# 1984 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom

Part of a series of articles on :
UK membership of the European Union (1973–2020) :
Accession
Treaty of Accession 1972
1972 EC Act
1973 enlargement of the EC :
1975 referendum
Referendum Act (results) :
Treaty amendments Single European Act, 1986 (UK ratification) Maastricht Treaty, 1992 (UK ratification) Treaty of Amsterdam, 1997 (UK ratification) Treaty of Nice, 2001 (UK ratification) Treaty of Lisbon, 2007 (UK ratification)
Related:
2011 UK Act on new EU Treaty amendments
EU-related British Acts
Proposed European Constitution referendum
European Union Bill 2004–2005 :
MEPs for UK constituenciesMembers 1973–1979 (elected by parliament)Members 1979–1984 (1979 election)Members 1984–1989 (1984 election)Members 1989–1994 (1989 election)Members 1994–1999 (1994 election)Members 1999–2004 (1999 election)Members 2004–2009 (2004 election)Members 2009–2014 (2009 election)Members 2014–2019 (2014 election)Members 2019–2020 (2019 election)
Women :
Officials and bodies
House of Lords EU Committee
House of Commons EU Committee
Permanent EU Representatives for UK
Northern Ireland Executive in Brussels
EU Representative in London
UK European Commissioners
Department for Exiting the European Union :
Issues and events
Economy
The Euro
Black Wednesday
UK budget rebate
Nationality law
Euroscepticism in the UK
United Kingdom opt-outs from EU legislation
Maastricht Rebels
Balance of Competences Review :
Withdrawal
2015 UK general election
2015–2016 membership renegotiation
2016 EU membership referendum
Vote Leave
Britain Stronger in Europe
Notification of withdrawal
2017 UK general election
Brexit negotiations
Impact of Brexit
Future relationship
Withdrawal agreement
No-deal Brexit
Impact on Irish border
Northern Ireland Protocol
Parliamentary votes
Proposed second referendum
2019 UK general election :
EU portal
UK portal :
vte :
The 1984 European Parliament election was the second European election to be held in the United Kingdom. It was held on 14 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. In England, Scotland and Wales, the Liberal Party and Social Democratic Party were in alliance, collecting 2,591,635 votes but not a single seat.
The election represented a small recovery for Labour, under Michael Foot's replacement Neil Kinnock, taking 15 seats from the Conservatives. In the general election of 1983, they had only had a vote share of 2% more than the SDP–Liberal Alliance (although they had nearly 10 times more MP's elected) and 15% less than the Conservatives. This was the last European election in the UK in which the governing party won a majority of seats.
A by-election to the British Parliament also took place on the same day in the Portsmouth South constituency – the Alliance gained the seat from the Conservatives.

## Results
### United Kingdom

Source: UK Parliament briefing
| Party | Votes won | % of vote | Loss/Gain | Seats | % of seats | Loss/Gain |
| Conservative | 5,426,866 | 38.8 | 9.6 | 45 | 55.6 | 15 |
| Labour | 4,865,224 | 34.8 | 3.1 | 32 | 39.5 | 15 |
| Alliance | 2,591,659 | 18.5 | 5.9 | 0 | | |
| SNP | 230,594 | 1.6 | 0.2 | 1 | 1.2 | |
| DUP | 230,251 | 1.6 | 0.4 | 1 | 1.2 | |
| SDLP | 151,399 | 1.1 | | 1 | 1.2 | |
| UUP | 147,169 | 1.1 | 0.1 | 1 | 1.2 | |
| Plaid Cymru | 103,031 | 0.8 | 0.1 | 0 | | |
| Sinn Féin | 91,476 | 0.7 | New | 0 | | |
| Ecology | 73,025 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0 | | |
| Alliance | 34,046 | 0.2 | | 0 | | |
| UPUP | 20,092 | 0.1 | New | 0 | | |
| Independent | 11,073 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0 | | |
| Workers' Party | 8,712 | 0.1 | | 0 | | |
| Independent Ecology | 3,330 | 0.0 | New | 0 | | |
| Ind. Conservative | 3,249 | 0.0 | | 0 | | |
| Ind. Liberal | 2,981 | 0.0 | New | 0 | | |
| Wessex Regionalist | 2,365 | 0.0 | New | 0 | | |
| Cornish Nationalist | 1,892 | 0.0 | New | 0 | | |
| Federal Republican Party | 1,494 | 0.0 | New | 0 | | |
* Overall (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) turnout: 32.6% (EC average: 61%)
* Overall votes cast: 13,998,190

### Great Britain

Source: UK Parliament briefing
| Party | Votes won | % of vote | Loss/Gain | Seats | % of seats | Loss/Gain |
| Conservative | 5,426,866 | 40.8 | 9.8 | 45 | 57.7 | 15 |
| Labour | 4,865,224 | 36.5 | 3.5 | 32 | 41.0 | 15 |
| Alliance | 2,591,659 | 19.5 | 6.3 | 0 | | |
| SNP | 230,594 | 1.7 | 0.2 | 1 | 1.3 | |
| Plaid Cymru | 103,031 | 0.8 | 0.1 | 0 | | |
| Ecology | 70,853 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0 | | |
| Independent | 11,073 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0 | | |
| Independent Ecology | 3,330 | 0.0 | New | 0 | | |
| Ind. Conservative | 3,249 | 0.0 | | 0 | | |
| Ind. Liberal | 2,981 | 0.0 | New | 0 | | |
| Wessex Regionalist | 2,365 | 0.0 | New | 0 | | |
| Cornish Nationalist | 1,892 | 0.0 | New | 0 | | |
| Federal Republican Party | 1,494 | 0.0 | New | 0 | | |
Total votes cast – 13,312,898. All parties listed.

### Northern Ireland

Source: Northern Ireland Social and Political Archive
1984 European Parliament election: Northern Ireland :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| | DUP | Ian Paisley | 33.6 | 230,251 | | | |
| | UUP | John Taylor | 21.5 | 147,169 | 185,714 | | |
| | SDLP | John Hume | 22.1 | 151,399 | 151,664 | 156,310 | 183,256 |
| | Sinn Féin | Danny Morrison | 13.3 | 91,476 | 91,525 | 92,644 | 93,079 |
| | Alliance | David Cook | 5.0 | 34,046 | 34,892 | 37,401 | |
| | UPUP | James Kilfedder | 2.9 | 20,092 | 38,293 | 38,854 | |
| | Workers' Party | Seamus Lynch | 1.3 | 8,712 | 8,813 | | |
| | Ecology | Colin McGuigan | 0.3 | 2,172 | 2,236 | | |
| Electorate: 1,065,363 Valid: 685,317 Spoilt: 11,654 Quota: 171,330 Turnout: 696,994 ||||||||

### Constituency results

Source:
| Constituency | Constituency result by party | Constituency result by party | Constituency result by party | Constituency result by party | Constituency result by party | Constituency result by party | Constituency result by party | Winning party 1984 | Winning party 1984 |
| Constituency | Conservative | Labour | Alliance | PC | SNP | Ecology | Others | Winning party 1984 | Winning party 1984 |
| Bedfordshire South | 72,088 | 57,106 | 36,444 | | | | | | Conservative |
| Birmingham East | 54,994 | 76,377 | 21,927 | | | | 1,440 | | Labour |
| Birmingham West | 55,702 | 61,946 | 19,422 | | | | | | Labour |
| Bristol | 94,652 | 77,008 | 33,698 | | | | | | Conservative |
| Cambridge and Bedfordshire North | 86,117 | 38,901 | 36,341 | | | | | | Conservative |
| Cheshire East | 71,182 | 52,806 | 31,374 | | | | | | Conservative |
| Cheshire West | 74,579 | 64,887 | 30,470 | | | | | | Conservative |
| Cleveland and Yorkshire North | 73,217 | 52,887 | 31,374 | | | | | | Conservative |
| Cornwall and Plymouth | 81,627 | 35,952 | 63,876 | | | | 10,518 | | Conservative |
| Cotswolds | 94,740 | 36,738 | 45,798 | | | | | | Conservative |
| Cumbria and Lancashire North | 86,127 | 62,332 | 39,622 | | | | | | Conservative |
| Derbyshire | 72,613 | 79,466 | 30,824 | | | | | | Labour |
| Devon | 110,129 | 30,017 | 53,519 | | | | 7,278 | | Conservative |
| Dorset East and Hampshire West | 109,072 | 31,223 | 49,181 | | | | | | Conservative |
| Durham | 44,846 | 106,073 | 32,307 | | | | | | Labour |
| Essex North East | 97,138 | 42,836 | 34,769 | | | | | | Conservative |
| Essex South West | 72,190 | 56,169 | 29,385 | | | | | | Conservative |
| Glasgow | 25,282 | 91,015 | 20,867 | | 16,456 | | | | Labour |
| Greater Manchester Central | 48,753 | 76,830 | 24,192 | | | | 1,430 | | Labour |
| Greater Manchester East | 56,415 | 65,101 | 27,801 | | | 3,158 | | | Labour |
| Greater Manchester West | 56,042 | 93,740 | 17,894 | | | | | | Labour |
| Hampshire Central | 84,086 | 39,228 | 39,265 | | | | | | Conservative |
| Hereford and Worcester | 84,077 | 44,143 | 37,854 | | | 8,179 | | | Conservative |
| Hertfordshire | 87,603 | 41,671 | 40,877 | | | | | | Conservative |
| Highlands and Islands | 18,847 | 16,644 | 33,133 | | 49,410 | | | | SNP |
| Humberside | 61,952 | 53,937 | 27,318 | | | | | | Conservative |
| Kent East | 92,340 | 43,473 | 34,601 | | | 5,405 | | | Conservative |
| Kent West | 85,414 | 50,784 | 33,306 | | | 4,991 | | | Conservative |
| Lancashire Central | 82,370 | 56,175 | 24,936 | | | | | | Conservative |
| Lancashire East | 67,806 | 75,711 | 26,320 | | | | | | Labour |
| Leeds | 60,178 | 70,535 | 36,097 | | | | | | Labour |
| Leicester | 72,508 | 69,616 | 29,656 | | | | 3,249 | | Conservative |
| Lincolnshire | 92,606 | 47,161 | 37,244 | | | | | | Conservative |
| London Central | 64,545 | 77,842 | 30,269 | | | | 7,514 | | Labour |
| London East | 61,711 | 73,870 | 26,379 | | | | | | Labour |
| London North | 74,846 | 69,993 | 31,344 | | | | 4,682 | | Conservative |
| London North East | 27,242 | 79,907 | 17,344 | | | | 4,797 | | Labour |
| London North West | 69,803 | 62,381 | 29,609 | | | | | | Conservative |
| London South and Surrey East | 82,122 | 37,465 | 34,522 | | | | | | Conservative |
| London South East | 81,508 | 61,493 | 38,614 | | | | 989 | | Conservative |
| London South Inner | 46,180 | 77,661 | 25,391 | | | | 3,281 | | Labour |
| London South West | 41,096 | 32,632 | 23,842 | | | | 2,135 | | Conservative |
| London West | 74,325 | 79,554 | 36,687 | | | | 4,361 | | Labour |
| Lothians | 49,065 | 74,989 | 36,636 | | 22,331 | | 2,560 | | Labour |
| Merseyside East | 38,047 | 87,086 | 17,259 | | | | | | Labour |
| Merseyside West | 52,718 | 65,915 | 37,303 | | | | | | Labour |
| Mid and West Wales | 52,910 | 89,362 | 35,168 | 32,880 | | | 4,266 | | Labour |
| Mid Scotland and Fife | 52,872 | 80,038 | 24,220 | | 30,511 | | | | Labour |
| Midlands East | 67,884 | 55,155 | 27,912 | | | | 1,494 | | Conservative |
| Midlands West | 54,406 | 74,091 | 17,709 | | | | | | Labour |
| Norfolk | 95,459 | 58,602 | 37,703 | | | | | | Conservative |
| North East Scotland | 53,809 | 44,648 | 25,490 | | 33,448 | | | | Conservative |
| North Wales | 69,139 | 54,768 | 56,861 | 38,117 | | | | | Conservative |
| Northamptonshire | 88,668 | 48,809 | 37,421 | | | | 3,330 | | Conservative |
| Northumbria | 62,717 | 78,412 | 42,946 | | | | | | Labour |
| Nottingham | 82,500 | 66,374 | 33,169 | | | | | | Conservative |
| Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire | 94,136 | 39,164 | 45,055 | | | | | | Conservative |
| Sheffield | 47,247 | 93,530 | 23,935 | | | | | | Labour |
| Shropshire and Stafford | 82,291 | 57,359 | 37,209 | | | | | | Conservative |
| Somerset and Dorset West | 98,928 | 36,863 | 58,677 | | | | | | Conservative |
| South of Scotland | 60,843 | 57,706 | 23,598 | | 22,242 | | | | Conservative |
| South Wales | 55,678 | 99,936 | 26,588 | 13,201 | | | | | Labour |
| South Wales East | 36,359 | 131,916 | 28,330 | 18,833 | | | | | Labour |
| Staffordshire East | 68,886 | 76,753 | 26,093 | | | | | | Labour |
| Strathclyde East | 24,857 | 90,792 | 11,883 | | 27,330 | | | | Labour |
| Strathclyde West | 47,196 | 70,234 | 25,955 | | 28,866 | | | | Labour |
| Suffolk | 88,243 | 41,145 | 34,084 | | | | | | Conservative |
| Surrey West | 96,675 | 22,531 | 44,087 | | | | | | Conservative |
| Sussex East | 102,287 | 32,213 | 36,666 | | | 5,401 | | | Conservative |
| Sussex West | 104,257 | 22,857 | 46,755 | | | 3,842 | | | Conservative |
| Thames Valley | 74,928 | 36,123 | 32,704 | | | | | | Conservative |
| Tyne and Wear | 39,610 | 89,024 | 19,081 | | | | | | Labour |
| Wight and Hampshire East | 96,666 | 36,445 | 53,738 | | | | | | Conservative |
| Wiltshire | 86,873 | 35,457 | 60,404 | | | | | | Conservative |
| York | 80,636 | 44,234 | 33,356 | | | | | | Conservative |
| Yorkshire South | 30,271 | 98,020 | 19,306 | | | | | | Labour |
| Yorkshire South West | 44,291 | 88,464 | 26,964 | | | | | | Labour |
| Yorkshire West | 65,405 | 86,259 | 28,709 | | | | | | Labour |