1994 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom

The European Parliament Election, 1994 was the fourth European election to be held in the United Kingdom. It was held on 9 June, though, as usual, the ballots were not counted until the evening of 12 June. The electoral system was, for the final European election, first past the post in England, Scotland and Wales and single transferable vote in Northern Ireland. This was the first election with 87 MEPs, the European Parliamentary Elections Act 1993 increased the number of seats for the UK from 81. For the first time, the UK did not have the lowest turnout in Europe. Turnout was lower in the Netherlands and Portugal.

1994 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom

9 June 1994

87 seats to the European Parliament
Turnout36.4% ()
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Margaret Beckett
(Acting)
John Major Paddy Ashdown
Party Labour Conservative Liberal Democrats
Alliance PES EPP ELDR
Leader since 12 May 1994 28 November 1990 16 July 1988
Last election 45 seats, 38.7% 32 seats, 33.7% 0 seats, 5.9%
Seats won 62 18 2
Seat change 17 13 2
Popular vote 6,753,881 4,274,122 2,557,887
Percentage 42.6% 26.8% 16.1%
Swing 3.9% 6.7% 10.2%

Colours denote the winning party, as shown in the main table of results.


Leader of Largest Party before election

Margaret Beckett
Labour

Subsequent Leader of Largest Party

Margaret Beckett
Labour

This was the first European election contested by the recently formed UK Independence Party and the first European election in which the Liberal Democrats won seats. The Green Party lost more than three-quarters of the votes they secured in the previous election. The Conservatives lost 14 seats, taking their number of seats down to 18, which was 42 fewer seats than in the 1979 election, the year they defeated the Labour Party in the 1979 General Election. This reflected the general unpopularity of the Major government at the time.

Labour was under the interim leadership of Margaret Beckett following the sudden death of leader John Smith the previous month.

Results

United Kingdom

Sources:

  • "European Parliament elections: 1979 to 1994". House of Commons Library.
  • United Kingdom election results Archived 27 December 2015 at the Wayback Machine
Party Votes won[1] % of vote Loss/Gain Seats % of seats Loss/Gain
Labour 6,753,881 42.6 3.9 62 71.3 17
Conservative 4,274,122 26.8 6.7 18 20.7 13
Liberal Democrats 2,557,887 16.1 10.2 2 2.3 2
SNP 487,237 3.1 0.5 2 2.3 1
Green 471,257 3.0 11.5 0
DUP 163,246 1.0 1 1.1
Plaid Cymru 162,478 1.0 0.3 0
SDLP 161,992 1.0 0.2 1 1.1
Independent 153,917 1.0 0.9 0
UKIP 150,251 1.0 New 0
UUP 133,459 0.8 0.1 1 1.1
Liberal 100,500 0.6 New 0
Natural Law 98,845 0.6 New 0
Sinn Féin 55,215 0.3 0
Scottish Green 23,304 0.1 New 0
Alliance 23,157 0.1 0
National Front 12,469 0.1 0.1 0
Moderate Labour 12,113 0.1 New 0
Literal Democrat 10,203 0.1 New 0
Ulster Independence 7,858 0.1 New 0
Monster Raving Loony 7,798 0.1 0
Ind. Conservative 5,847 0.0 0
Independent Socialist 5,071 0.0 New 0
Communist 4,323 0.0 0
Mebyon Kernow 3,315 0.0 0
Workers' Party 2,543 0.0 0
Labour Party NI 2,464 0.0 0
Other 7,837 0.1 N/A 0

Great Britain

Map of the Scottish results.

Sources:

Party Votes won[1] % of vote Loss/Gain Seats % of seats Loss/Gain
Labour 6,753,881 44.2 4.1 62 73.8 17
Conservative 4,268,539 27.8 6.8 18 21.4 13
Liberal Democrats 2,557,887 16.7 10.6 2 2.4 2
SNP 487,237 3.2 0.5 2 2.4 1
Green 471,257 3.1 11.8 0
Plaid Cymru 162,478 1.1 0.3 0
Independent 151,858 1.0 0.9 0
UKIP 150,251 1.0 New 0
Liberal 100,500 0.7 New 0
Natural Law 96,554 0.6 New 0
Scottish Green 23,304 0.2 New 0
National Front 12,469 0.1 New 0
Moderate Labour 12,113 0.1 New 0
Literal Democrat 10,203 0.1 New 0
Monster Raving Loony 7,798 0.1 0
Ind. Conservative 5,847 0.0 0
Independent Socialist 5,071 0.0 New 0
Communist 4,323 0.0 0
Mebyon Kernow 3,315 0.0 0
Other 7,837 0.1 N/A 0

Total votes cast – 15,292,722. All parties shown.

Northern Ireland

Map of Northern Irish results
European Parliament election, 1994 (United Kingdom): Northern Ireland – 3 seats[2][3]
PartyCandidateFPv%Count
12
DUP Ian Paisley 29.2 163,246  
SDLP John Hume 28.9 161,992  
UUP Jim Nicholson 23.8 133,459 149,541.25
Alliance Mary Clark-Glass 4.1 23,157 23,375.55
Sinn Féin Tom Hartley 3.8 21,273 21,278.10
Sinn Féin Dodie McGuinness 3.1 17,195 17,238.95
Sinn Féin Francie Molloy 3.0 16,747 16.756.60
Ulster Independence Hugh Ross 1.4 7,858 12,575.05
NI Conservatives Myrtle Boal 1.0 5,583 6,106.95
Workers' Party John Lowry 0.5 2,543 2,579.00
Labour Party NI Niall Cusack 0.4 2,464 2,518.90
Natural Law James Anderson 0.2 1,418 1,492.70
Independent June Campion 0.2 1,088 1,127.15
Independent David Kerr 0.1 571 877.15
Natural Law Susannah Thompson 0.1 454 534.40
Independent Robert Mooney 0.1 400 455.95
Natural Law Michael Kennedy 0.1 419 443.90
Electorate: 1,151,389   Valid: 559,867   Spoilt: 9,234   Quota: 139,967   Turnout: 49.4%
    • Note 1: Campion's candidacy, with the ballot paper description 'Peace Coalition', was supported by Democratic Left, the Greens and some Labour groups.
    • Note 2: Kerr appeared on the ballot paper with the description Independence for Ulster.
    • Note 3: Mooney appeared on the ballot paper with the description Constitutional Independent Northern Ireland.

    MEPs retiring

    Conservative

    Labour

    MEPs defeated

    Labour

    Conservative

    Party leaders on 5 June 1994

    See also

    References

    1. "European Parliament elections: 1979 to 1994". House of Commons Library.
    2. The 1994 European Election, Northern Ireland Elections
    3. , Northern Ireland Social and Political Archive
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