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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