# South West England (European Parliament constituency)

South West was a combined constituency region of the European Parliament, comprising the South West of England and Gibraltar. Seven, later six, Members of the European Parliament using closed party-list proportional representation allocated using the D'Hondt method of distribution were elected. The constituency was abolished when Britain left the European Union on 31 January 2020.

## Boundaries

The constituency consisted of the South West England region of the United Kingdom, comprising the ceremonial counties of Bristol, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Somerset and Wiltshire. It also included the British overseas territory of Gibraltar from 2004.

## History

The constituency was formed as a result of the European Parliamentary Elections Act 1999, replacing a number of single-member constituencies. These were Bristol, Cornwall and West Plymouth, Devon and East Plymouth, Dorset and East Devon, Somerset and North Devon, Wiltshire North and Bath, and parts of Cotswolds.
Before the 2004 election, it was expanded to include Gibraltar. This was the result of a 1999 European Court of Human Rights case, which argued that Gibraltar should be entitled to vote in European elections. Spain took a complaint about non-EU Commonwealth citizens resident in Gibraltar participating in European elections to the European Court of Justice, but their case was unsuccessful.
The number of seats was reduced from seven to six for the 2009 election.
MEPs for former South West England constituencies, 1979 – 1999 :
| Election | 1979 – 1984 | | 1984 – 1989 | | 1989 – 1994 | | 1994 – 1999 |
| Bristol | Richard Cottrell Conservative | Richard Cottrell Conservative | Richard Cottrell Conservative | | Ian White Labour | Ian White Labour | Ian White Labour |
| Cornwall and Plymouth (1979–1994) Cornwall and West Plymouth (1994–1999) | David Harris Conservative | | Christopher Beazley Conservative | Christopher Beazley Conservative | Christopher Beazley Conservative | | Robin Teverson Liberal Democrat |
| Cotswolds | Lord Plumb Conservative | Lord Plumb Conservative | Lord Plumb Conservative | Lord Plumb Conservative | Lord Plumb Conservative | Lord Plumb Conservative | Lord Plumb Conservative |
| Devon (1979–1994) Devon and East Plymouth (1994–1999) | Lord O'Hagan Conservative | Lord O'Hagan Conservative | Lord O'Hagan Conservative | Lord O'Hagan Conservative | Lord O'Hagan Conservative | | Giles Chichester Conservative |
| Somerset (1979–1984) Somerset and Dorset West (1984–1994) Somerset and North Devon (1994–1999) | Frederick Warner Conservative | | Margaret Daly Conservative | Margaret Daly Conservative | Margaret Daly Conservative | | Graham Watson Liberal Democrat |
| Upper Thames (1979–1984) Wiltshire (1984–1994) Wiltshire North and Bath (1994–1999) | Robert Jackson Conservative | | Caroline Jackson Conservative | Caroline Jackson Conservative | Caroline Jackson Conservative | Caroline Jackson Conservative | Caroline Jackson Conservative |
| Wessex (1979–1984) Dorset East and Hampshire West (1984–1994) Dorset and East Devon (1994–1999) | James Spicer Conservative | | Bryan Cassidy Conservative | Bryan Cassidy Conservative | Bryan Cassidy Conservative | Bryan Cassidy Conservative | Bryan Cassidy Conservative |

## Returned members

MEPs for South West England, 1999 onwards :
| Election | 1999 (5th parliament) | 1999 (5th parliament) | 1999 (5th parliament) | | 2004 (6th parliament) | 2004 (6th parliament) | 2004 (6th parliament) | | 2009 (7th parliament) | | 2014 (8th parliament) | | 2019 (9th parliament) | |
| MEP Party | Michael Holmes UKIP (1999–2000) Independent (2000–02) | | Graham Booth UKIP | Graham Booth UKIP | Graham Booth UKIP | | Trevor Colman UKIP | Trevor Colman UKIP | Trevor Colman UKIP | | Julia Reid UKIP (2014–18) Independent (2018–19) Brexit Party | | Ann Widdecombe Brexit Party | |
| MEP Party | 2nd Earl of Stockton Conservative | 2nd Earl of Stockton Conservative | 2nd Earl of Stockton Conservative | | Roger Knapman UKIP | Roger Knapman UKIP | Roger Knapman UKIP | | 10th Earl of Dartmouth UKIP (2009–18) Independent (2018–19) | 10th Earl of Dartmouth UKIP (2009–18) Independent (2018–19) | 10th Earl of Dartmouth UKIP (2009–18) Independent (2018–19) | | James Glancy Brexit Party | |
| MEP Party | Caroline Jackson Conservative | Caroline Jackson Conservative | Caroline Jackson Conservative | Caroline Jackson Conservative | Caroline Jackson Conservative | Caroline Jackson Conservative | Caroline Jackson Conservative | | Ashley Fox Conservative | Ashley Fox Conservative | Ashley Fox Conservative | | Christina Jordan Brexit Party | |
| MEP Party | Neil Parish Conservative | Neil Parish Conservative | Neil Parish Conservative | Neil Parish Conservative | Neil Parish Conservative | Neil Parish Conservative | Neil Parish Conservative | | Julie Girling Conservative (2009–17) Independent (2017–19) Change UK (2019) Renew | Julie Girling Conservative (2009–17) Independent (2017–19) Change UK (2019) Renew | Julie Girling Conservative (2009–17) Independent (2017–19) Change UK (2019) Renew | | Caroline Voaden Liberal Democrat | |
| MEP Party | Giles Chichester Conservative | Giles Chichester Conservative | Giles Chichester Conservative | Giles Chichester Conservative | Giles Chichester Conservative | Giles Chichester Conservative | Giles Chichester Conservative | Giles Chichester Conservative | Giles Chichester Conservative | | Clare Moody Labour | | Martin Horwood Liberal Democrat | |
| MEP Party | Graham Watson Liberal Democrat | Graham Watson Liberal Democrat | Graham Watson Liberal Democrat | Graham Watson Liberal Democrat | Graham Watson Liberal Democrat | Graham Watson Liberal Democrat | Graham Watson Liberal Democrat | Graham Watson Liberal Democrat | Graham Watson Liberal Democrat | | Molly Scott Cato Green | Molly Scott Cato Green | Molly Scott Cato Green | |
| MEP Party | Glyn Ford Labour GSLP | Glyn Ford Labour GSLP | Glyn Ford Labour GSLP | Glyn Ford Labour GSLP | Glyn Ford Labour GSLP | Glyn Ford Labour GSLP | Glyn Ford Labour GSLP | Seat abolished | Seat abolished | Seat abolished | Seat abolished | Seat abolished | Seat abolished | Seat abolished |

## Election results

See also: 2004 European Parliament election in Gibraltar and 2009 European Parliament election in Gibraltar
Elected candidates are shown in bold. Brackets indicate the order in which candidates were elected and number of votes per seat won in their respective columns.

### 2019

European Election 2019: South West England :
| List | List | Candidates | Votes | Of total (%) | ± from prev. |
| | Brexit Party | Ann Widdecombe (1) James Glancy (3) Christina Jordan (5) Ann Tarr, Roger Lane-Nott, Nicola Darke | 611,742 (203,914) | 36.84 | New |
| | Liberal Democrats | Caroline Voaden (2) Martin Horwood (6) Stephen Williams, Eleanor Rylance, David Chalmers, Luke Stagnetto | 385,095 (192,547.5) | 23.19 | +12.49 |
| | Green | Molly Scott Cato (4) Cleo Lake, Carla Denyer, Tom Scott, Martin Dimery, Karen La Borde | 302,364 | 18.21 | +7.11 |
| | Conservative | Ashley Fox, James Mustoe, Faye Purbrick, Claire Hiscott, James Taghdissian, Emmline Owens | 144,674 | 8.71 | –20.19 |
| | Labour | Clare Moody, Andrew Adonis, Jayne Kirkham, Neil Guild, Yvonne Atkinson, Sadik Al-Hassan | 108,100 | 6.51 | –7.24 |
| | UKIP | Lawrence Webb, Carl Benjamin, Anthony McIntyre, Lester Taylor, Stephen Lee, Alison Sheridan | 53,739 | 3.24 | –29.05 |
| | Change UK | Rachel Johnson, Jim Godfrey, Oliver Middleton, Matthew Hooberman, Elizabeth-Anne Sewell, Crispin Hunt | 46,612 | 2.81 | New |
| | English Democrat | Jenny Knight, Michael Blundell | 8,393 | 0.51 | –0.49 |
| | Independent | Neville Seed | 3,383 | 0.20 | New |
| | Independent | Larch Maxey | 1,722 | 0.10 | New |
| | Independent | Mothiur Rahman | 755 | 0.04 | New |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,676,173 | 40.45 | +3.45 |

### 2014

European Election 2014: South West England :
| List | List | Candidates | Votes | Of total (%) | ± from prev. |
| | UKIP | William Dartmouth, Julia Reid, Gawain Towler, Tony McIntyre, Robert Smith, Keith Crawford | 484,184 (242,092) | 32.29 | +10.2 |
| | Conservative | Ashley Fox, Julie Girling, James Cracknell, Georgina Butler, Sophia Swire, Melisa Maynard | 433,151 (216,575.5) | 28.9 | −1.36 |
| | Labour | Clare Moody, Glyn Ford, Ann Reeder, Hadleigh Roberts, Jude Robinson, Junab Ali | 206,124 | 13.75 | +6.1 |
| | Green | Molly Scott Cato, Emily McIvor, Ricky Knight, Audaye Elesedy, Judy Maciejowska, Mark Chivers | 166,447 | 11.1 | +1.8 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Graham Watson, Kay Barnard, Brian Mathew, Andrew Wigley, Jay Risbridger, Lyana Armstrong-Emery | 160,376 | 10.7 | −6.5 |
| | An Independence from Europe | David Smith, Helen Webster, Mike Camp, Andrew Edwards, Phil Dunn, John Taverner | 23,169 | 1.6 | New |
| | English Democrat | Alan England, Mike Blundell, Clive Lavelle, Barbara Wright, Stephen Wright, Raymond Carr | 15,081 | 1.0 | −0.6 |
| | BNP | Adrian Rommilly, Cliff Jones, Arnold Brindle, Wayne Tomlinson, Andrew Webster, Giuseppe De Santis | 10,910 | 0.7 | −3.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,503,174 | 37.0 | −1.8 |

### 2009

European election 2009: South West England :
| List | List | Candidates | Votes | Of total (%) | ± from prev. |
| | Conservative | Giles Chichester, Julie Girling, Ashley Fox Mike Dolley, Don Collier, Zehra Zaidi | 468,742 (156,247.3) | 30.2 | −1.4 |
| | UKIP | Trevor Colman, William Dartmouth Gawain Towler, Julia Reid, Alan Wood, Stephanie McWilliam | 341,845 (170,922.5) | 22.1 | −0.5 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Graham Watson Kay Barnard, Justine McGuinness, Humphrey Temperley, Paul Massey, Jonathan Stagnetto | 266,253 | 17.2 | −1.1 |
| | Green | Ricky Knight, Roger Creagh-Osborne, Molly Scott Cato, Richard Lawson, Chloë Somers, David Taylor | 144,179 | 9.3 | +2.1 |
| | Labour | Glyn Ford, Isabel Owen, Keir Dhillon, Dorothea Hodge, Dafydd Emlyn Williams, Eshter Pickup-Keller | 118,716 | 7.7 | −6.8 |
| | BNP | Jeremy Wotherspoon, Barry Bennett, Adrian Rommilly, Sean Twitchin, Lawrence West, Peryn Parsons | 60,889 | 3.9 | +0.9 |
| | Pensioners | Jonathan McQueen, Barry Hodgson, Derek Wharton, Roger Edwards, Stuart Baker, Barry Egerton | 37,785 | 2.4 | New |
| | English Democrat | Michael Turner, Sara Box, Keith Riley, Stephen Wright, Raymond Carr, Lee Pickering | 25,313 | 1.6 | New |
| | Christian | William Capstick, Katherine Mills, Diane Ofori, Larna Martin, Peter Vickers, Adenike Williams | 21,329 | 1.4 | New |
| | Mebyon Kernow | Dick Cole, Conan Jenkin, Loveday Jenkin, Simon Reed, Glenn Renshaw, Joanie Willett | 14,922 | 1.0 | New |
| | Socialist Labour | Robert Hawkins, Brian Corbett, Alison Entwistle, David Marchesi, Robert Hawkins, James Bannister | 10,033 | 0.6 | New |
| | NO2EU | Alex Gordon, Roger Davey, Rachel Lynch, Nick Quirk, John Chambers, Paul Dyer | 9,741 | 0.6 | New |
| | Independent | Katie Hopkins | 8,971 | 0.6 | New |
| | Libertas | Robin Matthews, Peter Morgan-Barnes, Chloe Gwynne, Christopher Charnock, Nicholas Carlton, Nicholas Charlee | 7,292 | 0.5 | New |
| | Fair Pay Fair Trade | David Michael, Judy Foster | 7,151 | 0.5 | New |
| | Jury Team (UK) | Sally Smith, Martin Paley, Michael Clayton, Brian Underwood, Roger Whitfield, William Barnett | 5,758 | 0.4 | New |
| | Wai D Your Decision | Nicola Guagliardo, Joy Margareth Skey | 789 | 0.1 | New |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,549,708 | 38.8 | +1.2 |

### 2004

European election 2004: South West England :
| List | List | Candidates | Votes | Of total (%) | ± from prev. |
| | Conservative | Neil Parish, Caroline Jackson, Giles Chichester Richard Graham, Earl of Stockton, Jack Lopresti, Julie Girling | 457,371 (152,457) | 31.6 | −10.1 |
| | UKIP | Graham Booth, Roger Knapman Trevor Colman, Elizabeth Burton, Matthew Jackson, Michael Faulkner, Andrew Reed | 326,784 (163,392) | 22.6 | +12.0 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Graham Watson Anthony Welch, Kay Barnard, Simon Green, Christine Coleman, Katie Hall, Alistair Cameron | 265,619 | 18.3 | +1.8 |
| | Labour | Glyn Ford Bernadette Hartley, Ian White, Clare Moody, Keir Dhillon, Julie Watts, David Roberts | 209,908 | 14.5 | −3.6 |
| | Green | David Taylor, Emily McIvor, Carol Kambites, Anthony Bown, Lyana Armstrong-Emery, Katharine Chant, Paul Edwards | 103,821 | 7.2 | −1.1 |
| | BNP | Anthony North, Michaela Mackenzie, Barry Bennett, Edward Mullins, Robert Baggs, Bruce Cowd, Frederick Paynter | 43,653 | 3.0 | +2.1 |
| | Countryside | Chris Thomas-Everard, Brian Crawford, Diana Scott, Ranulph Fiennes, Archibald Montgomery, John Yewdall | 30,824 | 2.1 | New |
| | Respect | Paulette North, Sami Velioglu, Hannah Packham, Ann Thomas, John Bampfylde, Bernard Parkes, Anthony Staunton | 10,437 | 0.7 | New |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,448,417 | 37.6 | +10.0 |

### 1999

European election 1999: South West England :
| List | List | Candidates | Votes | Of total (%) |
| | Conservative | Caroline Jackson, Giles Chichester, Earl of Stockton, Neil Parish David Martin, Bryan Cassidy, Paul Marland | 434,645 (108,661.25) | 41.7 |
| | Labour | Glyn Ford Ian White, Sue Mallory, James Knight, Marion Dewar, John Shepherd, Elizabeth Lisgo | 188,362 | 18.1 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Graham Watson Robin Teverson, Terrye Jones, Paula Yates, Alan Butt-Philip, Janice Beasley, Simon Green | 171,498 | 16.5 |
| | UKIP | Michael Holmes Graham Booth, Michael Faulkner, Malcolm Wood, Ronald Dickinson, Robert Edwards, George Eustice | 111,012 | 10.6 |
| | Green | David Taylor, Richard Lawson, Simon Pickering, Susan Proud, Hamish Soutar, Carol Kambites, Justin Quinnell | 86,630 | 8.3 |
| | Liberal | Paul Holmes, David Morrish, Lomond Handley, Frederick Stephens, Geoffrey Halliwell, Jean Pollock, Roy Collins | 21,645 | 2.1 |
| | Pro-Euro Conservative | Julian Ayer, Kenneth Daly, David McCrum, Denise Atkinson, Vilma Aris, Philip Taylor, Derek Palmer | 11,134 | 1.1 |
| | BNP | Bruce Cowd, Donald Stevens, Stephen Parnell, Terence Cavill, Barbara Packer, Peter Hart, George Jeffrey | 9,752 | 0.9 |
| | Socialist Labour | David White, Jean Ramshaw, Robert Hawkins, Paul Williams, Giles Shorter, Bernard Kennedy, Brian Corbett | 5,741 | 0.6 |
| | Natural Law | Mark Griffiths, Francis Lyons, Nicholas Cresswell, Margot Hartley, Thomas Dyball, Lynn Royse, Henry Brighouse | 1,968 | 0.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,042,387 | 27.6 |

## Campaign for a dedicated Euro-constituency and MEP for Cornwall

The Cornish nationalist party Mebyon Kernow campaigned for a separate European Parliament constituency for Cornwall. Until 1994 Cornwall was represented by the much smaller Cornwall and Plymouth constituency.