2019 United Kingdom general election
The 2019 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 12 December 2019 with 47,074,800 registered voters[3] entitled to vote to elect members of the House of Commons. The Conservative Party won a landslide victory with a majority of 80 seats,[n 5] a net gain of 48, on 43.6% of the popular vote, the highest percentage for any party since the 1979 general election.[4]
All 650 seats in the House of Commons
326[n 1] seats needed for a majority
Having failed to obtain a majority at the 2017 general election, the Conservative Party governed in minority with the support of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). This led to the resignation of Prime Minister Theresa May, with Boris Johnson becoming Conservative leader and Prime Minister in July 2019. Johnson could not persuade Parliament to approve a revised Brexit withdrawal agreement by the end of October, and chose to call a snap election, which the House of Commons supported under the Early Parliamentary General Election Act 2019.[5] Opinion polls showed a firm lead for the Conservatives against the opposition Labour Party throughout the campaign.[6]
The Conservatives won 365 seats, their highest number and proportion since 1987, and recorded their highest share of the popular vote since 1979; many of their gains were made in long-held Labour seats, dubbed the red wall, which had voted strongly for Leave in the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum. Labour won 202 seats, its lowest number and proportion since 1935.[7][8][9] The Scottish National Party (SNP) made a net gain of 13 seats with 45% of the vote in Scotland, winning 48 of the 59 seats there.[10] The Liberal Democrats improved their vote share to 11.6% but won only 11 seats, a net loss of one since the last election.[11] The DUP won a plurality of seats in Northern Ireland. The Social Democratic and Labour Party and the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland regained parliamentary representation as the DUP lost seats.
The election result gave Johnson the mandate he sought from the electorate to formally implement the Exit Day of the Withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union on 31 January 2020 and repeal the European Communities Act 1972, thereby ending hopes of the Remain movement and those opposed to Brexit. Labour's defeat led to Jeremy Corbyn announcing his intention to resign, triggering a leadership election that was won by Keir Starmer.[9][12] For the Liberal Democrats leader Jo Swinson, the loss of her constituency seat in East Dunbartonshire disqualified her as party leader under the party's rules, triggering a leadership election,[11] which was won by Ed Davey.[13] Jane Dodds, the party's leader in Wales, was also unseated in Brecon and Radnorshire.[14] In Northern Ireland, Irish nationalist MPs outnumbered unionists for the first time, although the unionist popular vote remained higher at 43.1%, and the seven Sinn Féin MPs did not take their seats due to their tradition of abstentionism.
This was the eighteenth and final general election to be held during the reign of Elizabeth II, as she died three years later and was succeeded by her son, Charles III.
Religious groups' opinions on the parties[edit]
Ethnic minority and religious leaders and organisations made statements about the general election. Leaders of the Church of England stated people had a "democratic duty to vote", that they should "leave their echo chambers", and "issues need to be debated respectfully, and without resorting to personal abuse".[275]
Antisemitism in the Labour Party was persistently covered in the media in the lead up to the election. In his leader's interview with Jeremy Corbyn, Andrew Neil dedicated the first third of the 30-minute programme entirely to discussion of Labour's relationship with the Jewish community.[276] This interview drew attention as Corbyn refused to apologise for antisemitism in the Labour Party, despite having done so on previous occasions.[277] The British chief rabbi Ephraim Mirvis made an unprecedented intervention in politics, warning that antisemitism was a "poison sanctioned from the top" of the Labour Party, and saying that British Jews were gripped by anxiety about the prospect of a Corbyn-led government.[278] Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Muslim Council of Britain and the Hindu Council UK supported Mirvis's intervention, if not entirely endorsing it.[279][280] The Jewish Labour Movement said they would not be actively campaigning for Labour except for exceptional candidates.[281] The pro-Corbyn Morning Star reported that Jewish Voice for Labour and the Jewish Socialist Group said that Mirvis did not represent all Jews, with some people within the religious groups being keen to express that no one person or organisation represents the views of all the members of the faith.[282]
The Catholic Church in the United Kingdom urged voters to respect the right to life, opposing abortion, euthanasia, and assisted suicide, along with a peaceful solution to Brexit, support the poor, care for the homeless, and attention to human rights.[283] The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) spokesman stated that Islamophobia "is particularly acute in the Conservative Party" and that Conservatives treat it "with denial, dismissal and deceit".[284] In addition they released a 72-page document, outlining what they assess are the key issues from a British Muslim perspective. The MCB specifically criticised those who "seek to stigmatise and undermine Muslims"; for example, by implying that Pakistanis ("often used as a proxy for Muslims") vote "en bloc as directed by Imams".[285] The Sunday Mirror stated that many of the candidates campaigning for the Brexit Party were Islamophobic.[286]
The Times of India reported that supporters of Narendra Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) were actively campaigning for the Conservatives in 48 marginal seats,[287] and the Today programme reported that it had seen WhatsApp messages sent to Hindus across the country urging them to vote Conservative.[288][289] Some British Indians spoke out against what they saw as the BJP's meddling in the election.[290] The Hindu Council UK was strongly critical of Labour, going as far as to say that Labour is "anti-Hindu",[291] and objected to the party's condemnation of the Indian government's actions resulting in the revocation of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir.[289] The perceived Labour parachute candidate for Leicester East saw many British Indians disappointed many with Indian heritage;[292] specifically, no candidates of Indian descent were interviewed. The party selected or re-selected one candidate of Indian descent among its 39 safest seats.[293]