electionstracker

United Kingdom 2001 general election

What was the result of the 2001 general election in the United Kingdom?

Labour Party won 412 of 659 seats with 40.7% of the vote. 59.6% of registered voters cast a ballot.

  • United Kingdom
  • Held:
  • Final result
  • ParlGov, read 5 October 2026

Which party won the most seats?

Final results from ParlGov, read : Labour Party won 412 of 659 seats with 40.7% of the vote; 59.6% of registered voters cast a ballot, down 11.9 points on 1997.

  • Labour Party 412 −7 seats 40.7% −2.5 points
  • Conservative Party 166 +1 seat 31.7% +1.0 points
  • Liberal Democrats 52 +6 seats 18.3% +1.5 points
  • Scottish National Party 5 −1 seat 1.8% −0.2 points
  • UK Independence Party 0 1.5%
  • Ulster Unionist Party 6 −4 seats 0.8% 0.0 points
  • Plaid Cymru 4 0 seats 0.7% +0.2 points
  • Democratic Unionist Party 5 +3 seats 0.7% +0.4 points
  • Sinn Féin 4 +2 seats 0.7% +0.3 points
  • Social Democratic and Labour Party 3 0 seats 0.6% 0.0 points
  • Seats won
  • Change on the previous election at the right
  • Share of the vote
  • Share at the previous election
  • Change in points at the right

Changes are against the United Kingdom 1997 general election, party by party.

330 of 659 seats make a majority

Key numbers

  1. 40.7%

    Share of the vote won by Labour Party

    Labour Party won 412 of 659 seats. A majority needs 330.

  2. +6 seats

    Seats gained by Liberal Democrats

    The largest gain in seats compared with 1997. Labour Party lost 7 seats.

  3. 59.6%

    Voter turnout

    Down 11.9 points on 1997.

Seats and votes by party

PartySeats± seats%± pointsVotes
Labour Party412−740.7−2.510,724,953
Conservative Party166+131.7+1.08,357,615
Liberal Democrats52+618.3+1.54,814,321
Scottish National Party5−11.8−0.2464,314
UK Independence Party01.5390,563
Ulster Unionist Party6−40.80.0216,839
Plaid Cymru400.7+0.2195,893
Democratic Unionist Party5+30.7+0.4181,999
Sinn Féin4+20.7+0.3175,933
Social Democratic and Labour Party300.60.0169,865
Other parties (seats only)2+1

± is the change against the United Kingdom 1997 general election, party by party.

Votes by party
  • Labour Party 10,724,953
  • Conservative Party 8,357,615
  • Liberal Democrats 4,814,321
  • Scottish National Party 464,314
  • UK Independence Party 390,563
  • Ulster Unionist Party 216,839
  • Plaid Cymru 195,893
  • Democratic Unionist Party 181,999
  • Sinn Féin 175,933
  • Social Democratic and Labour Party 169,865
  • Other parties (seats only)

ParlGov lists parties with at least 1 percent of the vote or 2 seats, so the rows do not add up to the valid votes.

How many people voted?

59.6% of the 44,403,238 registered voters cast a ballot (26,467,388 ballots), down 11.9 points on 1997. 26,367,383 of them were valid votes. The lowest turnout of this kind in our data, which begins in 1964.

How do the votes compare with the seats?

  • Labour Party40.7% of votes62.5% of seats
  • Conservative Party31.7% of votes25.2% of seats
  • Liberal Democrats18.3% of votes7.9% of seats
  • Ulster Unionist Party0.8% of votes0.9% of seats
  • Scottish National Party1.8% of votes0.8% of seats
  • Democratic Unionist Party0.7% of votes0.8% of seats
  • Plaid Cymru0.7% of votes0.6% of seats
  • Sinn Féin0.7% of votes0.6% of seats
  • Social Democratic and Labour Party0.6% of votes0.5% of seats
Each party's share of the vote (outlined) and of the seats (filled)

The Gallagher index of disproportionality is 17.8 (0 when seats follow votes exactly); the effective number of parties is 3.3 by votes and 2.2 by seats; Labour Party led Conservative Party by 9.0 points of the vote.

Time and source Data as of