2001 United Kingdom general election

2001 United Kingdom general election
← outgoing members elected members →
All 659 seats to the House of Commons; 330 seats needed for a majority
	Opinion polls
Registered	44,403,238
Turnout	26,367,383; 59.4% (11.9 pp)
	Colours denote the winning party, as shown in the main table of results.
	Composition of the House of Commons after the election
Prime Minister before election; Tony Blair; Labour	Prime Minister after election ; Tony Blair; Labour

The 2001 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 7 June 2001, four years after the previous election on 1 May 1997, to elect 659 members to the House of Commons. The governing Labour Party led by the prime minister Tony Blair was re-elected to serve a second term in government with another landslide victory with a 165-seat majority, returning 412 members of Parliament versus 418 from the previous election, a net loss of six seats, although with a significantly lower turnout than before—59.4%, compared to 71.6% at the previous election.^[1]

The number of votes Labour received fell by nearly three million. Blair went on to become the only Labour prime minister to serve two consecutive full terms in office. As Labour retained almost all of their seats won in the 1997 landslide victory, the media dubbed the 2001 election "the quiet landslide".^[2] There was little change outside Northern Ireland, with 620 out of the 641 seats in Great Britain electing candidates from the same party as they did in 1997. A strong economy contributed to the Labour victory.

The opposition Conservative Party under William Hague's leadership was still deeply divided on the issue of Europe and the party's policy platform had drifted considerably to the right. The party put the issue of European monetary union, in particular the prospect of the UK joining the Eurozone, at the centre of its campaign but failed to resonate with the electorate. The Conservatives briefly had a narrow lead in the polls during the 2000 fuel strikes but Labour successfully resolved them by year end. Furthermore, a series of publicity stunts that backfired also harmed Hague, and he immediately announced his resignation as party leader when the election result was clear, formally stepping down three months later, therefore becoming the first leader of the Conservative Party in the House of Commons since Austen Chamberlain nearly eighty years prior not to serve as prime minister.

The election was largely a repeat of the 1997 general election, with Labour losing only six seats overall and the Conservatives making a net gain of one seat (gaining nine seats but losing eight). The Conservatives gained a seat in Scotland, which ended the party's status as an "England-only" party in the prior parliament, but failed again to win any seats in Wales. Although they did not gain many seats, three of the few new MPs elected were future Conservative Prime Ministers David Cameron and Boris Johnson and future Conservative Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne; Osborne would serve in the same Cabinet as Cameron from 2010 to 2016. The Liberal Democrats led by Charles Kennedy made a net gain of six seats.

Change was seen in Northern Ireland, with the moderate unionist Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) losing four seats to the more hardline Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). A similar transition appeared in the nationalist community, with the moderate Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) losing votes to the more staunchly republican and abstentionist Sinn Féin.

Exceptionally low voter turnout, which fell below 60% for the first time since 1918, also marked this election.^[3] The election was broadcast live on BBC One and presented by David Dimbleby, Jeremy Paxman, Andrew Marr, Peter Snow, and Tony King.^[4] The 2001 general election was notable for being the first in which pictures of the party logos appeared on the ballot paper. Prior to this, the ballot paper had only displayed the candidate's name, address, and party name.^[5]

Notable departing MPs included former Prime Ministers Edward Heath (also Father of the House) and John Major, former Deputy Prime Minister Michael Heseltine, former Liberal Democrat leader Paddy Ashdown, former Cabinet ministers Tony Benn, Tom King, John Morris, Mo Mowlam, John MacGregor and Peter Brooke, Teresa Gorman, and then Mayor of London Ken Livingstone.

Background

The elections were marked by voter apathy, with turnout falling to 59.4%, the lowest (and first under 70%) since the Coupon Election of 1918. Throughout the election the Labour Party had maintained a significant lead in the opinion polls and the result was deemed to be so certain that some bookmakers paid out for a Labour majority before election day. However, the opinion polls the previous autumn had shown the first Tory lead (though only by a narrow margin) in the opinion polls for eight years as they benefited from the public anger towards the government over the fuel protests which had led to a severe shortage of motor fuel.

By the end of 2000, however, the dispute had been resolved and Labour were firmly back in the lead of the opinion polls.^[6] In total, a mere 29 parliamentary seats changed hands at the 2001 Election.^[7]

2001 also saw the rare election of an independent. Richard Taylor of Independent Kidderminster Hospital and Health Concern (usually now known simply as "Health Concern") unseated a government MP, David Lock, in Wyre Forest. There was also a high vote for British National Party leader Nick Griffin in Oldham West and Royton, in the wake of recent race riots in the town of Oldham.

In Northern Ireland, the election was far more dramatic and marked a move by unionists away from support for the Good Friday Agreement, with the moderate unionist Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) losing to the more hardline Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). This polarisation was also seen in the nationalist community, with the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) vote losing out to more left-wing and republican Sinn Féin. It also saw a tightening of the parties as the small UK Unionist Party lost its only seat.

Campaign

The election had been expected on 3 May, to coincide with local elections, but on 2 April 2001, the local elections were postponed to 7 June because of rural movement restrictions imposed in response to the foot-and-mouth outbreak that had started in February.^[8]

On 8 May, Prime Minister Tony Blair announced that the general election would be held on the 7 June as expected, on the same day as the local elections.^[9] Blair made the announcement in a speech at St Saviour's and St Olave's Church of England School in Bermondsey, London rather than on the steps of Downing Street.^[9]

For Labour, the last four years had run relatively smoothly.^[10] The party had successfully defended all their by election seats, and many suspected a Labour win was inevitable from the start.

Many in the party, however, were afraid of voter apathy, which was epitomised in a poster of "Hague with Margaret Thatcher's hair", captioned "Get out and vote. Or they get in."^[11] Despite recessions in mainland Europe and the United States, due to the bursting of global tech bubbles, Britain was notably unaffected and Labour however could rely on a strong economy as unemployment continued to decline toward election day, putting to rest any fears of a Labour government putting the economic situation at risk.

For William Hague, however, the Conservative Party had still not fully recovered from the loss in 1997. The party was still divided over Europe, and talk of a referendum on joining the Eurozone was rife, and as a result "Save The Pound" was one of the key slogans deployed in the Conservatives' campaign. As Labour remained at the political centre, the Conservatives moved to the right. A policy gaffe by Oliver Letwin over public spending cuts left the party with an own goal that Labour soon exploited.

Thatcher gave a speech to the Conservative Election Rally in Plymouth on 22 May 2001, calling New Labour "rootless, empty, and artificial." She also added to Hague's troubles when speaking out strongly against the Euro to applause. Hague himself, although a witty performer at Prime Minister's Questions, was dogged in the press and reminded of his speech, given at the age of 16, at the 1977 Conservative Conference. The Sun newspaper only added to the Conservatives' woes by backing Labour for a second consecutive election, calling Hague a "dead parrot" during the Conservative Party's conference in October 1998.^[12]^[13]^[14]

The Conservatives campaigned on a strongly right-wing platform, emphasising the issues of Europe, immigration and tax, the fabled "Tebbit Trinity". They also released a poster showing a heavily pregnant Tony Blair, stating "Four years of Labour and he still hasn't delivered".^[15] However, Labour countered by asking where the proposed tax cuts were going to come from, and decried the Tory policy as "cut here, cut there, cut everywhere", in reference to the widespread belief that the Conservatives would make major cuts to public services in order to fund tax cuts. Labour also capitalised on the strong economic conditions of the time, and another major line of attack (primarily directed towards Michael Portillo, now Shadow Chancellor after returning to Parliament via a by-election) was to warn of a return to "Tory Boom and Bust" under a Conservative administration.

Charles Kennedy contested his first election as leader of the Liberal Democrats.^[16]

During the election Sharron Storer, a resident of Birmingham, criticised Prime Minister Tony Blair in front of television cameras about conditions in the National Health Service. The widely televised incident happened on 16 May during a campaign visit by Blair to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham. Sharron Storer's partner, Keith Sedgewick, a cancer patient with non-Hodgkin lymphoma and therefore highly susceptible to infection, was being treated at the time in the bone marrow unit, but no bed could be found for him and he was transferred to the casualty unit for his first 24 hours.^[17]^[18]^[19] On the evening of the same day Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott punched a protestor after being hit by an egg on his way to an election rally in Rhyl, North Wales.^[20]

Endorsements

Labour received endorsements from The Sun, The Times, and The Daily Express (The Express for the first time in its history),^[21] The Daily Mirror, The Financial Times, The Economist, and The Guardian.^[22]^[23]
The Independent endorsed Labour and the Liberal Democrats.^[23]
The Conservatives were endorsed by the Daily Mail and The Daily Telegraph.^[22]

Opinion polling

Results

Constituency results by party

Equal-area projection of constituency results

Equal-area projection of constituency gains

The election result was effectively a repeat of 1997, as the Labour Party retained an overwhelming majority, with the BBC announcing the victory at 02:58 on the early morning of 8 June. Having presided over relatively serene political, economic and social conditions, the feeling of prosperity in the United Kingdom had been maintained into the new millennium, and Labour would have a free hand to assert its ideals in the subsequent parliament. Despite the victory, voter apathy was a major issue, as turnout fell below 60%, 12 percentage points down on 1997. All three of the main parties saw their total votes fall, with Labour's total vote dropping by 2.8 million on 1997, the Conservatives 1.3 million, and the Liberal Democrats 428,000. Some suggested this dramatic fall was a sign of the general acceptance of the status quo and the likelihood of Labour's majority remaining unassailable.^[24]

For the Conservatives, the huge loss they had sustained in 1997 was repeated. Despite gaining nine seats, they lost seven to the Liberal Democrats, and one even to Labour (South Dorset). William Hague was quick to announce his resignation, doing so at 07:44 outside the Conservative Party headquarters. Some believed that Hague had been unlucky; although most considered him to be a talented orator and an intelligent statesman, he had come up against the charismatic Tony Blair in the peak of his political career, and it was no surprise that little progress was made in reducing Labour's majority after a relatively smooth parliament.

Staying at what they considered rock bottom, however, showed that the Conservatives had failed to improve their negative public image, had remained somewhat disunited over Europe, and had not regained the trust that they had lost in the 1990s. Hague's focus on the "Save The Pound" campaign narrative had failed to gain any traction; Labour's successful countertactic was to be repeatedly vague over the issue of future monetary union – and said that the UK would only consider joining the Eurozone "when conditions were right". But in Scotland, despite flipping one seat from the Scottish National Party, their vote collapse continued. They failed to retake former strongholds in Scotland as the Nationalists consolidated their grip on the Northeastern portion of the country.^[25]

The Liberal Democrats could point to steady progress under their new leader, Charles Kennedy, gaining more seats than the main two parties—albeit only six overall—and maintaining the performance of a pleasing 1997 election, where the party had doubled its number of seats from 20 to 46. While they had yet to become electable as a government, they underlined their growing reputation as a worthwhile alternative to Labour and Conservative, offering plenty of debate in Parliament and representing more than a mere protest vote.^{[citation needed]}

The SNP failed to gain any new seats and lost a seat to the Conservatives by just 79 votes. In Wales, Plaid Cymru both gained a seat from Labour and lost one to them.

In Northern Ireland the Ulster Unionists, despite gaining North Down, lost five other seats.

UK General Election 2001^[26]
			Candidates						Votes
Party		Leader	Stood	Elected	Gained	Unseated	Net	% of total	%	No.	Net %
	Labour	Tony Blair	640	412	2	8	−6	62.5	40.7	10,724,953	−2.5
	Conservative	William Hague	643	166	9	8	+1	25.2	31.6	8,357,615	+1.0
	Liberal Democrats	Charles Kennedy	639	52	8	2	+6	7.9	18.3	4,814,321	+1.5
	SNP	John Swinney	72	5	0	1	−1	0.8	1.8	464,314	−0.2
	UKIP	Jeffrey Titford	428	0	0	0	0	0.0	1.5	390,563	+1.2
	UUP	David Trimble	17	6	1	5	−4	0.9	0.8	216,839	0.0
	Plaid Cymru	Ieuan Wyn Jones	40	4	1	1	0	0.6	0.7	195,893	+0.2
	DUP	Ian Paisley	14	5	3	0	+3	0.8	0.7	181,999	+0.4
	Sinn Féin	Gerry Adams	18	4	2	0	+2	0.6	0.7	175,933	+0.3
	SDLP	John Hume	18	3	0	0	0	0.5	0.6	169,865	0.0
	Green	Margaret Wright and Mike Woodin	145	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.6	166,477	+0.3
	Independent	N/A	137	0	0	1	−1	0.0	0.4	98,917	+0.3
	Scottish Socialist	Tommy Sheridan	72	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.3	72,516	N/A
	Socialist Alliance	N/A	98	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.2	57,553	N/A
	Socialist Labour	Arthur Scargill	114	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.2	57,288	0.0
	BNP	Nick Griffin	33	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.2	47,129	+0.1
	Alliance	Seán Neeson	10	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.1	28,999	−0.1
	Health Concern	Richard Taylor	1	1	1	0	+1	0.2	0.1	28,487	N/A
	Speaker	N/A	1	1	1	0	+1	0.2	0.1	16,053	N/A
	Liberal	Michael Meadowcroft	13	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.1	13,685	0.0
	UK Unionist	Robert McCartney	1	0	0	1	−1	0.0	0.1	13,509	+0.1
	ProLife Alliance	Bruno Quintavalle	37	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	9,453	−0.1
	Legalise Cannabis	Alun Buffry	13	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	8,677	N/A
	People's Justice	Shaukat Ali Khan	3	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	7,443	N/A
	Monster Raving Loony	Howling Laud Hope and Catmando	15	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	6,655	0.0
	PUP	Hugh Smyth	2	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	4,781	0.0
	Mebyon Kernow	Dick Cole	3	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	3,199	0.0
	NI Women's Coalition	Monica McWilliams and Pearl Sagar	1	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	2,968	0.0
	Scottish Unionist	Danny Houston	2	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	2,728	N/A
	Rock 'n' Roll Loony	Chris Driver	7	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	2,634	N/A
	National Front	Tom Holmes	5	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	2,484	0.0
	Workers' Party	Seán Garland	6	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	2,352	0.0
	Neath Port Talbot Ratepayers	Paul Evans	1	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	1,960	N/A
	NI Unionist	Cedric Wilson	6	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	1,794	N/A
	Socialist Alternative	Peter Taaffe	2	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	1,454	0.0
	Reform 2000	Erol Basarik	5	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	1,418	N/A
	Isle of Wight	Philip Murray	1	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	1,164	N/A
	Muslim		4	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	1,150	N/A
	Communist	Robert Griffiths	6	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	1,003	0.0
	New Britain	Dennis Delderfield	1	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	888	0.0
	Free Party	Bob Dobbs	3	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	832	N/A
	Leeds Left Alliance	Mike Davies	1	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	770	N/A
	New Millennium Bean Party	Captain Beany	1	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	727	N/A
	Workers Revolutionary	Sheila Torrance	6	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	607	0.0
	Tatton	Paul Williams	1	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	505	N/A

Government's new majority	165
Total votes cast	26,367,383
Turnout	59.4%

All parties with more than 500 votes shown.

The seat gains reflect changes on the 1997 general election result. Two seats had changed hands in by-elections in the intervening period. These were as follows:

Romsey from Conservative to Liberal Democrats. The Liberal Democrats held this seat in 2001.
South Antrim from Ulster Unionists to Democratic Unionists. The Ulster Unionists won this seat back in 2001.

The results of the election give a Gallagher index of dis-proportionality of 17.74.

Popular vote

Labour			40.7%
Conservative			31.7%
Liberal Democrat			18.3%
Scottish National			1.8%
UK Independence			1.5%
Others			6.1%

Parliamentary seats

Labour			62.7%
Conservative			25.2%
Liberal Democrat			7.9%
Ulster Unionist			0.9%
Scottish National			0.8%
Democratic Unionist			0.8%
Others			1.8%

Results by constituent country

	LAB	CON	LD	SNP	PC	NI parties	Others	Total
England	323	165	40	–	–	–	1	533
Wales	34	–	2	–	4	–	–	40
Scotland	56	1	10	5	–	–	–	72
Northern Ireland	–	–	–	–	–	18	–	18
Total	413	166	52	5	4	18	1	659

Seats changing hands

Seat	1997 election		Constituency result 2001 by party						2001 election
Seat	1997 election		Con	Lab	Lib	PC	SNP	Others	2001 election
Belfast North		UUP								DUP
Carmarthen East and Dinefwr		Labour	4,912	13,540	2,815	16,130		656		Plaid Cymru
Castle Point		Labour	17,738	16,753	3,116			1273		Conservative
Cheadle		Conservative	18,444	6,086	18,477			599		Liberal Democrats
Chesterfield		Labour	3,613	18,663	21,249			437		Liberal Democrats
Dorset Mid and Poole North		Conservative	17,974	6,765	18,358			621		Liberal Democrats
Dorset South		Conservative	18,874	19,027	6,531			913		Labour
Fermanagh and South Tyrone		UUP								Sinn Féin
Galloway and Upper Nithsdale		SNP	12,222	7,258	3,698		12,148	588		Conservative
Guildford		Conservative	19,820	6,558	20,358			736		Liberal Democrats
Isle of Wight		Liberal Democrats	25,223	9,676	22,397			2,106		Conservative
Londonderry East		UUP								DUP
Ludlow		Conservative	16,990	5,785	18,620			871		Liberal Democrats
Newark		Labour	20,983	16,910	5,970					Conservative
Norfolk North		Conservative	23,495	7,490	23,978			649		Liberal Democrats
Norfolk North West		Labour	24,846	21,361	4,292			704		Conservative
North Down		UK Unionist								UUP
Romford		Labour	18,931	12,954	2,869					Conservative
Romsey		Conservative	20,386	3,986	22,756					Liberal Democrats
Strangford		UUP								DUP
Tatton		Independent	19,860	11,249	7,685					Conservative
Taunton		Liberal Democrats	23,033	8,254	22,798			1,140		Conservative
Teignbridge		Conservative	23,332	7,366	26,343					Liberal Democrats
Tyrone West		UUP								Sinn Féin
Upminster		Labour	15,410	14,169	3,183			1,089		Conservative
Wyre Forest		Labour	9,350	10,857				28,487		Independent
Ynys Mon		Plaid Cymru	7,653	11,906	2,772	11,106				Labour

MPs who lost their seats

	Name	Constituency	Year elected	Defeated by
Labour Party	Alan Williams	Carmarthen East and Dinefwr	1987	Adam Price	Plaid Cymru
	Christine Butler	Castle Point	1997	Dr. Bob Spink	Conservative Party
	Fiona Jones	Newark	1997	Colonel Patrick Mercer	Conservative Party
	George Turner	Norfolk North West	1997	Henry Bellingham	Conservative Party
	Eileen Gordon	Romford	1997	Andrew Rosindell	Conservative Party
	Keith Darvill	Upminster	1997	Angela Watkinson	Conservative Party
	David Lock	Wyre Forest	1997	Dr. Richard Taylor	Independent Kidderminster Hospital and Health Concern
Conservative Party	Stephen Day	Cheadle	1987	Patsy Calton	Liberal Democrats
	Christopher Fraser	Mid Dorset and North Poole	1997	Annette Brooke	Liberal Democrats
	Ian Bruce	Dorset South	1987	Jim Knight	Labour Party
	Nick St Aubyn	Guildford	1997	Sue Doughty	Liberal Democrats
	The Hon. David Prior	Norfolk North	1997	Norman Lamb	Liberal Democrats
	Patrick Nicholls	Teignbridge	1983	Richard Younger-Ross	Liberal Democrats
Liberal Democrats	Dr. Peter Brand	Isle of Wight	1997	Andrew Turner	Conservative Party
Liberal Democrats	Jackie Ballard	Taunton	1997	Adrian Flook	Conservative Party
Ulster Unionist Party	Willie Ross	East Londonderry	1974	Gregory Campbell	Democratic Unionist Party
	Cecil Walker	North Belfast	1983	Nigel Dodds	Democratic Unionist Party
	William Thompson	West Tyrone	1997	Pat Doherty	Sinn Féin
Democratic Unionist Party	William McCrea	Antrim South	2000	David Burnside	Ulster Unionist Party
UK Unionist Party	Robert McCartney	North Down	1995	Lady Hermon	Ulster Unionist Party
Independent	Martin Bell	Tatton contesting Brentwood and Ongar	1997	Eric Pickles	Conservative Party

Voter Demographics

MORI interviewed 18,657 adults in Great Britain after the election which suggested the following demographic breakdown...^[27]

The 2001 UK general election vote in Great Britain (in per cent)
Social Group	Lab	Con	Lib Dem	Others	Lead	Turnout
Social Group				Others	Lead	Turnout
Total	42	33	19	6	9	59
Gender
Men	42	32	18	8	10	61
Women	42	33	19	6	9	58
Age
18–24	41	27	24	8	14	39
25–34	51	24	19	6	27	46
35–44	45	28	19	8	17	59
45–54	41	32	20	7	9	65
55–64	37	39	17	7	2	69
65+	39	40	17	4	1	70
Social class
AB	30	39	25	6	9	68
C1	38	36	20	6	2	60
C2	49	29	15	7	20	56
DE	55	24	13	8	31	53
Work status
Full time	43	30	20	7	13	57
Part time	43	29	21	7	14	56
Not working	41	36	18	5	5	63
Unemployed	54	23	11	12	31	44
Self-employed	32	39	18	11	7	60
Housing tenure
Owner	32	43	19	6	11	68
Mortgage	42	31	20	7	11	59
Council/HA	60	18	14	8	42	52
Private rent	40	28	25	7	12	46
Men by age
18–24	38	29	26	7	9	43
25–34	52	24	19	5	28	47
35–54	43	29	19	9	14	64
55+	39	39	16	6	Tie	73
Men by social class
AB	31	38	25	6	7	68
C1	39	36	14	11	3	62
C2	49	28	14	9	21	56
DE	55	23	14	8	32	56
Women by age
18–24	45	24	23	8	21	36
25–34	49	25	19	7	24	46
35–54	43	31	20	6	12	60
55+	38	40	18	4	2	67
Women by social class
AB	28	41	26	5	13	68
C1	37	37	20	6	Tie	59
C2	48	30	17	5	18	56
DE	56	25	13	6	31	50
Readership
Daily Express	33	43	19	5	10	63
Daily Mail	24	55	17	4	31	65
The Mirror	71	11	13	5	58	62
Daily Record	59	8	10	23	36	57
Daily Telegraph	16	65	14	5	49	71
Financial Times	30	48	21	1	18	64
The Guardian	52	6	34	8	18	68
The Independent	38	12	44	6	6	69
Daily Star	56	21	17	6	35	48
The Sun	52	29	11	8	23	50
The Times	28	40	26	6	12	66
No daily paper	45	27	22	6	18	56
Evening Standard	42	29	21	8	13	51
Sunday Readership
News of World	55	27	12	6	28	52
Sunday Express	29	47	20	4	18	67
Sunday Mail	53	14	13	20	33	59
Sunday Mirror	72	16	9	3	56	62
Sunday Post	43	22	18	17	21	64
Sunday Telegraph	17	63	13	7	46	71
Mail on Sunday	25	53	17	5	28	65
The Observer	53	4	34	9	19	71
Sunday People	65	19	13	3	46	60
Sunday Times	29	40	24	7	11	67
Independent on Sunday	47	10	37	6	10	70
No Sunday paper	42	30	22	6	12	55

Notes

^ Does not include the Speaker, Michael Martin, who was included in the Labour totals by some media outlets

References

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^ Parkinson, Justin (3 August 2010). "The rise and fall of New Labour". BBC News. Retrieved 12 May 2015.
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^ "BBC Vote 2001 Coverage". YouTube. 16 March 2019. Archived from the original on 23 November 2021.
^ Overs, Jeff (1 June 2001). "General Election 2001 postal vote ballot paper voting slip". BBC News & Current Affairs. 466659381. Retrieved 1 April 2019 – via Getty Images.
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^ ^a ^b "June election called". BBC News. 8 May 2001. Retrieved 2 December 2024.
^ Harrop, Martin (2001). "An Apathetic Landslide: The British Election of 2001". Government and Opposition. 36 (3). Cambridge University Press: 295–313. doi:10.1111/1477-7053.00067. JSTOR 44484398.
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^ "Sun newspaper front page". Archived from the original on 3 June 2021.
^ "Sun prints Tories' obituary". BBC News Online. London. 7 October 1998. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
^ McElvoy, Anne (7 October 1998). "Hague's parrot is not dead, he's just resting – with the odd squawk". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 1 May 2022. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
^ "Memorable Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat posters from previous election campaigns". The Daily Telegraph. 12 April 2010.
^ "2001: Labour claims second term". BBC News. 5 April 2005.
^ Duncan Watts (2006). British Government and Politics: A Comparative Guide. Edinburgh University. ISBN 978-0-7486-2323-5.
^ "BBC NEWS – VOTE2001 – Ambush upset Blair's day". 16 May 2001.
^ "BBC NEWS – VOTE2001 – Cancer patient's partner confronts Blair". 17 May 2001.
^ "2001: Prescott punches protester". BBC On This Day. 16 May 2001. Retrieved 6 May 2021.
^ "The politics of UK newspapers". 30 September 2009 – via news.bbc.co.uk.
^ ^a ^b Chu, Ben (7 June 2001). "Final verdicts of the editorials". The Independent. p. 19.
^ ^a ^b Stoddard, Katy (4 May 2010). "Newspaper support in UK general elections". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 12 November 2023.
^ "The poll that never was". BBC News. 11 June 2001.
^ "Labour romps home again". BBC News. 8 June 2001.
^ Morgan, Bryn (18 June 2001). "General Election Results, 7 June 2001 [Revised Edition]" (PDF). Research Paper 01/54. House of Commons Library. p. 11. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
^ "How Britain Voted in 2001". Ipsos. 20 July 2001.

Bibliography

Butler, David and Dennis Kavanagh. The British General Election of 2001 (2002), the standard scholarly study
Morgan, Bryn (18 June 2001). "General Election Results, 7 June 2001 [Revised Edition]" (PDF). Research Paper 01/54. House of Commons Library.

External links

BBC News: Vote 2001 – in depth coverage.
Catalogue of 2001 general election ephemera at the Archives Division of the London School of Economics.

[1] Does not include the Speaker, Michael Martin, who was included in the Labour totals by some media outlets

[2] "Turnout 'at 80-year low'". BBC. 8 June 2001. Retrieved 7 December 2022.

[3] Parkinson, Justin (3 August 2010). "The rise and fall of New Labour". BBC News. Retrieved 12 May 2015.

[4] Audickas, Lukas; Cracknell, Richard (13 December 2018). "UK Election Statistics: 1918–2018: 100 Years of Elections" (PDF). Briefing Paper Number CBP7529. House of Commons Library. p. 25. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 October 2022. Retrieved 1 April 2019.

[5] "BBC Vote 2001 Coverage". YouTube. 16 March 2019. Archived from the original on 23 November 2021.

[6] Overs, Jeff (1 June 2001). "General Election 2001 postal vote ballot paper voting slip". BBC News & Current Affairs. 466659381. Retrieved 1 April 2019 – via Getty Images.

[7] "Tories 'to cut fuel duty'". BBC News. 10 May 2001. Retrieved 26 October 2015.

[8] "2001: Labour claims second term". BBC News. 5 April 2005. Retrieved 26 May 2010.

[9] "Blair confirms election delay". BBC News. 2 April 2001. Retrieved 2 December 2024.

[:0-10] "June election called". BBC News. 8 May 2001. Retrieved 2 December 2024.

[11] Harrop, Martin (2001). "An Apathetic Landslide: The British Election of 2001". Government and Opposition. 36 (3). Cambridge University Press: 295–313. doi:10.1111/1477-7053.00067. JSTOR 44484398.

[12] "'Get out and vote. Or they get in.' – Election 2001". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 20 April 2017.

[13] "Sun newspaper front page". Archived from the original on 3 June 2021.

[14] "Sun prints Tories' obituary". BBC News Online. London. 7 October 1998. Retrieved 1 April 2019.

[15] McElvoy, Anne (7 October 1998). "Hague's parrot is not dead, he's just resting – with the odd squawk". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 1 May 2022. Retrieved 1 April 2019.

[16] "Memorable Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat posters from previous election campaigns". The Daily Telegraph. 12 April 2010.

[17] "2001: Labour claims second term". BBC News. 5 April 2005.

[18] Duncan Watts (2006). British Government and Politics: A Comparative Guide. Edinburgh University. ISBN 978-0-7486-2323-5.

[19] "BBC NEWS – VOTE2001 – Ambush upset Blair's day". 16 May 2001.

[20] "BBC NEWS – VOTE2001 – Cancer patient's partner confronts Blair". 17 May 2001.

[21] "2001: Prescott punches protester". BBC On This Day. 16 May 2001. Retrieved 6 May 2021.

[22] "The politics of UK newspapers". 30 September 2009 – via news.bbc.co.uk.

[Chu-23] Chu, Ben (7 June 2001). "Final verdicts of the editorials". The Independent. p. 19.

[databacking-24] Stoddard, Katy (4 May 2010). "Newspaper support in UK general elections". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 12 November 2023.

[25] "The poll that never was". BBC News. 11 June 2001.

[26] "Labour romps home again". BBC News. 8 June 2001.

[27] Morgan, Bryn (18 June 2001). "General Election Results, 7 June 2001 [Revised Edition]" (PDF). Research Paper 01/54. House of Commons Library. p. 11. Retrieved 1 April 2019.

[28] "How Britain Voted in 2001". Ipsos. 20 July 2001.

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v t e 2001 United Kingdom general election
MPs elected Northern Ireland Scotland Wales Opinion polling
Incumbent prime minister: Tony Blair (Labour) Appointed prime minister: Tony Blair (Labour Party)
Parties elected to the House of Commons	Labour (Tony Blair) Conservative (William Hague) Liberal Democrats (Charles Kennedy) Ulster Unionist Party (David Trimble) Scottish National Party (Alex Salmond) Democratic Unionist Party (Ian Paisley) Plaid Cymru (Ieuan Wyn Jones) Sinn Féin (Gerry Adams) Social Democratic and Labour Party (John Hume) Independent Kidderminster Hospital and Health Concern (Richard Taylor)
Results by area	England Northern Ireland Scotland Wales
See also	2001 United Kingdom foot-and-mouth outbreak Friends, Voters, Countrymen Prescott punch
2001 United Kingdom local elections

v t e Elections and referendums in the United Kingdom
General elections	1802 1806 1807 1812 1818 1820 1826 1830 1831 1832 1835 1837 1841 1847 1852 1857 1859 1865 1868 1874 1880 1885 1886 1892 1895 1900 1906 1910 (Jan) 1910 (Dec) 1918 1922 1923 1924 1929 1931 1935 1945 1950 1951 1955 1959 1964 1966 1970 1974 (Feb) 1974 (Oct) 1979 1983 1987 1992 1997 2001 2005 2010 2015 2017 2019 2024 Next
Local elections	1889 1890 1892 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
European elections	1979 1984 1989 1994 1999 2004 2009 2014 2019
Referendums	1975 2011 2016
See also Elections in England Northern Ireland Scotland Wales Great Britain

v t e Tony Blair
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1997–2007) Leader of the Labour Party (1994–2007) Leader of the Opposition (1994–1997) MP for Sedgefield (1983–2007)
Politics	New Labour, New Life for Britain Premiership Blair ministry First, 1997–2001 Second, 2001–2005 Third, 2005–2007 Blair–Brown deal Electoral history Shadow Cabinet of Tony Blair 1999 British cabinet reshuffle Bush–Blair 2003 Iraq memo 2006 cabinet reshuffle
Ideology	Blairism New Labour Third Way
General elections	1997 2001 2005
Party election	1994
Shadow Cabinet elections	1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993
Post-premiership	2007 Sedgefield by-election Tony Blair Institute for Global Change Quartet on the Middle East Africa Progress Panel Tony Blair Faith Foundation Commission for Africa
Books	A Journey
Related topics	Ugly Rumours Respect agenda Blatcherism Cool Britannia Blair Babes Tony's Cronies Iraq Inquiry People's princess Hand of history Tonibler
Family	Cherie Blair (wife) Euan Blair (son) Leo Blair (father) Nicky Blair (son) William Blair (brother)
← John Major Gordon Brown → Category

v t e William Hague
Politics	Shadow Cabinet Richmond (Yorks) 1989 by-election
Ideology	Compassionate conservatism
General election	2001
Party election	1997
Local elections	1998 1999 2000 2001
European elections	1999

v t e New Labour
Key figures	Tony Blair Gordon Brown Peter Mandelson Alastair Campbell John Prescott Anthony Giddens Anthony Crosland Philip Gould David Sainsbury
Political ethos	Blairism Third Way Blatcherism Brownism
General elections	1997 2001 2005 2010 Post-election events
Leadership elections	1994 2007 2010
Government	Premiership of Tony Blair Blair I Blair II Blair III Chancellorship of Gordon Brown Premiership of Gordon Brown Brown
Publications	The Future of Socialism A Journey The Third Man The Blair Years The Purple Book
Funders	Michael Levy Trevor Chinn Alexander Bernstein Robert Gavron David Garrard
Related	One more heave Labour Co-ordinating Committee Blair–Brown deal Clause Four moment New Labour, New Life for Britain New Labour, New Danger "Things Can Only Get Better" "Tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime" Progress Blair Babe Tony's Cronies Cash for Honours Future Britain Group Neoconservatism Labour Party (UK)
Category