Results breakdown of the 2010 United Kingdom general election

2010 United Kingdom general election

6 May 2010 (2010-05-06)
All 650 seats in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom 326 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	65.1%
Party Leader Vote % Seats +/– Conservative David Cameron 36.1% 306 +97 Labour Gordon Brown 29.0% 258 −91 Liberal Democrats Nick Clegg 23.0% 57 −5 DUP Peter Robinson 0.6% 8 −1 SNP Alex Salmond 1.7% 6 0 Sinn Féin Gerry Adams 0.6% 5 0 Plaid Cymru Ieuan Wyn Jones 0.6% 3 +1 SDLP Margaret Ritchie 0.4% 3 0 Green Caroline Lucas 0.9% 1 +1 Alliance David Ford 0.1% 1 +1 This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below. Prime Minister before Prime Minister after Gordon Brown Labour David Cameron Conservative

This is the results breakdown of the 2010 United Kingdom general election.

Swing

The election was marked by no uniform national swing, with suburban and rural constituencies showing large swings from Labour to the Conservatives, but urban seats showing much smaller swings. Scotland recorded a small swing back to Labour.

Seats changing hands

The following table is a complete list of seats changing hands as a result of the election based on the notional results of the 2005 election, notwithstanding the results of by-elections to the 54th Parliament.

The Conservatives gained more seats than at any other general election since their landslide result in 1931. Labour lost a total of 94 seats, the second most seats it had lost in a single election.

Seat	2005 election		2010 election
Aberconwy		Labour		Conservative gain
Amber Valley		Labour		Conservative gain
Arfon		Labour		Plaid Cymru gain
Battersea		Labour		Conservative gain
Bedford		Labour		Conservative gain
Belfast East		DUP		Alliance gain
Bethnal Green and Bow		Respect		Labour gain
Blaenau Gwent		Blaenau Gwent PV		Labour gain
Blackpool North and Cleveleys		Labour		Conservative gain
Bradford East		Labour		Liberal Democrats gain
Brent Central		Labour		Liberal Democrats gain
Brentford and Isleworth		Labour		Conservative gain
Brigg and Goole		Labour		Conservative gain
Brighton Kemptown		Labour		Conservative gain
Brighton Pavilion		Labour		Green gain
Bristol North West		Labour		Conservative gain
Broxtowe		Labour		Conservative gain
Buckingham		Conservative		Speaker gain
Burnley		Labour		Liberal Democrats gain
Burton		Labour		Conservative gain
Bury North		Labour		Conservative gain
Calder Valley		Labour		Conservative gain
Camborne and Redruth		Liberal Democrats		Conservative gain
Cannock Chase		Labour		Conservative gain
Cardiff North		Labour		Conservative gain
Carlisle		Labour		Conservative gain
Carmarthen West and Pembrokeshire South		Labour		Conservative gain
Castle Point		Independent		Conservative gain
Chatham and Aylesford		Labour		Conservative gain
Chester		Labour		Conservative gain
Chesterfield		Liberal Democrats		Labour gain
Cleethorpes		Labour		Conservative gain
Colne Valley		Labour		Conservative gain
Corby		Labour		Conservative gain
Cornwall South East		Liberal Democrats		Conservative gain
Crawley		Labour		Conservative gain
Crewe and Nantwich		Labour		Conservative gain
Croydon Central		Labour		Conservative gain
Dartford		Labour		Conservative gain
Derbyshire South		Labour		Conservative gain
Dewsbury		Labour		Conservative gain
Dorset South		Labour		Conservative gain
Dover		Labour		Conservative gain
Dudley South		Labour		Conservative gain
Ealing Central and Acton		Labour		Conservative gain
Eastbourne		Conservative		Liberal Democrats gain
Elmet and Rothwell		Labour		Conservative gain
Erewash		Labour		Conservative gain
Gillingham and Rainham		Labour		Conservative gain
Glasgow North East		Speaker		Labour gain
Gloucester		Labour		Conservative gain
Great Yarmouth		Labour		Conservative gain
Halesowen and Rowley Regis		Labour		Conservative gain
Harlow		Labour		Conservative gain
Harrogate and Knaresborough		Liberal Democrats		Conservative gain
Harrow East		Labour		Conservative gain
Hastings		Labour		Conservative gain
Hendon		Labour		Conservative gain
Hereford and South Herefordshire		Liberal Democrats		Conservative gain
High Peak		Labour		Conservative gain
Hove		Labour		Conservative gain
Ipswich		Labour		Conservative gain
Keighley		Labour		Conservative gain
Kingswood		Labour		Conservative gain
Lancaster and Fleetwood		Labour		Conservative gain
Leicestershire North West		Labour		Conservative gain
Lincoln		Labour		Conservative gain
Loughborough		Labour		Conservative gain
Milton Keynes North		Labour		Conservative gain
Milton Keynes South		Labour		Conservative gain
Montgomeryshire		Liberal Democrats		Conservative gain
Morecambe and Lunesdale		Labour		Conservative gain
Newton Abbot		Liberal Democrats		Conservative gain
North Down		UUP		Independent gain
Northampton North		Labour		Conservative gain
Northampton South		Labour		Conservative gain
Norwich North		Labour		Conservative gain
Norwich South		Labour		Liberal Democrats gain
Nuneaton		Labour		Conservative gain
Oxford West and Abingdon		Liberal Democrats		Conservative gain
Pendle		Labour		Conservative gain
Plymouth Sutton and Devonport		Labour		Conservative gain
Portsmouth North		Labour		Conservative gain
Pudsey		Labour		Conservative gain
Reading West		Labour		Conservative gain
Redcar		Labour		Liberal Democrats gain
Redditch		Labour		Conservative gain
Rochdale (notional gain)		Liberal Democrats		Labour gain
Richmond Park		Liberal Democrats		Conservative gain
Romsey and Southampton North		Liberal Democrats		Conservative gain
Rossendale and Darwen		Labour		Conservative gain
Rugby		Labour		Conservative gain
Sherwood		Labour		Conservative gain
Solihull (notional gain)		Conservative		Liberal Democrats gain
South Basildon and East Thurrock		Labour		Conservative gain
South Ribble		Labour		Conservative gain
Stafford		Labour		Conservative gain
Stevenage		Labour		Conservative gain
Stockton South		Labour		Conservative gain
Stourbridge		Labour		Conservative gain
Stroud		Labour		Conservative gain
Swindon North		Labour		Conservative gain
Swindon South		Labour		Conservative gain
Tamworth		Labour		Conservative gain
Thurrock		Labour		Conservative gain
Truro and Falmouth		Liberal Democrats		Conservative gain
Vale of Glamorgan		Labour		Conservative gain
Warrington South		Labour		Conservative gain
Warwick and Leamington		Labour		Conservative gain
Warwickshire North		Labour		Conservative gain
Watford		Labour		Conservative gain
Waveney		Labour		Conservative gain
Weaver Vale		Labour		Conservative gain
Wells		Conservative		Liberal Democrats gain
Winchester		Liberal Democrats		Conservative gain
Wolverhampton South West		Labour		Conservative gain
Worcester		Labour		Conservative gain
Wyre Forest		Health Concern		Conservative gain
York Outer		Liberal Democrats		Conservative gain

• Due to Boundary Changes this seat was notionally Conservative, even though it was previously held by the Liberal Democrats, making it a Liberal Democrat gain.

England

Of the 533 seats in England, 532 were contested on the day of the general election. Polling in Thirsk and Malton was delayed until 27 May due to the death of the UKIP candidate. The Conservatives won an absolute majority of seats in England with 61 seats more than all other parties combined, and securing an average swing of 5.6% from Labour.

Geographical representations of seats coloured by winning party can be misleading to the eye. Boundaries are drawn by number of electors not geography. This results in rural seats having a large area due to lower population density, while urban seats, with a high density of voters, are geographically quite small. A pure geographical representation of seats coloured by party can make parties with rural seats seem far more popular than urban ones. To counter this bias, the BBC published a map where each seat was an equal size hexagon.

Party		Seats	Seats change	Votes	%	% change
	Conservative	297	+92	9,908,169	39.5	+3.8
	Labour	191	−87	7,042,398	28.1	−7.4
	Liberal Democrats	43	−4	6,076,189	24.2	+1.3
	Green	1	+1	258,954	1.0	−0.1
	Speaker	1	0	22,860	0.09
Turnout:				25,047,355	65.5

Details of results are given below:

• 
  Northumberland
• 
  Tyne and Wear
• 
  Durham
• 
  Cleveland
• 
  Cumbria
• 
  Lancashire
• 
  North Yorkshire
• 
  West Yorkshire
• 
  South Yorkshire
• 
  Humberside
• 
  Merseyside
• 
  Greater Manchester
• 
  Cheshire
• 
  Derbyshire
• 
  Nottinghamshire
• 
  Lincolnshire
• 
  Shropshire
• 
  Staffordshire
• 
  West Midlands
• 
  Warwickshire
• 
  Leicestershire and Rutland
• 
  Northamptonshire
• 
  Herefordshire
• 
  Worcestershire
• 
  Gloucestershire
• 
  Oxfordshire
• 
  Buckinghamshire
• 
  Bedfordshire
• 
  Cambridgeshire
• 
  Norfolk
• 
  Suffolk
• 
  Essex
• 
  Hertfordshire
• 
  Berkshire
• 
  London
• 
  Cornwall
• 
  Devon
• 
  Somerset
• 
  Dorset
• 
  Avon
• 
  Wiltshire
• 
  Hampshire
• 
  Surrey
• 
  West Sussex
• 
  East Sussex
• 
  Kent

Wales

There were 40 seats contested in Wales. The number of Conservative seats rose from three to eight – the party gained one seat from the Liberal Democrats and four from Labour. Welsh nationalist party Plaid Cymru retained three MPs, including Arfon which the boundary changes had notionally given to Labour. Overall, Labour lost four seats but held on to its remaining 26.

Party		Seats	Seats change	Votes	%	% change
	Labour	26	−4	531,601	36.2	−6.5
	Conservative	8	+5	382,730	26.1	+4.7
	Liberal Democrats	3	−1	295,164	20.1	+1.7
	Plaid Cymru	3	0	165,394	11.3	−1.3
Turnout:				1,446,690	64.9

Scotland

There were 59 seats contested in Scotland. Every constituency in Scotland was won by the party that had won it at the 2005 election, with Labour regaining the two seats they lost in by-elections since 2005. There was a swing to Labour from the Conservatives of 0.8% (with Labour increasing its share of the vote by 2.5% and the Conservatives increasing by just 0.9%), this left the Conservatives with just a single MP representing a Scottish constituency.

For Scottish results in full, see 2010 United Kingdom general election results in Scotland

Party		Seats	Seats change	Votes	%	% change
	Labour	41	0	1,035,528	42.0	+2.5
	Liberal Democrats	11	0	465,471	18.9	−3.7
	SNP	6	0	491,386	19.9	+2.3
	Conservative	1	0	412,855	16.7	+0.9
Turnout:				2,465,722	63.8

Northern Ireland

There were 18 seats contested in Northern Ireland. Both Irish nationalist parties, Sinn Féin and SDLP, held their seats. The unionist parties, DUP and UUP (the latter contested the election as UCUNF—an electoral pact with the Conservatives), lost one seat each. The DUP lost Belfast East to the Alliance and in North Down the UUP's Sylvia Hermon left the party over the alliance with the Conservatives and retained her seat as an independent. This left the nationalist parties with eight seats, the unionist parties with eight seats (all DUP), the Alliance with one seat and an independent with one seat. It is the first time since the Partition of Ireland that unionist parties failed to secure a majority of Northern Ireland's Westminster seats in a general election. It was also the first time since Partition that a Nationalist party, Sinn Féin, topped the popular vote at a Westminster election, though winning three fewer seats than the DUP.

Sinn Féin, as an Irish republican party, refuse to take their seats at Westminster (see abstentionism). This leaves 645 MPs to take their seats at Westminster (after the Thirsk and Malton poll), reducing the effective threshold for a parliamentary majority from 326 to 323.

Party		Seats	Seats change	Votes	%	% change
	DUP	8	−1	168,216	25.0	−8.7
	Sinn Féin	5	0	171,942	25.5	+1.2
	SDLP	3	0	110,970	16.5	−1.0
	Alliance	1	+1	42,762	6.3	+2.4
	Independent - Sylvia Hermon	1	+1	21,181	3.1	—
	UCU-NF	0	−1	102,361	15.2	−2.6
Turnout:				673,871	57.6	−7.8