Chamber:
	House of Commons
Dates of elections / renewal (from/to):
	7 June 2001
Purpose of elections:
	Elections were held for all the seats in the House of Commons after the dissolution of Parliament in May 2001. General elections had previously been held in May 1997.
Background and outcome of elections:
	Prime Minister Tony Blair called national elections for 7 June 2001, together with local elections in England and Northern Ireland, almost a year before the Labour Party would have been obliged to face the voters. The local elections had been initially scheduled for 3 May 2001, but were postponed because of the outbreak of the foot-and-mouth disease. It was widely expected that national elections would also be called for that date. This was the first time since the Second World War that the British government decided to postpone elections. A centralised Electoral Commission had been established in November 2000 by the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act. This independent body reports directly to Parliament rather than to a Government ministry. Its key responsibilities include registration of parties for European, national, or local level elections; monitoring of contributions or donations to political parties as well as campaign spending limits for parties; and the conduct of referenda. On 14 May 2001, Parliament was officially dissolved by proclamation of Queen Elizabeth II and 3,319 candidates registered to contest the 659 seats in the House of Commons. Issues during the electoral campaign included the Euro and whether Britain should sign up for this single European currency. Another major problem raised during the campaign was the foot-and-mouth epidemic. The traditional themes were also present during the campaign as the Labour Party assured voters that their priorities included the improvement of the schools, hospitals and other public services while the Tories offered tax cuts. Even though Prime Minister Tony Blair fought hard against apathy in the last days of the electoral campaign, the turnout was the lowest since World War I, with only 59 per cent of the forty four million voters casting their votes. The Labour Party won 412 seats, enough for a ruling majority in the House of Commons, against 166 for the Conservative Party and 52 for the Liberal Democrat Party. With this victory, Mr Tony Blair became the first Labour Prime Minister to win a second full term in nearly fifty years. The opposition conservative leader, Mr William Hague, announced his intention to step down after the results were announced. On 13 June 2001, Mr Michael Martin was re-elected as Speaker of the House of Commons.

STATISTICS

Round no 1 (7 June 2001): Elections results
Number of registered electors	44 403 238
Voters	26 365 192 (59 %)
Blank or invalid ballot papers	100 005
Valid votes	26 368 798

Round no 1: Distribution of votes
Political Group	Candidates	Votes	%
Labour Party	640	10 724 895	40.70
Conservative Party	643	8 357 622	31.70
Liberal Democrats	639	4 812 833	18.30
Ulster Unionist Party	17	216 839	0.80
Scottish National Party	72	464 305	1.80
Democratic Unionist Party	14	181 999	0.70
Plaid Cymru	40	195 892	0.70
Sinn Fein	18	175 933	0.70
Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP)	13	169 865	0.60
Independents	1	28 487	0.10
The Speaker	1	16 053	0.10

Round no 1: Distribution of seats
Political Group	Total
Labour Party	412
Conservative Party	166
Liberal Democrats	52
Ulster Unionist Party	6
Scottish National Party	5
Democratic Unionist Party	5
Plaid Cymru	4
Sinn Fein	4
Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP)	3
Independents	1
The Speaker	1

Distribution of seats according to sex:
Men:	541
Women:	118
Percent of women:	17.91 %

Distribution of seats according to age:
21 to 30 years	4
31 to 40 years	80
41 to 50 years	235
51 to 60 years	247
61 to 70 years	83
Over 70 years	10
Distribution of seats according to profession:
Business/Trade/Industry	130
Teachers	91
Legal professions	78
Political officers	50
Manual workers	48
Social workers	45
Journalists/writers/publishers	43
University Professors	40
Trade Unionists	37
Civil servants	24
Medical professions	16
Accountants	9
Architects	9
Farmers	8
Military	8
Engineers	7
Private sector employees	7
Scientists	7
Housewives	2