European Parliament election, 1989 (UK)
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The European Parliament Election, 1989 was the third European election to be held in the United Kingdom. It was held on 15 June. The electoral system was First Past the Post in England, Scotland and Wales and Single Transferable Vote in Northern Ireland. The turnout was again the lowest in Europe. This election saw the best performance ever by the Green Party of England and Wales (formely the Ecology Party), collecting over 2 million votes and 15% of the vote share. It had only received 70,853 as the Ecology Party in the previous election. However because of First Past the Post system, the Green Party received 0 seats, while the Scottish National Party received 1 seat with only 3% of the vote share. The SNP received almost double the amount of votes it received in the previous election, its vote share rose by 1%. The election also saw Labour overtake the Conservatives for the first time in any election since October 1974 and the first time ever in an European elections, winning 13 more seats.
- Overall (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) turnout: 36% (EU average: 59%)
- Overall votes cast: 15,896,078
Contents |
[edit] England, Scotland and Wales
Source: UK Office of the European Parliament
Note: percentages are approximate
| Party | Votes | Seats | Loss/Gain | Share of Vote (%) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | 6,153,640 | 45 | +13 | 40 | |
| Conservative | 5,331,077 | 32 | -13 | 35 | |
| Green | 2,292,705 | 0 | 0 | 15 | |
| SDP-Liberal Alliance | 986,292 | 0 | 0 | 6 | |
| Scottish National Party | 406,686 | 1 | 0 | 3 | |
| Plaid Cymru | 115,062 | 0 | 0 | 0.7 | |
| Others | 41,295 | 0 | 0 | <1 | |
Total votes cast - 15,361,267.
[edit] Northern Ireland
Source: Northern Ireland Social and Political Archive
| Party | Seats | Loss/Gain | First Preference Votes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number | % of vote | |||||
| Democratic Unionist | 1 | 0 | 160,110 | 30 | ||
| Social Democratic & Labour | 1 | 0 | 136,335 | 25 | ||
| Ulster Unionist | 1 | 0 | 118,785 | 22 | ||
| Sinn Féin | 0 | 0 | 48,914 | 9 | ||
| Alliance (NI) | 0 | 0 | 27,905 | 5 | ||
| Conservative | 0 | 0 | 25,789 | 5 | ||
| Green | 0 | 0 | 6,569 | 1 | ||
| Workers Party | 0 | 0 | 5,590 | 1 | ||
| Labour Representation | 0 | 0 | 3,540 | 0 | ||
| Labour '87 | 0 | 0 | 1,274 | 0 | ||
Total votes cast - 534,811.
[edit] Party Leaders in 1989
- Labour - Neil Kinnock
- Conservative - Margaret Thatcher
- Green - N/A (the Green Party does not have a leader)
- Liberal Democrat - Paddy Ashdown
- SNP - Gordon Wilson
- Plaid Cymru - Dafydd Elis Thomas
- DUP - Ian Paisley
- SDLP - John Hume
- UUP - James Molyneaux
