# Electoral history of the Conservative Party (UK)

The Conservative Party, officially the Conservative and Unionist Party and also known colloquially as the Tories, is one of the two main political parties in the United Kingdom, along with the Labour Party, and has been described as both right-wing and centre-right.
This article encompasses detailed results of previous UK general elections, Police and Crime Commissioner elections, devolved national elections, devolved London elections and European Parliament elections which the Conservative Party have participated in.

## Background

The Conservative Party is currently the primary opposition party in the United Kingdom. On the political spectrum the party has been described as right-wing by various sources and as centre-right by others, and encompasses various ideological factions including one-nation conservatives, Thatcherites, and traditionalist conservatives. It holds the annual Conservative Party Conference. It was founded in 1834 from the Tory Party and was one of two dominant political parties in the 19th century, along with the Liberal Party. In 1912 the Liberal Unionist Party merged with the party to form the Conservative and Unionist Party. Since the 1920s the Labour Party emerged to be the Conservatives' main rival and the Conservative–Labour political rivalry has shaped modern British politics for the last century.

## National results
### UK general elections

United Kingdom general elections are held under the first past the post voting system. Each constituency in the United Kingdom will elect one Member of Parliament; overall 650 Members of Parliament are currently elected at each election. Following the Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Act 2022, the date of the general election is at the discretion of the prime minister within a five-year period from the last general election. The previous general election was held on 4 July 2024.
In the 1931 general election, the Conservatives earned their best result to date, by vote share (55.5%) and seat number (474). In the post-war era, the 1983 general election was the most successful for the Conservatives in terms of seats won (397), whereas 1955 was the most successful election for vote share (49.7%). However, the 1997 general election was the least successful election since 1918 for the Conservatives, winning 165 seats and gaining 30.7% of the vote.
This chart shows the electoral performance of the Conservative Party in each general election since 1835.
For results of the Tories, the party's predecessor, see here.

#### Note

* ↑ The first election held under the Reform Act 1867.
* ↑ The first election held under the Representation of the People Act 1884 and the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885.
* ↑ The first election held under the Representation of the People Act 1918 in which all men over 21, and most women over the age of 30 could vote, and therefore a much larger electorate.
* ↑ The first election held under the Representation of the People Act 1928 which gave all women aged over 21 the vote.
* ↑ Franchise extended to all 18- to 20-year-olds under the Representation of the People Act 1969.

### Police and Crime Commissioner elections

| Election | Leader | Votes | Votes | Commissioners | Commissioners | Commissioners | Position |
| Election | Leader | No. | Share | No. | ± | Share | Position |
| 2012 | David Cameron | 1,480,323 | 27.6% | 16 / 41 | | 34.8% | 1st |
| 2016 | David Cameron | 2,601,560 | 29.3% | 20 / 40 | 4 | 50.0% | 1st |
| 2021 | Boris Johnson | 4,900,501 | 44.5% | 30 / 39 | 10 | 76.9% | 1st |
| 2024 | Rishi Sunak | 2,727,820 | 35.2% | 19 / 37 | 11 | 51.4% | 1st |

## Devolved national elections
### Scottish Parliament elections

| Election | Leader | Votes (Constituency) | Votes (Constituency) | Votes (List) | Votes (List) | Seats | Seats | Seats | Position | Government |
| Election | Leader | No. | Share | No. | Share | No. | ± | Share | Position | Government |
| 1999 | David McLetchie | 364,225 | 15.6% | 359,109 | 15.4% | 18 / 129 | | 14.0% | 3rd | Labour–Liberal Democrats |
| 2003 | David McLetchie | 318,279 | 16.6% | 296,929 | 15.6% | 18 / 129 | 0 | 14.0% | 3rd | Labour–Liberal Democrats |
| 2007 | Annabel Goldie | 334,743 | 16.6% | 284,005 | 13.9% | 17 / 129 | 1 | 13.4% | 3rd | Scottish National minority |
| 2011 | Annabel Goldie | 276,652 | 13.9% | 245,967 | 12.4% | 15 / 129 | 2 | 11.6% | 3rd | Scottish National |
| 2016 | Ruth Davidson | 501,844 | 22.0% | 524,222 | 22.9% | 31 / 129 | 16 | 24.0% | 2nd | Scottish National minority |
| 2021 | Douglas Ross | 592,526 | 21.9% | 637,131 | 23.5% | 31 / 129 | 0 | 24.0% | 2nd | Scottish National minority |

### Senedd elections

| Election | Leader | Votes (Constituency) | Votes (Constituency) | Votes (List) | Votes (List) | Seats | Seats | Seats | Position | Government |
| Election | Leader | No. | Share | No. | Share | No. | ± | Share | Position | Government |
| 1999 | Rod Richards | 162,133 | 15.8% | 168,206 | 16.5% | 9 / 60 | | 15.0% | 3rd | Labour–Liberal Democrats |
| 2003 | Nick Bourne | 169,832 | 19.9% | 162,725 | 19.2% | 11 / 60 | 2 | 18.3% | 3rd | Labour |
| 2007 | Nick Bourne | 218,739 | 22.4% | 209,153 | 21.4% | 12 / 60 | 1 | 20.0% | 3rd | Labour–Plaid Cymru |
| 2011 | Nick Bourne | 237,388 | 25.0% | 213,773 | 22.5% | 14 / 60 | 2 | 23.3% | 2nd | Labour |
| 2016 | Andrew R. T. Davies | 215,597 | 21.1% | 190,846 | 18.8% | 11 / 60 | 3 | 18.3% | 3rd | Labour minority |
| 2021 | Andrew R. T. Davies | 289,802 | 26.1% | 278,560 | 25.1% | 16 / 60 | 5 | 26.7% | 2nd | Labour minority |

### Northern Ireland devolved elections

Prior to 1973, the Ulster Unionist Party acted as the de facto Northern Ireland branch of the Conservative Party. The UUP's results may be seen here.
| Election | Leader | Votes | Votes | Seats | Seats | Seats | Position | Government |
| Election | Leader | No. | Share | No. | ± | Share | Position | Government |
| Elections to the Northern Ireland Forum in 1996 |||||||||
| 1996 | Barbara Finney | 3,595 | 0.48 | 0 / 110 | | 0.0% | 12th | Dissolution |
| Elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly from 1998 |||||||||
| 1998 | Un­known | 1,835 | 0.23 | 0 / 108 | 0 | 0.0% | 14th | UUP–Sinn Féin |
| 2003 | Un­known | 1,604 | 0.20 | 0 / 108 | 0 | 0.0% | 14th | Dissolution |
| 2007 | Un­known | 3,457 | 0.50 | 0 / 108 | 0 | 0.0% | 10th | DUP–Sinn Féin |
| 2011 | Un­known | Did not contest election | Did not contest election | Did not contest election | Did not contest election | Did not contest election | Did not contest election | DUP–Sinn Féin |
| 2016 | Alan Dunlop | 2,554 | 0.40 | 0 / 108 | 0 | 0.0% | 11th | DUP–Sinn Féin |
| 2022 | Matthew Robinson | Did not contest election | Did not contest election | Did not contest election | Did not contest election | Did not contest election | Did not contest election | tbc |

## Devolved London elections
### London Mayoral elections

| Election | Leader | Candidate | Votes (1st pref.) | Votes (1st pref.) | Votes (run-off) | Votes (run-off) | Position |
| Election | Leader | Candidate | No. | Share | No. | Share | Position |
| 2000 | William Hague | Steven Norris | 464,434 | 27.1% | 564,137 | 42.1% | 2nd |
| 2004 | Michael Howard | Steven Norris | 542,423 | 29.1% | 667,180 | 44.6% | 2nd |
| 2008 | David Cameron | Boris Johnson | 1,043,761 | 43.2% | 1,168,738 | 53.2% | 1st |
| 2012 | David Cameron | Boris Johnson | 971,931 | 44.0% | 1,054,811 | 51.5% | 1st |
| 2016 | David Cameron | Zac Goldsmith | 909,755 | 35.0% | 994,614 | 43.2% | 2nd |
| 2021 | Boris Johnson | Shaun Bailey | 893,051 | 35.3% | 977,601 | 44.8% | 2nd |
| 2024 | Rishi Sunak | Susan Hall | 812,397 | 32.7% | | | 2nd |

### London Assembly elections

| Election | Leader | Assembly Leader | Votes (Constituency) | Votes (Constituency) | Votes (List) | Votes (List) | Seats | Seats | Seats | Position |
| Election | Leader | Assembly Leader | No. | Share | No. | Share | No. | + | Share | Position |
| 2000 | William Hague | Eric Ollerenshaw | 526,422 | 33.2% | 481,053 | 29.0% | 9 / 25 | | 36.0% | 1st |
| 2004 | Michael Howard | Bob Neill | 562,047 | 31.2% | 533,696 | 28.5% | 9 / 25 | 0 | 36.0% | 1st |
| 2008 | David Cameron | Richard Barnes | 900,569 | 37.4% | 835,535 | 34.1% | 11 / 25 | 2 | 44.0% | 1st |
| 2012 | David Cameron | James Cleverly | 722,280 | 32.7% | 708,528 | 32.0% | 9 / 25 | 2 | 36.0% | 2nd |
| 2016 | David Cameron | Gareth Bacon | 812,415 | 31.1% | 764,230 | 29.2% | 8 / 25 | 1 | 32.0% | 2nd |
| 2021 | Boris Johnson | Susan Hall | 833,021 | 32.0% | 795,081 | 30.7% | 9 / 25 | 1 | 36.0% | 2nd |
| 2024 | Rishi Sunak | Neil Garratt | 673,036 | 27.2% | 648,269 | 26.2% | 8 / 25 | 1 | 32.0% | 2nd |

## Combined authority elections

| Year | Leader | Mayoralties won | Change |
| 2017 | Theresa May | 4 / 6 | |
| 2018 | Theresa May | 0 / 1 | |
| 2019 | Theresa May | 0 / 1 | |
| 2021 | Boris Johnson | 2 / 7 | 2 |
| 2024 | Rishi Sunak | 1 / 9 | 1 |

## European
### European Parliament elections

| Election | Party Group | Party Group | Party Group | Leader | Votes | Votes | Seats | Seats | Seats | Position |
| Election | Party Group | Party Group | Party Group | Leader | No. | Share | No. | ± | Share | Position |
| 1979 | | | ED | Margaret Thatcher | 6,508,492 | 48.4 | 60 / 81 | | 75.0% | 1st |
| 1984 | | | EPP | Margaret Thatcher | 5,426,866 | 38.8 | 45 / 81 | 15 | 55.6% | 1st |
| 1989 | | | EPP | Margaret Thatcher | 5,331,077 | 34.7 | 32 / 81 | 13 | 39.5% | 2nd |
| 1994 | | | EPP | John Major | 4,274,122 | 26.8 | 18 / 87 | 13 | 20.7% | 2nd |
| 1999 | | | EPP-ED | William Hague | 3,578,218 | 35.8 | 36 / 87 | 18 | 41.4% | 1st |
| 2004 | | | EPP-ED | Michael Howard | 4,397,087 | 26.7 | 27 / 78 | 8 | 34.6% | 1st |
| 2009 | | | ECR | David Cameron | 4,281,286 | 27.7 | 26 / 72 | 1 | 36.1% | 1st |
| 2014 | | | ECR | David Cameron | 3,792,549 | 23.1 | 19 / 73 | 7 | 26.0% | 3rd |
| 2019 | | | ECR | Theresa May | 1,512,809 | 8.8 | 4 / 73 | 15 | 5.5% | 5th |

#### Note

* ↑ Electoral system changed from first past the post to proportional representation.
* ↑ Includes 82,892 votes and 1 seat gained from the UCUNF alliance