This blog post provides a summary of the outgoing Parliament including insight into the gender, age, ethnicity and educational backgrounds of the Members of Parliament (MPs) elected at the 2019 general election.
2019 General Election
The 58th parliament was elected on Thursday 12 December, with a turnout of 67.3% - this was a small 1.5% decrease from the previous election in 2017 (68.8%).
The result was a Conservative victory, with the party winning 365 seats, and 42.3% of the vote. The Conservatives saw a gain of 48 seats despite only a 1.3% vote increase. The Labour party in contrast lost 60 seats in the 2019 General Election and 7.9% of the vote.
The Conservative and Labour share of the vote in 2019 was 76%, down from 82.4% in 2017.
|
Party
|
2019
|
2024
|
Change
|
|
Conservative
|
365
|
344
|
-21
|
|
Labour
|
202
|
205
|
+3
|
|
SNP
|
48
|
43
|
-5
|
|
Liberal Democrat
|
11
|
15
|
+4
|
|
DUP
|
8
|
8
|
-1
|
|
Sinn Féin *
|
7
|
7
|
0
|
|
Plaid Cymru
|
4
|
3
|
-1
|
|
Green
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
|
Other/Independents
|
4
|
24
|
+21
|
*Sinn Féin hold seats but do not attend Parliament and abstain from votes.
Composition
The 2019 election saw a Conservative majority and, despite the decline in Conservative seats by 21 over the 5 years, the majority was retained.
Characteristics
Gender
In 2019 there were 220 Female MPs elected (34% of all MPs). Following By-Elections, this figure rose to 226 Female MPs (35%), and the 423 male MPs.
- Of these, 51% of Labour MPs were women, 24% of Conservative, 33% SNP and 64% Liberal Democrats MPs.
|
Party
|
Number of Female MPs
|
Percentage of Female MPs
|
|
Conservative
|
87
|
23.8%
|
|
Labour
|
104
|
51.5%
|
|
SNP
|
16
|
33.3%
|
|
Lib Dem
|
7
|
63.6%
|
|
Green Party
|
1
|
100%
|
|
DUP
|
1
|
12.5%
|
|
Plaid Cymru
|
1
|
25%
|
|
Sinn Fein
|
2
|
28.6%
|
|
SDLP
|
1
|
50%
|
Age
The average age of an MP elected at the 2019 election was 51. Only 3.2% (21) of MPs elected were under 29. 77.2% (502) MPs were over 40. The number of MPs aged over 70 decreased from the previous year by 25% to 21 MPs.
Ethnicity
In 2019, 66 MPs elected were non-white; 23 conservatives, 41 labour, and 2 Lib Dems. This meant 1 in 10 MPs were non-white, compared to 1 in 40 ten years ago.
New MPs
2019 saw 140 newly elected MPs, 54% were first elected in 2015 or later, and 74% had been elected in 2010 or later.
Education Background
29% of MPs were privately educated, in comparison to 7% of the UK population. 88% were graduates, 21% obtaining a degree from Oxbridge (only 1% of the population do), and 33% went to a different Russell Group University (10% of the population does).
LGBTQ
46 openly LGBT MPs were elected in 2019 – prior to the election however, 7 LGBT MPs had stood down, and another 3 lost their seats.
Influencing factors on votes:
Brexit
57% of voters said Brexit was in their top 3 important issues influencing their vote.
In 2019 we saw 58 seats become Conservative, and all but 3 had voted Leave in the 2016 EU Referendum.
- There is an indication that constituencies who voted Leave were more likely to have voted Conservative in 2019 – 72% of the Leave seats were won by Conservatives, and the 10 constituencies they lost had voted Remain.
Age
Age was a key demographic: Labour had a 43-point lead amongst 18–24-year-olds who had a turnout of 47%, while Conservatives had a 47-point lead amongst those over 66 whose turnout was larger at 66%.
By-elections
Since the 2019 general election there have been 23 by-elections.
|
Constituency
|
Reason for by-election
|
Date of by-election
|
New Member
|
|
Blackpool South
|
Resignation of Scott Benton, 25 March 2024
|
2 May 2024
|
Chris Webb (Labour gain)
|
|
Rochdale
|
Death of Tony Lloyd, 17 January 2024
|
29 February 2024
|
George Galloway(Workers Party of Britain gain)
|
|
Kingswood
|
Resignation of Christopher Skidmore, 8 January 2024
|
15 February 2024
|
Damien Egan (Labour gain)
|
|
Wellingborough
|
Successful recall petition against Peter Bone, closed 19 December 2023
|
15 February 2024
|
Gen Kitchen (Labour gain)
|
|
Tamworth
|
Resignation of Christopher Pincher, 7 September 2023
|
19 October 2023
|
Sarah Edwards (Labour gain)
|
|
Mid Bedfordshire
|
Resignation of Rt Hon Nadine Dorries, 29 August 2023
|
19 October 2023
|
Alistair Strathern (Labour gain)
|
|
Rutherglen and Hamilton West
|
Successful recall petition against Margaret Ferrier, closed 31 July 2023
|
5 October 2023
|
Michael Shanks (Labour gain)
|
|
Somerton and Frome
|
Resignation of David Warburton, 19 June 2023
|
20 July 2023
|
Sarah Dyke(Liberal Democrats gain)
|
|
Selby and Ainsty
|
Resignation of Nigel Adams, 12 June 2023
|
20 July 2023
|
Keir Mather(Labour gain)
|
|
Uxbridge and South Ruislip
|
Resignation of Rt Hon Boris Johnson, 12 June 2023
|
20 July 2023
|
Steve Tuckwell(Conservative hold)
|
|
West Lancashire
|
Resignation of Rosie Cooper, 30 November 2022
|
9 February 2023
|
Ashley Dalton(Labour hold)
|
|
Stretford and Urmston
|
Resignation of Kate Green, 10 November 2022
|
15 December 2022
|
Andrew Western (Labour hold)
|
|
City of Chester
|
Resignation of Christian Matheson, 21 October 2022
|
1 December 2022
|
Samantha Dixon (Labour hold)
|
|
Tiverton and Honiton
|
Resignation of Neil Parish, 4 May 2022
|
23 June 2022
|
Richard Foord (Liberal Democrats gain)
|
|
Wakefield
|
Resignation of Imran Ahmad Khan, 3 May 2022
|
23 June 2022
|
Simon Lightwood (Labour gain)
|
|
Birmingham, Erdington
|
Death of Jack Dromey, 7 January 2022
|
3 March 2022
|
Paulette Hamilton (Labour hold)
|
|
Southend West
|
Death of Sir David Amess, 15 October 2021
|
3 February 2022
|
Anna Firth (Conservative hold)
|
|
North Shropshire
|
Resignation of Rt Hon Owen Paterson, 5 November 2021
|
16 December 2021
|
Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrats gain)
|
|
Old Bexley and Sidcup
|
Death of James Brokenshire, 7 October 2021
|
2 December 2021
|
Louie French (Conservative hold)
|
|
Batley and Spen
|
Resignation of Tracy Brabin, 13 May 2021
|
1 July 2021
|
Kim Leadbeater (Labour hold)
|
|
Chesham and Amersham
|
Death of Dame Cheryl Gillan, 4 April 2021
|
17 June 2021
|
Sarah Green (Liberal Democrats gain)
|
|
Airdrie and Shotts
|
Resignation of Neil Gray, 24 March 2021
|
13 May 2021
|
Anum Qaisar-Javed (SNP hold)
|
|
Hartlepool
|
Resignation of Mike Hill, 16 March 2021
|
6 May 2021
|
Jill Mortimer (Conservative gain)
|
Summary
The 2019 saw a majority Conservative government. This 58 Parliament witnessed the largest number of by-elections since the 1987 parliament. Despite this, the Conservative majority was retained, and the last five years has seen the House of Commons dominated by the Conservative Party.th
Sources:
https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-8749/CBP-8749.pdf
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2019-50808536
https://www.electoral-reform.org.uk/latest-news-and-research/publications/the-2019-general-election-voters-left-voiceless/#sub-section-17
https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn02383/
https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/house-of-commons-trends-the-age-of-mps/