United Kingdom general election, 2005

The United Kingdom general election of 2005 was held on Thursday, 5 May 2005 to elect 646 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party under Tony Blair won its third consecutive victory, but with a majority of 66, reduced from 160.

The Labour campaign emphasised a strong economy, however Blair suffered a decline in popularity due to the decision to send British troops to invade Iraq in 2003. The Conservative Party, led by Michael Howard campaigned on more traditional Conservative policies, such as immigration limits, improving poor hospital conditions and reducing high crime rates, all under the slogan 'Are you thinking what we're thinking?'. The Liberal Democrats, led by Charles Kennedy were staunchly opposed to the Iraq War and sought to collect votes from disenchanted Labour voters.

Tony Blair was returned as Prime Minister, with Labour holding 355 MPs but with a popular vote of 35.2%, the lowest of any majority government in British history. The Conservatives managed to return 198 MPs, 33 more than they had previously and managed to win the popular vote in England. The Liberal Democrats saw their popular vote increase by 3.7% and won the most seats for any third party since 1923, in the form of 62 MPs. Former Labour MP and anti-war activist George Galloway was elected as an MP for the newly formed Respect Party, and two independent candidates were elected (Blaenau Gwent People's Voice and Health Concern).

In Northern Ireland, the moderately unionist Ulster......
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