South West England (European Parliament constituency)

South West was a combined constituency region of the European Parliament, comprising the South West of England and Gibraltar. Seven, later six, Members of the European Parliament using closed party-list proportional representation allocated using the D'Hondt method of distribution were elected. The constituency was abolished when Britain left the European Union on 31 January 2020.

South West
European Parliament constituency
Location among the 2014 constituencies
Shown in England, Gibraltar inset
Member state	United Kingdom
Electorate	3,998,479[1]
Created	1999
Dissolved	31 January 2020
MEPs	7 (1999–2009) 6 (2009–2020)
Sources
EuroParl 2004 Election - EuroParl

Boundaries

The constituency consisted of the South West England region of the United Kingdom, comprising the ceremonial counties of Bristol, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Somerset and Wiltshire. It also included the British overseas territory of Gibraltar from 2004.

History

The constituency was formed as a result of the European Parliamentary Elections Act 1999, replacing a number of single-member constituencies. These were Bristol, Cornwall and West Plymouth, Devon and East Plymouth, Dorset and East Devon, Somerset and North Devon, Wiltshire North and Bath, and parts of Cotswolds.

Before the 2004 election, it was expanded to include Gibraltar. This was the result of a 1999 European Court of Human Rights case, which argued that Gibraltar should be entitled to vote in European elections. Spain took a complaint about non-EU Commonwealth citizens resident in Gibraltar participating in European elections to the European Court of Justice, but their case was unsuccessful.^[2]

The number of seats was reduced from seven to six for the 2009 election.^[3]

MEPs for former South West England constituencies, 1979 – 1999
Election		1979 – 1984		1984 – 1989		1989 – 1994		1994 – 1999
Bristol		Richard Cottrell Conservative				Ian White Labour
Cornwall and Plymouth (1979–1994) Cornwall and West Plymouth (1994–1999)		David Harris Conservative		Christopher Beazley Conservative				Robin Teverson Liberal Democrat
Cotswolds		Lord Plumb Conservative
Devon (1979–1994) Devon and East Plymouth (1994–1999)		Lord O'Hagan Conservative						Giles Chichester Conservative
Somerset (1979–1984) Somerset and Dorset West (1984–1994) Somerset and North Devon (1994–1999)		Frederick Warner Conservative		Margaret Daly Conservative				Graham Watson Liberal Democrat
Upper Thames (1979–1984) Wiltshire (1984–1994) Wiltshire North and Bath (1994–1999)		Robert Jackson Conservative		Caroline Jackson Conservative
Wessex (1979–1984) Dorset East and Hampshire West (1984–1994) Dorset and East Devon (1994–1999)		James Spicer Conservative		Bryan Cassidy Conservative

Returned members

MEPs for South West England, 1999 onwards
Election		1999 (5th parliament)				2004 (6th parliament)				2009 (7th parliament)		2014 (8th parliament)		2019 (9th parliament)
MEP Party		Michael Holmes[4] UKIP (1999–2000) Independent (2000–02)		Graham Booth[5] UKIP				Trevor Colman[6] UKIP				Julia Reid UKIP (2014–18) Independent (2018–19) Brexit Party		Ann Widdecombe Brexit Party
MEP Party		2nd Earl of Stockton Conservative				Roger Knapman UKIP				10th Earl of Dartmouth UKIP (2009–18) Independent (2018–19)				James Glancy Brexit Party
MEP Party		Caroline Jackson Conservative								Ashley Fox Conservative				Christina Jordan Brexit Party
MEP Party		Neil Parish Conservative								Julie Girling Conservative (2009–17) Independent (2017–19) Change UK (2019) Renew				Caroline Voaden Liberal Democrat
MEP Party		Giles Chichester Conservative										Clare Moody Labour		Martin Horwood Liberal Democrat
MEP Party		Graham Watson Liberal Democrat										Molly Scott Cato Green
MEP Party		Glyn Ford Labour GSLP							Seat abolished

Election results

2019 results

2014 results

2009 results

See also: 2004 European Parliament election in Gibraltar and 2009 European Parliament election in Gibraltar

Elected candidates are shown in bold. Brackets indicate the order in which candidates were elected and number of votes per seat won in their respective columns.

European Election 2019: South West England[7]
List		Candidates	Votes	Of total (%)	± from prev.
	Brexit Party	Ann Widdecombe (1) James Glancy (3) Christina Jordan (5) Ann Tarr, Roger Lane-Nott, Nicola Darke	611,742 (203,914)	36.84	New
	Liberal Democrats	Caroline Voaden (2) Martin Horwood (6) Stephen Williams, Eleanor Rylance, David Chalmers, Luke Stagnetto	385,095 (192,547.5)	23.19	+12.49
	Green	Molly Scott Cato (4) Cleo Lake, Carla Denyer, Tom Scott, Martin Dimery, Karen La Borde	302,364	18.21	+7.11
	Conservative	Ashley Fox, James Mustoe, Faye Purbrick, Claire Hiscott, James Taghdissian, Emmline Owens	144,674	8.71	–20.19
	Labour	Clare Moody, Andrew Adonis, Jayne Kirkham, Neil Guild, Yvonne Atkinson, Sadik Al-Hassan	108,100	6.51	–7.24
	UKIP	Lawrence Webb, Carl Benjamin, Anthony McIntyre, Lester Taylor, Stephen Lee, Alison Sheridan	53,739	3.24	–29.05
	Change UK	Rachel Johnson, Jim Godfrey, Oliver Middleton, Matthew Hooberman, Elizabeth-Anne Sewell, Crispin Hunt	46,612	2.81	New
	English Democrat	Jenny Knight, Michael Blundell	8,393	0.51	–0.49
	Independent	Neville Seed	3,383	0.20	New
	Independent	Larch Maxey	1,722	0.10	New
	Independent	Mothiur Rahman	755	0.04	New
Turnout			1,676,173	40.45	+3.45

European Election 2014: South West England[8]
List		Candidates	Votes	Of total (%)	± from prev.
	UKIP	William Dartmouth, Julia Reid, Gawain Towler, Tony McIntyre, Robert Smith, Keith Crawford	484,184 (242,092)	32.29	+10.2
	Conservative	Ashley Fox, Julie Girling, James Cracknell, Georgina Butler, Sophia Swire, Melisa Maynard	433,151 (216,575.5)	28.9	−1.36
	Labour	Clare Moody, Glyn Ford, Ann Reeder, Hadleigh Roberts, Jude Robinson, Junab Ali	206,124	13.75	+6.1
	Green	Molly Scott Cato, Emily McIvor, Ricky Knight, Audaye Elesedy, Judy Maciejowska, Mark Chivers	166,447	11.1	+1.8
	Liberal Democrats	Graham Watson, Kay Barnard, Brian Mathew, Andrew Wigley, Jay Risbridger, Lyana Armstrong-Emery[9]	160,376	10.7	−6.5
	An Independence from Europe	David Smith, Helen Webster, Mike Camp, Andrew Edwards, Phil Dunn, John Taverner	23,169	1.6	New
	English Democrat	Alan England, Mike Blundell, Clive Lavelle, Barbara Wright, Stephen Wright, Raymond Carr	15,081	1.0	−0.6
	BNP	Adrian Rommilly, Cliff Jones, Arnold Brindle, Wayne Tomlinson, Andrew Webster, Giuseppe De Santis	10,910	0.7	−3.2
Turnout			1,503,174	37.0	−1.8

European election 2009: South West England[1]
List		Candidates	Votes	Of total (%)	± from prev.
	Conservative	Giles Chichester, Julie Girling, Ashley Fox Mike Dolley, Don Collier, Zehra Zaidi	468,742 (156,247.3)	30.2	−1.4
	UKIP	Trevor Colman, William Dartmouth Gawain Towler, Julia Reid, Alan Wood, Stephanie McWilliam	341,845 (170,922.5)	22.1	−0.5
	Liberal Democrats	Graham Watson Kay Barnard, Justine McGuinness, Humphrey Temperley, Paul Massey, Jonathan Stagnetto	266,253	17.2	−1.1
	Green	Ricky Knight, Roger Creagh-Osborne, Molly Scott Cato, Richard Lawson, Chloë Somers, David Taylor	144,179	9.3	+2.1
	Labour	Glyn Ford, Isabel Owen, Keir Dhillon, Dorothea Hodge, Dafydd Emlyn Williams, Eshter Pickup-Keller	118,716	7.7	−6.8
	BNP	Jeremy Wotherspoon, Barry Bennett, Adrian Rommilly, Sean Twitchin, Lawrence West, Peryn Parsons	60,889	3.9	+0.9
	Pensioners	Jonathan McQueen, Barry Hodgson, Derek Wharton, Roger Edwards, Stuart Baker, Barry Egerton	37,785	2.4	New
	English Democrat	Michael Turner, Sara Box, Keith Riley, Stephen Wright, Raymond Carr, Lee Pickering	25,313	1.6	New
	Christian	William Capstick, Katherine Mills, Diane Ofori, Larna Martin, Peter Vickers, Adenike Williams	21,329	1.4	New
	Mebyon Kernow	Dick Cole, Conan Jenkin, Loveday Jenkin, Simon Reed, Glenn Renshaw, Joanie Willett	14,922	1.0	New
	Socialist Labour	Robert Hawkins, Brian Corbett, Alison Entwistle, David Marchesi, Robert Hawkins, James Bannister	10,033	0.6	New
	NO2EU	Alex Gordon, Roger Davey, Rachel Lynch, Nick Quirk, John Chambers, Paul Dyer	9,741	0.6	New
	Independent	Katie Hopkins	8,971	0.6	New
	Libertas	Robin Matthews, Peter Morgan-Barnes, Chloe Gwynne, Christopher Charnock, Nicholas Carlton, Nicholas Charlee	7,292	0.5	New
	Fair Pay Fair Trade	David Michael, Judy Foster	7,151	0.5	New
	Jury Team (UK)	Sally Smith, Martin Paley, Michael Clayton, Brian Underwood, Roger Whitfield, William Barnett	5,758	0.4	New
	Wai D Your Decision	Nicola Guagliardo, Joy Margareth Skey	789	0.1	New
Turnout			1,549,708	38.8	+1.2

European election 2004: South West England[10]
List		Candidates	Votes	Of total (%)	± from prev.
	Conservative	Neil Parish, Caroline Jackson, Giles Chichester Richard Graham, Earl of Stockton, Jack Lopresti, Julie Girling	457,371 (152,457)	31.6	−10.1
	UKIP	Graham Booth, Roger Knapman Trevor Colman, Elizabeth Burton, Matthew Jackson, Michael Faulkner, Andrew Reed	326,784 (163,392)	22.6	+12.0
	Liberal Democrats	Graham Watson Anthony Welch, Kay Barnard, Simon Green, Christine Coleman, Katie Hall, Alistair Cameron	265,619	18.3	+1.8
	Labour	Glyn Ford Bernadette Hartley, Ian White, Clare Moody, Keir Dhillon, Julie Watts, David Roberts	209,908	14.5	−3.6
	Green	David Taylor, Emily McIvor, Carol Kambites, Anthony Bown, Lyana Armstrong-Emery,[11][12] Katharine Chant, Paul Edwards	103,821	7.2	−1.1
	BNP	Anthony North, Michaela Mackenzie, Barry Bennett, Edward Mullins, Robert Baggs, Bruce Cowd, Frederick Paynter[13]	43,653	3.0	+2.1
	Countryside	Chris Thomas-Everard, Brian Crawford, Diana Scott, Ranulph Fiennes, Archibald Montgomery, John Yewdall	30,824	2.1	New
	Respect	Paulette North, Sami Velioglu, Hannah Packham, Ann Thomas, John Bampfylde, Bernard Parkes, Anthony Staunton	10,437	0.7	New
Turnout			1,448,417	37.6	+10.0

European election 1999: South West England[14]
List		Candidates	Votes	Of total (%)	± from prev.
	Conservative	Caroline Jackson, Giles Chichester, Earl of Stockton, Neil Parish David Martin, Bryan Cassidy, Paul Marland	434,645 (108,661.25)	41.7
	Labour	Glyn Ford Ian White, Sue Mallory, James Knight, Marion Dewar, John Shepherd, Elizabeth Lisgo	188,362	18.1
	Liberal Democrats	Graham Watson Robin Teverson, Terrye Jones, Paula Yates, Alan Butt-Philip, Janice Beasley, Simon Green	171,498	16.5
	UKIP	Michael Holmes Graham Booth, Michael Faulkner, Malcolm Wood, Ronald Dickinson, Robert Edwards, George Eustice	111,012	10.6
	Green	David Taylor, Richard Lawson, Simon Pickering, Susan Proud, Hamish Soutar, Carol Kambites, Justin Quinnell	86,630	8.3
	Liberal	Paul Holmes, David Morrish, Lomond Handley, Frederick Stephens, Geoffrey Halliwell, Jean Pollock, Roy Collins	21,645	2.1
	Pro-Euro Conservative	Julian Ayer, Kenneth Daly, David McCrum, Denise Atkinson, Vilma Aris, Philip Taylor, Derek Palmer	11,134	1.1
	BNP	Bruce Cowd,[15] Donald Stevens, Stephen Parnell, Terence Cavill,[16] Barbara Packer, Peter Hart, George Jeffrey	9,752	0.9
	Socialist Labour	David White, Jean Ramshaw, Robert Hawkins, Paul Williams, Giles Shorter, Bernard Kennedy, Brian Corbett	5,741	0.6
	Natural Law	Mark Griffiths, Francis Lyons, Nicholas Cresswell, Margot Hartley, Thomas Dyball, Lynn Royse, Henry Brighouse	1,968	0.2
Turnout			1,042,387	27.6

Campaign for a dedicated Euro-constituency and MEP for Cornwall

The Cornish nationalist party Mebyon Kernow campaigned for a separate European Parliament constituency for Cornwall.^[17] Until 1994 Cornwall was represented by the much smaller Cornwall and Plymouth constituency.

See also

• 2014 European Parliament election in Gibraltar

References

1. "European Election 2009: South West". BBC News. 8 June 2009. Archived from the original on 8 June 2009. Retrieved 8 June 2009.
2. "Case C-145/04 – Kingdom of Spain v United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland". EUR-Lex. 12 September 2006. Archived from the original on 19 July 2020. Retrieved 8 May 2018.
3. Rallings, Colin; Thrasher, Michael. "European Parliament Elections 2009" (PDF). LGC Elections Centre. Archived (PDF) from the original on 29 August 2020. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
4. Resigned in 2002.
5. Appointed in 2002 to replace Michael Holmes, retired on 1 October 2008.
6. Appointed in 2008 to replace Graham Booth.
7. Farrant, Graham (23 May 2019). "Statement of parties and individual candidates nominated" (PDF). Exeter City Council. Archived (PDF) from the original on 25 April 2019. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
8. Morris, Paul (22 April 2014). "Statement of Persons Nominated". Poole Borough Council. Archived from the original on 3 May 2014. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
9. Representing the Liberal Party of Gibraltar
10. "2004 Election candidates". UK Office of the European Parliament. Archived from the original on 4 October 2009. Retrieved 4 June 2009.
11. Representing the Gibraltar Reform Party
12. "Green Party – Whose freedom?". Green Party. 14 January 2002. Archived from the original on 24 March 2014. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
13. "Our European Election List for the South West Euro-Constituency". British National Party. 3 June 2004. Archived from the original on 3 June 2004. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
14. "Euros 99 – South West". BBC News. Archived from the original on 16 November 2014. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
15. "Programmes – Under the skin of the BNP - Bruce Cowd". BBC News. Archived from the original on 4 July 2004. Retrieved 12 August 2009.
16. "Programmes – Under the skin of the BNP - Terry Cavill". BBC News. Archived from the original on 16 June 2009. Retrieved 12 August 2009.
17. "Kernow and the European Union". Mebyon Kernow. Archived from the original on 20 September 2017. Retrieved 19 September 2017.