List of MPs elected in the 2001 United Kingdom general election
This is a list of Members of Parliament (MPs) elected to the House of Commons at the 2001 general election, held on 7 June.
| Fifty-third Parliament of the United Kingdom | |||||
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| Overview | |||||
| Legislative body | Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||||
| Term | 1 June 2001 – 5 May 2005 | ||||
| Election | 2005 United Kingdom general election | ||||
| Government | Third Blair ministry Brown ministry | ||||
| House of Commons | |||||
| Members | 659 | ||||
| Speaker | Michael Martin | ||||
| Leader | Margaret Beckett Robin Cook John Reid Peter Hain | ||||
| Prime Minister | Tony Blair | ||||
| Leader of the Opposition | William Hague Iain Duncan Smith Michael Howard | ||||
| Third-party leader | Charles Kennedy | ||||
| House of Lords | |||||
| Lord Chancellor | Baron Irvine of Lairg Baron Falconer of Thoroton | ||||
The list is arranged by constituency. New MPs elected since the general election and changes in party allegiance are noted at the bottom of the page.
Notable newcomers to the House of Commons included David Cameron, David Miliband, Boris Johnson, John Thurso, George Osborne, Nigel Dodds, Chris Grayling, Andy Burnham, Adam Price, Alistair Carmichael, Angus Robertson, Chris Bryant, Norman Lamb, and Tom Watson (many of whom would go on to reach senior positions in government and/or their respective parties).
During the 2001–05 Parliament, Michael Martin was the Speaker, Tony Blair served as Prime Minister, and William Hague, Iain Duncan Smith and Michael Howard served as Leader of the Opposition. This Parliament was dissolved on 11 April 2005.
Composition
These representative diagrams show the composition of the parties in the 2001 general election.
Note: The Scottish National Party and Plaid Cymru sit together as a party group, while Sinn Féin has not taken its seats. This is not the official seating plan of the House of Commons, which has five rows of benches on each side, with the government party to the right of the Speaker and opposition parties to the left, but with room for only around two-thirds of MPs to sit at any one time.
| Affiliation | Members | |
| Labour Party | 412 | |
| Conservative Party | 166 | |
| Liberal Democrats | 52 | |
| Ulster Unionist Party | 6 | |
| Scottish National Party | 5 | |
| Democratic Unionist Party | 5 | |
| Plaid Cymru | 4 | |
| Sinn Féin | 4 | |
| Social Democratic and Labour Party | 3 | |
| Independent | 1 | |
| Speaker and Deputies | 1 | |
| Total | 659 | |
| Notional government majority | 167 | |
| Effective government majority | 170 | |
The effective government majority was slightly higher because Sinn Féin members do not take up their seats and the speaker does not vote. Speaker Michael Martin technically represented Labour in a notional majority.
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By-elections
See the list of United Kingdom by-elections.
Changes
2001
- Paul Marsden (Shrewsbury and Atcham) - Joined the Liberal Democrats from Labour on 10 December
2002
- Andrew Hunter (Basingstoke) - resigned the Conservative whip on 2 October
2003
- Martin Smyth (Belfast South), David Burnside (South Antrim), and Jeffrey Donaldson (Lagan Valley) - Resigned the Ulster Unionist whip on 23 June
- George Galloway (Glasgow Kelvin) - Expelled from the Labour Party 23 October
2004
- Jeffrey Donaldson (Lagan Valley) - Joined the Democratic Unionist Party on 5 January
- Martin Smyth (Belfast South) and David Burnside (South Antrim) - Resumed taking the Ulster Unionist Whip on 9 January
- George Galloway (Glasgow Kelvin) - Formed RESPECT The Unity Coalition on 25 January
- Ann Winterton (Congleton) - Conservative whip was withdrawn on 25 February and restored on 31 March.
- Andrew Hunter (Basingstoke) - Took the Democratic Unionist Party whip on 10 December[1]
2005
- Robert Jackson (Wantage) - Joined the Labour Party from the Conservatives on 15 January[2]
- Jonathan Sayeed (Mid Bedfordshire) - Conservative whip temporarily suspended on 3 February to 7 March; whip permanently suspended later in March
- Howard Flight (Arundel and South Downs) - Conservative whip was withdrawn on 25 March.
- Paul Marsden (Shrewsbury and Atcham) - Resigned from the Liberal Democrats and declared his support for Labour on 5 April.
References
- "Tory MP Andrew Hunter joins DUP". 10 December 2004.
- "Conservative MP defects to Labour". 15 January 2005.