2005 United Kingdom general election results in Scotland
Encyclopedia
These are the results of the United Kingdom general election, 2005
for the country of Scotland
. The election was held on 5 May 2010 and all 59 seats in Scotland were contested. This was the first election to occur under the new boundaries that were imposed which reduced the number of Scottish seats from 72 to 59.
had been established by the Scotland Act 1998
, the target electorate (population) size of Westminster Parliamentary seats in Scotland
was adjusted to bring it in line with England
's constituencies. Before this reform Scotland had a smaller target electoral size per constituency resulting in more seats per head of population, which had been intended to compensate Scotland for its status as a nation, its lower population density (which causes larger constituencies geographically), its distance from the seat of Parliament in Westminster and finally, because prior to 1999 Scottish law had been wholly determined by the Westminster Parliament. These problems were perceived to have been addressed with the establishment of the Scottish Parliament in 1999.
The Boundary Commission for Scotland therefore produced a plan in 2003 in which there would be 59 constituencies, reduced from 72. In 2004, Parliament passed the Scottish Parliament (Constituencies) Act 2004
which instituted these changes and broke the link between British and Scottish Parliamentary constituencies.
Three constituencies were left unchanged — the island seats of Orkney and Shetland
, the Western Isles
, though the latter changed its official name to the Gaelic
"Na h-Eileanan an Iar", and Eastwood
, which changed its name to "East Renfrewshire". Several other new constituency names were also implemented; in all these cases the new seats had altered boundaries.
The results of the 2005 election showed some of the highest changes of the share of the vote for particular parties occurring in Scottish seats, leading some commentators to speculate that either the notional results were in error and/or they were unable to take into account factors such as tactical voting
and people voting differently between General and Local Elections.
the Conservatives won their only Scottish seat. Compared to the actual results of 2001 this meant a loss of fourteen seats for Labour, a gain of one seat for the SNP and Liberal Democrats, and no change for the Conservatives.
Results in Scotland for Labour were also down, though less so than in England. Labour lost approximately 4% of the vote in East Scotland and approximately 6% of the vote in West Scotland. Labour's vote declined the most in the Edinburgh
area and in the north of Scotland (where Labour lost all of its rural seats).
The Conservative vote declined marginally in both East and West Scotland, but the Conservatives nonetheless managed to win a seat in the South (Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale), so maintaining their one Scottish seat in the Westminster Parliament. Having once been the largest party in Scotland (most recently in 1959), the 2001 and 2005 General Elections have done very little to reverse the downward trend that culminated in the 1997 loss of all eleven Conservative seats.
The Liberal Democrats made gains against Labour in both regions of Scotland and picked up a modest number of seats. On average, their vote rose approximately 5% across Scotland, though again this translated into few gains as the Liberal Democrat vote was not particularly concentrated.
The Scottish National Party
's vote declined slightly across Scotland, but they managed to win one rural and one urban seat from Labour.
The Socialist Labour Party
achieved its highest ever result in one constituency, gaining 14.5% of the votes cast in Glasgow North East
.
See also the list of parties standing in Scotland.
United Kingdom general election, 2005
The United Kingdom general election of 2005 was held on Thursday, 5 May 2005 to elect 646 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party under Tony Blair won its third consecutive victory, but with a majority of 66, reduced from 160....
for the country of Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. The election was held on 5 May 2010 and all 59 seats in Scotland were contested. This was the first election to occur under the new boundaries that were imposed which reduced the number of Scottish seats from 72 to 59.
Changes
Several years after the Scottish ParliamentScottish Parliament
The Scottish Parliament is the devolved national, unicameral legislature of Scotland, located in the Holyrood area of the capital, Edinburgh. The Parliament, informally referred to as "Holyrood", is a democratically elected body comprising 129 members known as Members of the Scottish Parliament...
had been established by the Scotland Act 1998
Scotland Act 1998
The Scotland Act 1998 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It is the Act which established the devolved Scottish Parliament.The Act will be amended by the Scotland Bill 2011, if and when it receives royal assent.-History:...
, the target electorate (population) size of Westminster Parliamentary seats in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
was adjusted to bring it in line with England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
's constituencies. Before this reform Scotland had a smaller target electoral size per constituency resulting in more seats per head of population, which had been intended to compensate Scotland for its status as a nation, its lower population density (which causes larger constituencies geographically), its distance from the seat of Parliament in Westminster and finally, because prior to 1999 Scottish law had been wholly determined by the Westminster Parliament. These problems were perceived to have been addressed with the establishment of the Scottish Parliament in 1999.
The Boundary Commission for Scotland therefore produced a plan in 2003 in which there would be 59 constituencies, reduced from 72. In 2004, Parliament passed the Scottish Parliament (Constituencies) Act 2004
Scottish Parliament (Constituencies) Act 2004
The Scottish Parliament Act 2004 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that amends the Scotland Act 1998 which established the Scottish Parliament....
which instituted these changes and broke the link between British and Scottish Parliamentary constituencies.
Three constituencies were left unchanged — the island seats of Orkney and Shetland
Orkney and Shetland (UK Parliament constituency)
Orkney and Shetland is a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election...
, the Western Isles
Na h-Eileanan an Iar (UK Parliament constituency)
Na h-Eileanan an Iar is a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, created in 1918. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.- History :...
, though the latter changed its official name to the Gaelic
Scottish Gaelic language
Scottish Gaelic is a Celtic language native to Scotland. A member of the Goidelic branch of the Celtic languages, Scottish Gaelic, like Modern Irish and Manx, developed out of Middle Irish, and thus descends ultimately from Primitive Irish....
"Na h-Eileanan an Iar", and Eastwood
East Renfrewshire (UK Parliament constituency)
East Renfrewshire is a constituency of the British House of Commons, located in Scotland to the south of Glasgow. It elects one Member of Parliament at least once every five years using the First-past-the-post system of voting....
, which changed its name to "East Renfrewshire". Several other new constituency names were also implemented; in all these cases the new seats had altered boundaries.
Predictions
Although it was impossible to guarantee a wholly accurate prediction of the strength of the parties within the 59 new Scottish constituencies, estimates had been made prior to the poll on 5 May on the basis of a ward-by-ward breakdown of local council election results. An agreed set used by all media reports and most political commentators suggested that had the new boundaries been in effect in the 2001 election, Labour would have won forty-six seats, the Liberal Democrats nine, the Scottish National Party four, and the Conservatives none. This would have represented a loss of ten seats for Labour and one each for the Liberal Democrats, Scottish National Party and the Conservatives. The arithmetic was however complicated by the fact that the boundary revision had produced some seats that were notionally highly marginal.The results of the 2005 election showed some of the highest changes of the share of the vote for particular parties occurring in Scottish seats, leading some commentators to speculate that either the notional results were in error and/or they were unable to take into account factors such as tactical voting
Tactical voting
In voting systems, tactical voting occurs, in elections with more than two viable candidates, when a voter supports a candidate other than his or her sincere preference in order to prevent an undesirable outcome.It has been shown by the Gibbard-Satterthwaite theorem that any voting method which is...
and people voting differently between General and Local Elections.
Results
Labour won 41 seats, the Liberal Democrats 11, the Scottish National Party six, and in Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and TweeddaleDumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale (UK Parliament constituency)
Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale is a constituency of the British House of Commons, located in the south of Scotland, within the Dumfries and Galloway, South Lanarkshire and Scottish Borders council areas...
the Conservatives won their only Scottish seat. Compared to the actual results of 2001 this meant a loss of fourteen seats for Labour, a gain of one seat for the SNP and Liberal Democrats, and no change for the Conservatives.
Results in Scotland for Labour were also down, though less so than in England. Labour lost approximately 4% of the vote in East Scotland and approximately 6% of the vote in West Scotland. Labour's vote declined the most in the Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
area and in the north of Scotland (where Labour lost all of its rural seats).
The Conservative vote declined marginally in both East and West Scotland, but the Conservatives nonetheless managed to win a seat in the South (Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale), so maintaining their one Scottish seat in the Westminster Parliament. Having once been the largest party in Scotland (most recently in 1959), the 2001 and 2005 General Elections have done very little to reverse the downward trend that culminated in the 1997 loss of all eleven Conservative seats.
The Liberal Democrats made gains against Labour in both regions of Scotland and picked up a modest number of seats. On average, their vote rose approximately 5% across Scotland, though again this translated into few gains as the Liberal Democrat vote was not particularly concentrated.
The Scottish National Party
Scottish National Party
The Scottish National Party is a social-democratic political party in Scotland which campaigns for Scottish independence from the United Kingdom....
's vote declined slightly across Scotland, but they managed to win one rural and one urban seat from Labour.
The Socialist Labour Party
Socialist Labour Party (UK)
The Socialist Labour Party is a far left socialist political party in the United Kingdom. The party is led by former trade union leader Arthur Scargill, who established it in 1996 as a breakaway from the Labour Party...
achieved its highest ever result in one constituency, gaining 14.5% of the votes cast in Glasgow North East
Glasgow North East (UK Parliament constituency)
Glasgow North East is a burgh constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom . It was first contested at the 2005 general election...
.
See also the list of parties standing in Scotland.
Results in Full
| Party | Seats | Seats change |
Votes | % | % change |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 41 | -5 | 922,402 | 39.5 | -4.5 | ||
| 11 | +2 | 528,076 | 22.6 | +6.3 | ||
| 6 | +2 | 412,267 | 17.7 | -2.4 | ||
| 1 | +1 | 369,388 | 15.8 | +0.2 | ||
| 0 | 0 | 43,514 | 1.9 | -1.2 | ||
| 0 | 0 | 25,760 | 1.1 | +1.1 | ||
| 0 | 0 | 8,859 | 0.4 | +0.3 | ||
| 0 | 0 | 6,696 | 0.3 | +0.2 | ||
| 0 | 0 | 4,004 | 0.2 | +0.2 | ||
| 0 | 0 | 1,591 | 0.1 | +0.1 | ||
| 0 | 0 | 1,266 | 0.1 | 0 | ||
| 0 | 0 | 1,017 | 0.0 | 0 | ||
| 0 | 0 | 916 | 0.0 | 0 | ||
| Turnout: | 2,333,887 | 60.6 | ||||