electionstracker

United Kingdom 2005 general election

What was the result of the 2005 general election in the United Kingdom?

Labour Party won 355 of 646 seats with 35.2% of the vote. 61.8% 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 355 of 646 seats with 35.2% of the vote; 61.8% of registered voters cast a ballot, up 2.2 points on 2001.

  • Labour Party 355 −57 seats 35.2% −5.5 points
  • Conservative Party 198 +32 seats 32.4% +0.7 points
  • Liberal Democrats 62 +10 seats 22.0% +3.7 points
  • UK Independence Party 0 0 seats 2.2% +0.7 points
  • Scottish National Party 6 +1 seat 1.5% −0.3 points
  • Green Party of England and Wales 0 1.0%
  • Democratic Unionist Party 9 +4 seats 0.9% +0.2 points
  • Plaid Cymru 3 −1 seat 0.6% −0.1 points
  • Sinn Féin 5 +1 seat 0.6% −0.1 points
  • Ulster Unionist Party 1 −5 seats 0.5% −0.3 points
  • Social Democratic and Labour Party 3 0 seats 0.5% −0.1 points
  • Respect -- The Unity Coalition 1 0.3%
  • 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 2001 general election, party by party.

324 of 646 seats make a majority

Key numbers

  1. 35.2%

    Share of the vote won by Labour Party

    Labour Party won 355 of 646 seats. A majority needs 324.

  2. +32 seats

    Seats gained by Conservative Party

    The largest gain in seats compared with 2001. Labour Party lost 57 seats.

  3. 61.8%

    Voter turnout

    Up 2.2 points on 2001.

Seats and votes by party

PartySeats± seats%± pointsVotes
Labour Party355−5735.2−5.59,552,436
Conservative Party198+3232.4+0.78,784,915
Liberal Democrats62+1022.0+3.75,985,454
UK Independence Party002.2+0.7605,973
Scottish National Party6+11.5−0.3412,267
Green Party of England and Wales01.0283,414
Democratic Unionist Party9+40.9+0.2241,856
Plaid Cymru3−10.6−0.1174,838
Sinn Féin5+10.6−0.1174,530
Ulster Unionist Party1−50.5−0.3127,414
Social Democratic and Labour Party300.5−0.1125,626
Respect -- The Unity Coalition10.368,094
Other parties (seats only)3+1

± is the change against the United Kingdom 2001 general election, party by party.

Votes by party
  • Labour Party 9,552,436
  • Conservative Party 8,784,915
  • Liberal Democrats 5,985,454
  • UK Independence Party 605,973
  • Scottish National Party 412,267
  • Green Party of England and Wales 283,414
  • Democratic Unionist Party 241,856
  • Plaid Cymru 174,838
  • Sinn Féin 174,530
  • Ulster Unionist Party 127,414
  • Social Democratic and Labour Party 125,626
  • Respect -- The Unity Coalition 68,094
  • 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?

61.8% of the 44,245,939 registered voters cast a ballot (27,336,093 ballots), up 2.2 points on 2001. 27,148,510 of them were valid votes.

How do the votes compare with the seats?

  • Labour Party35.2% of votes55.0% of seats
  • Conservative Party32.4% of votes30.7% of seats
  • Liberal Democrats22.0% of votes9.6% of seats
  • Democratic Unionist Party0.9% of votes1.4% of seats
  • Scottish National Party1.5% of votes0.9% of seats
  • Sinn Féin0.6% of votes0.8% of seats
  • Plaid Cymru0.6% of votes0.5% of seats
  • Social Democratic and Labour Party0.5% of votes0.5% of seats
  • Ulster Unionist Party0.5% of votes0.2% of seats
  • Respect -- The Unity Coalition0.3% of votes0.2% of seats
  • UK Independence Party2.2% of votes0.0% of seats
Each party's share of the vote (outlined) and of the seats (filled)

The Gallagher index of disproportionality is 16.6 (0 when seats follow votes exactly); the effective number of parties is 3.6 by votes and 2.5 by seats; Labour Party led Conservative Party by 2.8 points of the vote.

Time and source Data as of