# 1979 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom

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The 1979 European Parliament election, was the first European election to be held in the United Kingdom after the European Communities (EC) decided to directly elect representatives to the European Parliament. It was held on 7 June. Elections were also held in eight other EC states. European elections were incorporated into UK law by the European Assembly Elections Act 1978. Out of the 410 members of the European Parliament, 81 were elected from the UK. The electoral system was First past the post in England, Scotland and Wales (electing 78 MEPs in total) and Single Transferable Vote in Northern Ireland (electing 3 MEPs).
The result was a landslide victory for the Conservative Party, which won 60 of the 78 seats available in England, Wales and Scotland. Their decisive victory in the general election of the previous month and divisions within the Labour party on whether to stay in the EC probably helped the Conservatives to such a comprehensive victory. There was a very low turnout in the election compared with other states, the lowest in Europe. Voter apathy was an explanation, but it is likely the large number of elections in 1979 had a significant negative effect on turnout. There were referendums in Scotland and Wales on devolution in March and the general election in May, as well as local elections in England (not including London) and Wales.

## Result (UK-wide)

Source: UK Parliament Briefing
| Party | Votes won | % of vote | Seats | % of seats |
| Conservative | 6,508,492 | 48.4 | 60 | 75.0 |
| Labour | 4,253,247 | 31.6 | 17 | 21.3 |
| Liberal | 1,690,638 | 12.6 | 0 | |
| SNP | 247,836 | 1.8 | 1 | 1.3 |
| DUP | 170,688 | 1.3 | 1 | 1.3 |
| SDLP | 140,622 | 1.0 | 1 | 1.3 |
| UUP | 125,169 | 0.9 | 1 | 1.3 |
| Plaid Cymru | 83,399 | 0.6 | 0 | |
| Alliance | 39,026 | 0.3 | 0 | |
| Ind. Unionist | 38,198 | 0.3 | 0 | |
| Ind. Republican | 33,969 | 0.3 | 0 | |
| United Against the Common Market | 27,506 | 0.2 | 0 | |
| Independent | 23,539 | 0.2 | 0 | |
| Ecology | 17,953 | 0.1 | 0 | |
| Mebyon Kernow | 10,205 | 0.1 | 0 | |
| United Community | 9,383 | 0.1 | 0 | |
| United Labour | 6,122 | 0.0 | 0 | |
| Ind. Conservative | 4,804 | 0.0 | 0 | |
| Workers' Party | 4,418 | 0.0 | 0 | |
| Unionist Party NI | 3,712 | 0.0 | 0 | |
| Independent Democratic | 2,473 | 0.0 | 0 | |
| International Marxist | 1,635 | 0.0 | 0 | |
| Ulster Liberal Party | 932 | 0.0 | 0 | |
| EFP | 497 | 0.0 | 0 | |
| Others | 1,628 | 0.0 | 0 | |
* Overall (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) turnout: 32.4%
* Overall votes cast: 13,460,091

## Results Breakdown
### England, Scotland and Wales

Source: UK Parliament Briefing
| Party | Votes won | % of vote | Seats | % of seats |
| Conservative | 6,508,492 | 50.6 | 60 | 76.9 |
| Labour | 4,253,247 | 33.0 | 17 | 21.8 |
| Liberal | 1,690,638 | 13.1 | 0 | |
| SNP | 247,836 | 1.9 | 1 | 1.3 |
| Plaid Cymru | 83,399 | 0.6 | 0 | |
| United Against the Common Market | 27,506 | 0.2 | 0 | |
| Independent | 23,539 | 0.2 | 0 | |
| Ecology | 17,953 | 0.1 | 0 | |
| Mebyon Kernow | 10,205 | 0.1 | 0 | |
| Ind. Conservative | 4,804 | 0.0 | 0 | |
| Ind. Democratic | 2,473 | 0.0 | 0 | |
| International Marxist | 1,635 | 0.0 | 0 | |
| EFP | 497 | 0.0 | 0 | |
| Others | 1,628 | 0.0 | 0 | |
Total votes cast – 12,873,852.

### Northern Ireland

Source Northern Ireland Social and Political Archive
| Party | Party | Candidate(s) | Seats | First Preference Votes | First Preference Votes |
| Party | Party | Candidate(s) | Seats | Number | % of vote |
| | DUP | Ian Paisley | 1 | 170,688 | 29.8 |
| | SDLP | John Hume | 1 | 140,622 | 25.5 |
| | UUP | John Taylor, Harry West | 1 | 125,169 | 21.9 |
| | Alliance | Oliver Napier | 0 | 39,026 | 6.8 |
| | Ind. Unionist | James Kilfedder | 0 | 38,198 | 6.7 |
| | Ind. Republican | Bernadette McAliskey | 0 | 33,969 | 5.9 |
| | United Community | David Bleakley | 0 | 9,383 | 1.6 |
| | United Labour | Paddy Devlin | 0 | 6,122 | 1.1 |
| | Workers' Party | Brian Brennan, Francis Donnelly | 0 | 4,418 | 0.8 |
| | Unionist Party NI | Eddie Cummings | 0 | 3,712 | 0.6 |
| | Ulster Liberal | James Murray | 0 | 932 | 0.2 |
Total votes cast – 572,239.

## Constituency results

| Constituency | Con | % | Lab | % | Lib | % | PC | % | SNP | % | Others | |
| Bedfordshire | 102,054 | 58.8 | 48,454 | 27.9 | 21,943 | 12.6 | | | | | 1,198 | 0.7 |
| Birmingham North | 68,507 | 47.8 | 60,163 | 42.0 | 14,583 | 10.2 | | | | | | |
| Birmingham South | 66,012 | 47.5 | 60,775 | 43.7 | 12,160 | 8.8 | | | | | | |
| Bristol | 100,160 | 54.2 | 59,443 | 32.1 | 25,308 | 13.7 | | | | | | |
| Cambridgeshire | 94,497 | 59.0 | 42,038 | 26.3 | 23,501 | 14.7 | | | | | | |
| Cheshire East | 89,640 | 56.0 | 50,324 | 31.5 | 19,952 | 12.5 | | | | | | |
| Cheshire West | 93,589 | 56.8 | 47,276 | 28.7 | 23,816 | 14.5 | | | | | | |
| Cleveland | 76,514 | 50.6 | 51,688 | 34.1 | 18,125 | 12.0 | | | | | 4,960 | 3.3 |
| Cornwall and Plymouth | 94,650 | 55.1 | 36,681 | 21.4 | 23,105 | 13.5 | | | | | 17,164 | 10.0 |
| Cotswolds | 109,139 | 58.6 | 37,713 | 20.3 | 27,916 | 15.0 | | | | | 11,422 | 6.1 |
| Cumbria | 104,471 | 56.4 | 62,485 | 33.7 | 16,631 | 9.0 | | | | | 1,596 | 0.9 |
| Derbyshire | 81,046 | 50.9 | 62,347 | 39.2 | 15,775 | 9.9 | | | | | | |
| Devon | 127,032 | 61.8 | 37,380 | 18.2 | 41,010 | 20.0 | | | | | | |
| Durham | 53,043 | 35.1 | 81,982 | 54.2 | 16,094 | 10.7 | | | | | | |
| Essex North East | 99,137 | 60.7 | 33,496 | 20.5 | 26,298 | 16.1 | | | | | 4,497 | 2.7 |
| Essex South West | 78,059 | 53.9 | 46,244 | 31.9 | 20,516 | 14.2 | | | | | | |
| Glasgow | 41,144 | 27.3 | 73,846 | 49.0 | 11,073 | 7.3 | | | 24,776 | 16.4 | | |
| Greater Manchester North | 62,456 | 39.2 | 79,920 | 50.2 | 16,910 | 10.6 | | | | | | |
| Greater Manchester South | 70,688 | 47.5 | 63,214 | 42.5 | 14,869 | 10.0 | | | | | | |
| Greater Manchester West | 67,127 | 43.3 | 66,825 | 43.1 | 21,021 | 13.6 | | | | | | |
| Hampshire West | 114,978 | 58.9 | 34,472 | 17.7 | 45,786 | 23.4 | | | | | | |
| Hereford and Worcester | 106,271 | 58.5 | 49,888 | 27.5 | 25,421 | 14.0 | | | | | | |
| Hertfordshire | 97,174 | 50.2 | 49,619 | 25.6 | 46,757 | 24.2 | | | | | | |
| Highlands and Islands | 30,776 | 26.1 | 10,846 | 9.2 | 36,109 | 30.7 | | | 39,991 | 34.0 | | |
| Humberside | 79,531 | 51.7 | 56,521 | 36.8 | 17,643 | 11.5 | | | | | | |
| Kent East | 117,267 | 64.7 | 40,060 | 22.1 | 20,190 | 11.1 | | | | | 3,788 | 2.1 |
| Kent West | 113,961 | 60.7 | 46,482 | 24.8 | 27,127 | 13.5 | | | | | | |
| Lancashire Central | 91,355 | 54.1 | 63,709 | 37.7 | 13,821 | 8.2 | | | | | | |
| Lancashire East | 77,087 | 49.9 | 62,729 | 40.6 | 12,268 | 7.9 | | | | | 2,473 | 1.6 |
| Lancashire West | 79,888 | 51.3 | 60,399 | 38.7 | 12,116 | 7.8 | | | | | 3,486 | 2.2 |
| Leeds | 54,405 | 39.8 | 62,475 | 45.6 | 20,005 | 14.6 | | | | | | |
| Leicester | 91,675 | 55.1 | 57,811 | 34.7 | 17,027 | 10.2 | | | | | | |
| Lincolnshire | 104,460 | 61.5 | 44,616 | 26.3 | 20,815 | 12.2 | | | | | | |
| Liverpool | 49,646 | 45.2 | 42,419 | 38.7 | 17,650 | 16.1 | | | | | | |
| London Central | 84,915 | 54.4 | 45,721 | 29.3 | 19,010 | 12.2 | | | | | 6,448 | 4.1 |
| London East | 77,955 | 48.8 | 64,925 | 40.7 | 16,783 | 10.5 | | | | | | |
| London North | 74,042 | 49.7 | 59,077 | 39.7 | 15,838 | 10.6 | | | | | | |
| London North East | 36,200 | 34.2 | 61,004 | 57.5 | 8,839 | 8.3 | | | | | | |
| London North West | 87,596 | 55.3 | 49,268 | 31.1 | 21,618 | 13.6 | | | | | | |
| London South | 98,298 | 58.9 | 44,967 | 27.0 | 23,526 | 14.1 | | | | | | |
| London South East | 94,180 | 55.0 | 54,798 | 32.0 | 21,494 | 12.5 | | | | | 890 | 0.5 |
| London South Inner | 60,652 | 43.6 | 67,830 | 48.8 | 10,509 | 7.6 | | | | | | |
| London South West | 83,498 | 52.0 | 51,742 | 32.2 | 21,251 | 13.2 | | | | | 3,810 | 2.6 |
| London West | 89,433 | 51.0 | 67,193 | 38.3 | 17,077 | 9.8 | | | | | 1,635 | 0.9 |
| Lothians | 66,761 | 35.6 | 61,180 | 32.6 | 29,518 | 15.8 | | | 29,935 | 16.0 | | |
| Mid and West Wales | 67,226 | 36.0 | 77,474 | 41.4 | 17,628 | 9.4 | 22,730 | 12.2 | | | 1,826 | 1.0 |
| Mid Scotland and Fife | 66,255 | 35.1 | 58,768 | 31.2 | 18,112 | 9.6 | | | 45,426 | 24.1 | | |
| Midlands Central | 94,606 | 57.9 | 46,557 | 28.5 | 15,859 | 9.7 | | | | | 6,380 | 3.9 |
| Midlands East | 85,098 | 55.3 | 53,935 | 35.1 | 14,819 | 9.6 | | | | | | |
| Midlands West | 69,916 | 47.3 | 68,024 | 46.0 | 9,936 | 6.7 | | | | | | |
| Norfolk | 102,981 | 59.8 | 52,406 | 30.4 | 16,805 | 9.8 | | | | | | |
| North East Scotland | 51,930 | 33.0 | 38,139 | 24.2 | 38,516 | 24.5 | | | 28,886 | 18.3 | | |
| North Wales | 74,173 | 41.9 | 46,627 | 26.4 | 21,989 | 12.4 | 34,171 | 19.3 | | | | |
| Northamptonshire | 103,638 | 59.6 | 47,029 | 27.1 | 23,134 | 13.3 | | | | | | |
| Northumbria | 67,066 | 39.9 | 75,172 | 44.8 | 25,713 | 15.3 | | | | | | |
| Nottingham | 64,728 | 44.8 | 66,279 | 45.9 | 13,515 | 9.3 | | | | | | |
| Salop and Stafford | 90,545 | 57.5 | 45,547 | 28.9 | 16,469 | 10.5 | | | | | 4,804 | 3.1 |
| Sheffield | 64,157 | 42.1 | 77,219 | 50.7 | 10,951 | 7.2 | | | | | | |
| Somerset | 120,057 | 57.0 | 41,931 | 19.9 | 48,600 | 23.1 | | | | | | |
| South East Wales | 51,478 | 30.3 | 93,093 | 54.8 | 10,534 | 6.2 | 12,469 | 7.4 | | | 2,182 | 1.3 |
| South of Scotland | 66,816 | 43.0 | 43,145 | 27.7 | 16,825 | 10.8 | | | 28,694 | 18.5 | | |
| South Wales | 66,852 | 37.9 | 77,784 | 44.1 | 17,811 | 10.1 | 14,029 | 7.9 | | | | |
| Staffordshire East | 70,836 | 48.7 | 64,230 | 44.1 | 10,409 | 7.2 | | | | | | |
| Strathclyde East | 41,482 | 28.6 | 72,263 | 49.8 | 10,325 | 7.1 | | | 21,013 | 14.5 | | |
| Strathclyde West | 65,608 | 37.2 | 63,781 | 36.1 | 17,955 | 10.2 | | | 29,115 | 16.5 | | |
| Suffolk | 101,966 | 60.4 | 45,642 | 27.1 | 21,131 | 12.5 | | | | | | |
| Surrey | 113,786 | 54.4 | 28,897 | 13.8 | 62,272 | 29.7 | | | | | 4,450 | 2.1 |
| Sussex East | 123,506 | 65.7 | 33,581 | 17.9 | 30,847 | 16.4 | | | | | | |
| Sussex West | 131,077 | 65.9 | 26,894 | 13.5 | 35,593 | 17.9 | | | | | 5,303 | 2.7 |
| Thames Valley | 110,788 | 63.1 | 39,865 | 22.7 | 24,877 | 14.2 | | | | | | |
| Tyne South and Wear | 67,475 | 44.9 | 73,936 | 49.2 | 8,958 | 5.9 | | | | | | |
| Upper Thames | 103,488 | 59.4 | 39,900 | 22.9 | 30,907 | 17.7 | | | | | | |
| Wessex | 130,744 | 63.3 | 42,910 | 20.8 | 31,220 | 15.1 | | | | | 1,706 | 0.8 |
| Wight and Hampshire East | 128,414 | 64.7 | 34,901 | 17.6 | 35,248 | 17.7 | | | | | | |
| Wiltshire | 86,873 | 47.5 | 35,457 | 19.4 | 60,404 | 33.1 | | | | | | |
| Yorkshire North | 98,464 | 59.1 | 41,408 | 24.8 | 26,812 | 16.1 | | | | | | |
| Yorkshire South | 46,656 | 32.6 | 83,490 | 58.3 | 13,025 | 9.1 | | | | | | |
| Yorkshire South West | 52,157 | 35.8 | 75,473 | 51.9 | 17,850 | 12.3 | | | | | | |
| Yorkshire West | 73,555 | 44.4 | 76,552 | 46.3 | 15,460 | 9.3 | | | | | | |