Search Legislation

European Parliamentary Elections Act 1999

Summary

5.Since the first direct elections to the European Parliament in 1979, British voters have elected MEPs using the first-past-the-post system. The Act enables the 1999 and subsequent European Parliamentary elections in Great Britain to be conducted using a regional list electoral system. This system is designed to ensure that in each region parties will win a share of the seats which is broadly proportional to their share of the vote in that region.

6.The new system does not apply to Northern Ireland, which will continue to elect its three MEPs using the single transferable vote system.

The regional list system

7.Under the regional list system, Great Britain will be divided into eleven regions, each returning between four and eleven MEPs.

8.Scotland and Wales will each constitute a single region and will return eight and five MEPs respectively.

9.England will be divided into nine regions. These will be the same regions as are already used by the Government Offices for the Regions, with the exception of Merseyside, which will be combined with the Northwest region. The table below shows the geographical composition of the nine English regions, their electorates and the number of MEPs to be returned by each.

REGIONGEOGRAPHICAL AREAELECTORATE February 1998NO.OF MEPS
East MidlandsDerbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire3,178,6556
EasternBedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk, Suffolk4,033,8488
LondonLondon boroughs, the City of London4,964,86210
North Eastformer county of Cleveland, Durham, Northumbria, former county of Tyne & Wear1,977,1174
North WestCheshire, Cumbria, boroughs within Greater Manchester, Lancashire, former Metropolitan county of Merseyside5,208,77510
South EastBerkshire, Buckinghamshire, East Sussex, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Kent, Oxfordshire, Surrey, West Sussex5,987,40711
South Westformer county of Avon, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Scilly Isles, Somerset, Wiltshire3,758,4817
West MidlandsHereford and Worcester, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, former Metropolitan county of West Midlands4,036,5958

Yorkshire &

The Humber

former counties of Humberside, North Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire3,807,9977

How the Regional List System works

10.Political parties will put forward lists of candidates in their preferred order. Once published by the returning officer, this order cannot be changed. Individual independent candidates will also be able to stand. Voters may cast only one vote. They can vote either for a party list (which will show the names of all the party’s candidates) or for an individual candidate. On completion of the poll, votes for each individual candidate and each party are counted and the seats are allocated as follows.

  • The first seat is allocated to the party or individual candidate with the highest number of votes. If the seat is allocated to a party, it goes to the first candidate on that party's list.

  • The second seat is allocated as follows. First the voting figures are adjusted:

    • if the first seat was allocated to a party, that party's total votes are divided by two

    • if the first seat was allocated to an individual candidate, that candidate and the votes cast for him drop out of the calculation for the second and subsequent seats.

    The second seat is allocated to the individual or party with the highest number of votes after these adjustments. The process continues until all the seats are allocated.

  • The seats allocated to parties are allocated to the party’s candidates in the order in which they appear on its list.

11.At all stages:

  • each party’s original total is divided by the number of seats that party has already been allocated, plus one;

  • once an individual candidate is allocated a seat, that candidate and the votes cast for him drop out of the remaining calculations;

  • if a party wins more than one seat, the seats are allocated to its candidates in the order in which they appear on the party list;

  • if everyone on a party list has been allocated a seat before all the seats have been allocated, the party and the votes cast for it drop out of the remaining calculations.

Worked Example

12.The following example shows how the seats would be allocated in a seven-member region. Three parties, A, B and C, put forward party lists and one independent stands as an individual candidate. One million votes are cast, 380,000 for Party A, 300,000 for Party B, 180,000 for Party C and 140,000 for the individual candidate.

Calculation
  • Stage 1

    Party A (total)380,000
    Party B (total)300,000
    Party C (total)180,000
    Individual candidate140,000

    The first seat is allocated to the candidate at the top of the Party A list.

  • Stage 2

    Party A (total divided by 2)190,000
    Party B (total)300,000
    Party C (total)180,000
    Individual candidate140,000

    The second seat is allocated to the candidate at the top of the Party B list.

  • Stage 3

    Party A (total divided by 2)190,000
    Party B (total divided by 2)150,000
    Party C (total)180,000
    Individual candidate140,000

    The third seat is allocated to the candidate in second place on the Party A list.

  • Stage 4

    Party A (total divided by 3)126,666
    Party B (total divided by 2)150,000
    Party C (total)180,000
    Individual candidate140,000

    The fourth seat is allocated to the candidate at the top of the Party C list.

  • Stage 5

    Party A (total divided by 3)126,666
    Party B (total divided by 2)150,000
    Party C (total divided by 2)90,000
    Individual candidate140,000

    The fifth seat is allocated to the candidate in second place on the Party B list.

  • Stage 6

    Party A (total divided by 3)126,666
    Party B (total divided by 3)100,000
    Party C (total divided by 2)90,000
    Individual candidate140,000

    The sixth seat is allocated to the individual candidate.

  • Stage 7

    Party A (total divided by 3)126,666
    Party B (total divided by 3)100,000
    Party C (total divided by 2)90,000

    The seventh seat is allocated to the candidate in third place on the Party A list.

13.The final result is that the seven seats are allocated as follows.

  • Party A (total)

380,000 votes → 3 seats
  • Party B (total)

300,000 votes → 2 seats
  • Party C (total)

180,000 votes → 1 seat
  • Individual candidate

140,000 votes → 1 seat

Back to top

Options/Help

Print Options

Close

Explanatory Notes

Text created by the government department responsible for the subject matter of the Act to explain what the Act sets out to achieve and to make the Act accessible to readers who are not legally qualified. Explanatory Notes were introduced in 1999 and accompany all Public Acts except Appropriation, Consolidated Fund, Finance and Consolidation Acts.

Close

More Resources

Access essential accompanying documents and information for this legislation item from this tab. Dependent on the legislation item being viewed this may include:

  • the original print PDF of the as enacted version that was used for the print copy
  • lists of changes made by and/or affecting this legislation item
  • confers power and blanket amendment details
  • all formats of all associated documents
  • correction slips
  • links to related legislation and further information resources