2001 United Kingdom general election in Wales
← 1997 7 June 2001 2005 →
All 40 Welsh seats to the House of Commons
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Tony Blair Ieuan Wyn Jones Charles Kennedy
Party Labour Plaid Cymru Liberal Democrats
Leader since 21 July 1994 3 August 2000 9 August 1999
Last election 34 seats, 54.7% 4 seats, 10.0% 2 seats, 12.4%
Seats won 34 4 2
Seat change Steady Steady Steady
Popular vote 666,956 195,893 189,254
Percentage 48.6% 14.3% 13.8%
Swing Decrease6.2% Increase4.3% Increase1.5%

These are the results of the 2001 United Kingdom general election in Wales. The election was held on 7 June 2001 and all 40 seats in Wales were contested. The overall result remained exactly the same as in the previous election in 1997, with only two changes - Labour gained Ynys Môn from Plaid Cymru and Plaid gained Carmarthen East and Dinefwr from Labour. The Conservatives, despite taking the second largest number of votes in Wales, once again won no seats; this was only the second election since 1918 to leave them with no representation in Wales.

Results

Below is a table summarising the results of the 2001 general election in Wales.[1]

Party[2] Seats Votes
Total Gains Losses Net +/- % seats Total votes % votes Change
Labour 34 1 1 Steady 85.0 666,956 48.6 Decrease6.2
Conservative 0 0 0 Steady — 288,623 21.0 Increase1.5
Plaid Cymru 4 1 1 Steady 10.0 195,893 14.3 Increase4.3
Liberal Democrats 2 0 0 Steady 5.0 189,254 13.8 Increase1.5
UKIP 0 0 0 Steady — 12,552 0.9 Increase0.9
Green 0 0 0 Steady — 3,753 0.3 Increase0.2
Socialist Labour 0 0 0 Steady — 2,805 0.2 Decrease0.2
Socialist Alliance 0 0 0 Steady — 2,258 0.2 N/A
ProLife Alliance 0 0 0 Steady — 1,609 0.1 Increase0.1
Communist 0 0 0 Steady — 384 0.0 Steady
BNP 0 0 0 Steady — 278 0.0 N/A
Other parties 0 0 0 Steady — 7,959 0.6 N/A

Outcome and changes

A BBC report of the election in Wales stated that "Despite a night of high tension the political map in Wales virtually looks the same as before".[3] The only seats to change hands were Carmarthen East and Dinefwr which Adam Price of Plaid Cymru gained from Labour and Ynys Môn which Labour gained from Plaid Cymru. Plaid failed to gain Rhondda which Chris Bryant held for Labour with a majority of over 16,000, a result the BBC said meant that Bryant had "confounded his critics".[3] Bryant, a former curate who had once been a member of the Conservatives had been criticised as being an odd fit and "too exotic" for traditional Labour supporters in the constituency which he was contesting for the first time. This had led Plaid Cymru to feel they had a chance of a victory, a feet they had surprisingly achieved in the equivalent constituency at the 1999 National Assembly for Wales election. Plaid's candidate Leanne Wood had publicly claimed she would win 53% of the vote.[4]

The Conservatives again failed to win any seat in Wales, with their best result being in Monmouth where they finished just 384 votes behind Labour.[3] The Liberal Democrats failed to add to their two seats, with Jenny Willott reducing Labour's majority in Cardiff Central to just 659 votes.[5]

References

  1. ^ "Election 2001 | Wales". BBC News. 14 August 2001. Retrieved 4 November 2011.
  2. ^ "Research Paper 01/54: General election results 7 June 2001". House of Commons Library. 12 June 2001. Archived (PDF) from the original on 7 May 2021. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
  3. ^ a b c "Few poll surprises for Wales". BBC News Vote 2001. BBC. 8 June 2001. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
  4. ^ "Labour faithful welcome 'exotic' MP". BBC News Vote 2001. BBC. 8 June 2001. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
  5. ^ "Plaid gain after Anglesey blow". BBC News Vote 2001. BBC. 8 June 2001. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
Categories