Hague 3,578,218 35.8
36 / 87
 Increase 18 41.4% Increase 1st
2004 Michael Howard 4,397,087 26.7
27 / 78
 Decrease 8 34.6% Steady 1st
2009[fn 2] ECR David Cameron 4,281,286 27.7
26 / 72
 Increase 1 36.1% Steady 1st
2014 3,792,549 23.1
19 / 73
 Decrease 7 26.0% Decrease 3rd
2019 Theresa May 1,512,809 8.8
4 / 73
 Decrease 15 5.5% Decrease 5th
Note
  1. ^ Electoral system changed from first past the post to proportional representation.
  2. ^ Includes 82,892 votes and 1 seat gained from the UCUNF alliance

Notes[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Saini, Rima; Bankole, Michael; Begum, Neema (April 2023). "The 2022 Conservative Leadership Campaign and Post-racial Gatekeeping". Race & Class: 1–20. doi:10.1177/03063968231164599. ...the Conservative Party's history in incorporating ethnic minorities, and the recent post-racial turn within the party whereby increasing party diversity has coincided with an increasing turn to the Right
  2. ^ Bale, Tim (March 2023). The Conservative Party After Brexit: Turmoil and Transformation. Cambridge: Polity. pp. vi–x, passim. ISBN 9781509546015. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
  3. ^ de Geus, Roosmarijn A.; Shorrocks, Rosalind (2022). "Where Do Female Conservatives Stand? A Cross-National Analysis of the Issue Positions and Ideological Placement of Female Right-Wing Candidates". In Och, Malliga; Shames, Shauna; Cooperman, Rosalyn (eds.). Sell-Outs or Warriors for Change? A Comparative Look at Conservative Women in Politics in Democracies. Abingdon/New York: Routledge. pp. 1–29. ISBN 9781032346571. right-wing parties are also increasing the presence of women within their ranks. Prominent female European leaders include Theresa May (until recently) and Angela Merkel, from the right-wing Conservative Party in the UK and the Christian Democratic Party in Germany respectively. This article examines the extent to which women in right-wing parties are similar to their male colleagues, or whether they have a set of distinctive opinions on a range of issues
  4. ^ Alonso, José M.; Andrews, Rhys (September 2020). "Political Ideology and Social Services Contracting: Evidence from a Regression Discontinuity Design". Public Administration Review. 80 (5). Hoboken: Wiley-Blackwell: 743–754. doi:10.1111/puar.13177. S2CID 214198195. In particular, there is a clear partisan division between the main left-wing party (Labour) and political parties with pronounced pro-market preferences, such as the right-wing Conservative Party
  5. ^ Alzuabi, Raslan; Brown, Sarah; Taylor, Karl (October 2022). "Charitable behaviour and political affiliation: Evidence for the UK". Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics. 100. Amsterdam: Elsevier: 101917. doi:10.1016/j.socec.2022.101917. ...alignment to the Liberal Democrats (centre to left wing) and the Green Party (left wing) are positively associated with charitable behaviour at both the extensive and intensive margins, relative to being aligned with the right wing Conservative Party.
  6. ^ Oleart, Alvaro (2021). "Framing TTIP in the UK". Framing TTIP in the European Public Spheres: Towards an Empowering Dissensus for EU Integration. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 153–177. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-53637-4_6. ISBN 978-3-030-53636-7. S2CID 229439399. the right-wing Conservative Party in government supported TTIP...This logic reproduced also a government-opposition dynamic, whereby the right-wing Conservative Party championed the agreement
  7. ^ Falk, Thomas (20 July 2022). "How a change in leadership could affect UK's Conservative Party". Al Jazeera English. London: Al Jazeera Media Network.
  8. ^ Walker, Peter (1 August 2022). "Righter than Right: Tories' Hardline Drift May Lose the Public". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 24 August 2022.
  9. ^ [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]
  10. ^ James, William (1 October 2019). "Never mind the politics, get a Brexit deal done, says UK business". Reuters. Retrieved 21 September 2019.
  11. ^ "Local Council Political Compositions". Open Council Date UK. 23 January 2018. Archived from the original on 30 September 2017. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
  12. ^ "Party Conferences". Institute for Government. 26 August 2020. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  13. ^ Ivor Bulmer-Thomas, The Growth of the British Party System Volume I: 1640–1923 (1965) pp. 66–81
  14. ^ David Paterson, Liberalism and Conservatism, 1846–1905 (2001) p. 5
  15. ^ a b c d Richard Cracknell, Elise Uberoi, Matthew Burton (9 August 2023). "UK Election Statistics: 1918–2023, A Long Century of Elections (p106)" (PDF). House of Commons Library. Retrieved 21 October 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  16. ^ a b c Richard Cracknell, Elise Uberoi, Matthew Burton (9 August 2023). "UK Election Statistics: 1918–2023, A Long Century of Elections (p8)" (PDF). House of Commons Library. Retrieved 21 October 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  17. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa "General Election Results 1885–1979". Election.demon.co.uk. Archived from the original on 30 January 2012. Retrieved 13 April 2010.
  18. ^ "1835 General Election Results | From A Vision of Britain through Time". www.visionofbritain.org.uk. Archived from the original on 18 February 2020. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
  19. ^ "1835 General Election Results | From A Vision of Britain through Time". www.visionofbritain.org.uk. Archived from the original on 18 February 2020. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
  20. ^ "Election 2010 Timeline: How coalition was agreed". BBC News. 13 May 2010. Retrieved 16 October 2023.
  21. ^ "General Election 2010 (p28, 86)" (PDF). House of Commons Library. 2 February 2011. Retrieved 16 October 2023.
  22. ^ "General Election 2015" (PDF). House of Commons Library. 28 July 2015. Retrieved 16 October 2023.
  23. ^ Alex Hunt (26 June 2017). "Theresa May and the DUP deal: What you need to know". BBC News. Retrieved 16 October 2023.
  24. ^ "General Election 2017: results and analysis (p8–12)" (PDF). House of Commons Library. 29 January 2019. Retrieved 16 October 2023.
  25. ^ "General Election 2019: results and analysis (p8–12)" (PDF). House of Commons Library. 28 January 2020. Retrieved 16 October 2023.
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