TheLabour Party is acentre-left political party in the United Kingdom. Formed in 1900, it is one of the two main political parties along with theConservative Party. In all general elections since1918, Labour has been either the governing party or theOfficial Opposition. Since the2010 general election, Labour was the second largest party in the UK for 14 years until the 2024 United Kingdom General election. Since 1918, Labour have formed 13 governments.

This article encompasses detailed results of previous UK general elections,devolved national elections in Scotland and Wales, devolved London elections and European Parliament elections which the Labour Party have participated in.

TheLabour Party was founded at a conference in February 1900 in London as theLabour Representation Committee (LRC).^[1] The party was formed as an alliance between trade unions,ethical socialists andstate socialists.^[1] Following the1906 general election, the LRC became the currentLabour Party.^[2]

Labour are one of the two main political parties in the United Kingdom, along with theConservative Party. The Labour Party sits on the centre-left of the political spectrum.^[8] In all general elections since1918, Labour has been either the governing party or theOfficial Opposition.^[9] There have been six Labourprime ministers.^[7] Since 1918, Labour have formed 12 governments, compared to 13 for the Conservatives within this period.^[10]

The voting system for general elections in the UK is thefirst past the post system.^[11] The first general election the party faced, then the Labour Representation Committee, was only six months after the inauguration of the party.^[12] Fifteen LRC candidates were put forward for the election, two of which were elected in1900.^[12] In 1903, the Secretary of the LRCRamsay MacDonald and theLiberal Party'sChief WhipHerbert Gladstone formed asecret electoral pact between the two parties.^[13] The party continued to grow over the following decade and by theDecember 1910 general election, Labour had 42 MPs.^[14][15]

Following the1918 general election, Labour became the Official Opposition after the Conservatives went intocoalition with theLiberal Party.^[9] Labour's first minority governments came following the1923 and1929 general elections, the latter being the first time Labour were the largest party in parliament by seats won.^[9] They formed their first majority government following the1945 general election.^[9] However, after winning the1950 general election, Labour would lose the following election in1951 to the Conservatives despite gaining their highest share of votes to date at 48.8%.^[9] During the1983 election, Labour posted their worst vote share in the post-war period at 27.6%.^[9] In1997, a party record of 418 Labour MPs were elected.^[9] After losing power after the2010 general election, Labour lost four consecutive general elections.^[16][9] At the2019 general election, 202 Labour MPs were elected, the lowest for the party since1935.^[9] At the2024 general election, Labour returned to power after winning the election with a 174 seat majority.^[17]

Parliament of the United Kingdom

Election	Leader[18]	Votes		Seats			Position	Result	Ref
		No.	Share	No.	±	Share
1900	Keir Hardie	62,698	1.8	2 / 670	2	0.3	4th	Conservative–Liberal Unionist	[19]
1906		321,663	5.7	29 / 670	27	4.3	4th	Liberal	[20]
January 1910	Arthur Henderson	505,657	7.6	40 / 670	11	6.0	4th	Liberal minority	[21]
December 1910	George Nicoll Barnes	371,802	7.1	42 / 670	2	6.3	4th	Liberal minority	[15]
1918[a]	William Adamson	2,245,777	20.8	57 / 707	15	8.1	4th	Coalition Liberal–Conservative	[25]
1922	J. R. Clynes	4,237,349	29.7	142 / 615	85	23.1	2nd	Conservative	[27]
1923	Ramsay MacDonald	4,439,780	30.7	191 / 615	49	31.1	2nd	Labour minority	[29]
1924		5,489,087	33.3	151 / 615	40	24.6	2nd	Conservative	[31]
1929[b]		8,048,968	37.1	287 / 615	136	46.7	1st	Labour minority	[34]
1931	Arthur Henderson	6,339,306	30.6	52 / 615	235	8.5	2nd	Conservative–Liberal–National Labour	[36]
1935	Clement Attlee	8,325,491	38.0	154 / 615	102	25.0	2nd	Conservative–Liberal National–National Labour	[38]
1945		11,967,746	49.7	393 / 640	239	61.4	1st	Labour	[23]
1950		13,266,176	46.1	315 / 625	78	50.4	1st	Labour	[23]
1951		13,948,385	48.8	295 / 625	20	47.2	2nd	Conservative	[23]
1955		12,405,254	46.4	277 / 630	18	44.0	2nd	Conservative	[23]
1959	Hugh Gaitskell	12,216,172	43.8	258 / 630	19	41.0	2nd	Conservative	[23]
1964	Harold Wilson	12,205,808	44.1	317 / 630	59	50.3	1st	Labour	[23]
1966		13,096,629	48.0	364 / 630	47	57.8	1st	Labour	[23]
1970[c]		12,208,758	43.1	288 / 630	76	45.7	2nd	Conservative	[23]
February 1974		11,645,616	37.2	301 / 635	13	47.4	1st	Labour minority	[23]
October 1974		11,457,079	39.2	319 / 635	18	50.2	1st	Labour	[23]
1979	James Callaghan	11,532,218	36.9	269 / 635	50	42.4	2nd	Conservative	[23]
1983	Michael Foot	8,456,934	27.6	209 / 650	60	32.2	2nd	Conservative	[40]
1987	Neil Kinnock	10,029,807	30.8	229 / 650	20	35.2	2nd	Conservative	[41]
1992		11,560,484	34.4	271 / 651	42	41.6	2nd	Conservative	[42]
1997	Tony Blair	13,518,167	43.2	418 / 659	145	63.4	1st	Labour	[43]
2001		10,724,953	40.7	412 / 659	6	62.5	1st	Labour	[44]
2005		9,552,436	35.2	355 / 646	47	55.0	1st	Labour	[45]
2010	Gordon Brown	8,606,517	29.0	258 / 650	90	39.7	2nd	Conservative–Liberal Democrats[46]	[47]
2015	Ed Miliband	9,347,324	30.4	232 / 650	26	35.7	2nd	Conservative	[50]
2017	Jeremy Corbyn	12,877,918	40.0	262 / 650	30	40.3	2nd	Conservative minority (withDUP confidence and supply)[51]	[52]
2019		10,269,051	32.1	202 / 650	60	31.1	2nd	Conservative	[53]
2024	Keir Starmer	9,704,655	33.7	411 / 650	209	63.2	1st	Labour	[54]

Note

Following areferendum on devolution in September 1997, the Scottish people voted 'Yes' leading to theScotland Act 1998.^[55][56] This act led to the formation of theScottish Parliament in 1999.^[57] After Scotland voted 'No' in the2014 Scottish independence referendum, additional powers were devolved to the Scottish Parliament after theScotland Act 2016 reached royal assent.^[56] Elections to determine the composition of the Parliament take place once every five years under theadditional member system.^[57] Overall, there are 73 constituency members (MSPs) and 56 regional members elected.^[57] Before2016, elections were held every four years.^[57]

In the inaugural two elections, Labour were the largest party and formed a coalition with theScottish Liberal Democrats on both occasions.^[57] However, Labour narrowly lost the2007 election to theScottish National Party (SNP).^[57] By seats won, Labour have been the third largest party in the Scottish Parliament behind the SNP and Conservatives since 2016.^[57] In the most recent election in2021, Labour suffered their worst defeat in Holyrood after returning 22 MSPs.^[58]

Year	Leader	Votes	% share of votes (constituency)	% share of votes (list)	Seats	Change	Position	Resulting government	Ref
1999	Donald Dewar	908,346	38.8	33.6	56 / 129	—	1st	Labour–Liberal Democrats	[57]
2003	Jack McConnell	663,585	34.6	29.3	50 / 129	6	1st	Labour–Liberal Democrats	[57]
2007		648,374	32.1	29.2	46 / 129	4	2nd	SNP minority	[57]
2011	Iain Gray	630,461	31.7	26.3	37 / 129	9	2nd	SNP majority	[57]
2016	Kezia Dugdale	514,261	22.6	19.1	24 / 129	13	3rd	SNP minority	[57]
2021	Anas Sarwar	584,392	21.7	18.9	22 / 129	2	3rd	SNP minority[a]	[57]

As part of Labour's1997 winning UK general election manifesto, Labour committed to devolving power to Wales and Scotland subject to public consent from referendums.^[60] In July 1997, Labour released itswhite paper for devolution in Wales.^[60] This devolution deal would include 60 elected members who would take responsibility for £7 billion of funding.^[60] Furthermore, this new Assembly would have the right to pass secondary legislation in order to modify already existing laws.^[60] The devolution plans were endorsed by the public in the1997 Welsh devolution referendum by 50.3% of the vote.^[60] TheGovernment of Wales Act 1998 would receive royal assent with the Assembly to be formed following the first election in May 1999.^[60]

In 1999, the Welsh Assembly or Senedd Cymru was founded.^[61] From 1999 until 2011, Welsh Assembly elections were held once every four years, they are now held every five years.^[61] 40 Constituency Assembly Members (AMs) and 20 regional Assembly Members are elected at each election.^[61] The current voting system is theadditional member system.^[61]

At every Senedd election, Labour has received the most votes and seats at each election, but has never formed a clear majority of seats.^[61] Labour formed a coalition with theWelsh Liberal Democrats from 2000 to 2003.^[61] From 2003 to 2007, Labour governed alone as a minority administration before serving in coalition withPlaid Cymru from 2007 to 2011.^[61] Labour have governed alone as a minority administration since 2011.^[61] Since 2021, Labour have had a formalcooperation agreement with Plaid Cymru to help pass budgets and to work together on several policy areas.^[62]

Year	Leader[60][63]	% share of votes (constituency)	% share of votes (list)	Seats won	Change	Position	Resulting government	Ref
1999	Alun Michael	37.6	35.4	28 / 60	—	1st	Labour–Liberal Democrats[a]	[61]
2003	Rhodri Morgan	40.0	36.6	30 / 60	2	1st	Labour minority	[61]
2007		32.2	29.6	26 / 60	4	1st	Labour–Plaid Cymru	[61]
2011	Carwyn Jones	42.3	36.9	30 / 60	4	1st	Labour minority	[61]
2016		34.7	31.5	29 / 60	1	1st	Labour minority	[61]
2021	Mark Drakeford	39.9	36.2	30 / 60	1	1st	Labour minority	[61]

London Assembly elections are held every four years.^[64] Overall, there are 14 constituency members and 11 London-wide members who are elected by a party-list system.^[64] The voting system is theAdditional-member system.^[64][65] The assembly holds themayor of London to account through London Assembly committees and also votes on the mayor's budget.^[65] The first London Assembly election was held in2000.^[64] Labour gained the most seats out of all of the parties in2012 (12),2016 (12),2021 (11) and2024 (11).^[64][66]

Year	Assembly leader	% share of votes (constituency)	% share of votes (list)	Seats	Change	Position	Ref
2000	Toby Harris	31.6	30.3	9 / 25	—	1st	[64]
2004		24.7	25.0	7 / 25	2	2nd	[64]
2008	Len Duvall	28.0	27.6	8 / 25	1	2nd	[64]
2012		42.3	41.1	12 / 25	4	1st	[64]
2016		42.3	41.1	12 / 25		1st	[64]
2021[a]		41.7	38.1	11 / 25	1	1st	[64]
2024		39.8	38.4	11 / 25		1st	[66]

Elections to decide theMayor of London have taken place since2000.^[67]Ken Livingstone won the inaugural mayoral election as an independent candidate, ahead of the Conservative Party in second place and the Labour Party in third. He would later become the candidate for Labour in 2004, 2008 and 2012.^[67] Livingstone won for Labour in 2004 before losing to the Conservative candidate,Boris Johnson in both 2008 and 2012.^[67] These elections take place every four years with the incumbent mayor beingSadiq Khan of the Labour Party since 2016.^[67] The voting system for the mayoral elections from 2000 until 2021 was thesupplementary vote system.^[67] However, for the election in2024, thefirst past the post system was used instead.^[67] In 2024, Khan won a third successive term.^[68]

Year	Mayoral candidate	Vote total	Vote share (%)	Mayoralty	Ref
2000	Frank Dobson	–	–		[67]
2004	Ken Livingstone	828,390	55.4		[67]
2008		1,029,406	46.8		[67]
2012		992,273	48.5		[67]
2016	Sadiq Khan	1,310,143	56.8		[67]
2021[a]		1,206,034	55.2		[67]
2024		1,088,225	43.8		[69]

The first 'combined authority elections' took place in 2017 to determine six elected mayors (Metro-mayors) of different combined authorities in England.^[70] These elections stemmed from the 'devolution deals' policy announced byGeorge Osborne in 2014.^[70] Combined authorities are local government institutions formed by two or more local councils.^[71]

The system of voting for these elections was originally thesupplementary vote system.^[70] Ahead of the2023 local elections, thefirst past the post system replaced the supplementary vote system for future combined authority elections.^[72] As of August 2024, there are ten Labour Party Metro Mayors in: Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, Greater Manchester, East Midlands, Liverpool City region, North-East, Sheffield City region, West Midlands, West of England, West Yorkshire and York and North Yorkshire.^[73] Comparatively, there is one Conservative Party Metro Mayor which is in the Tees Valley region.^[73]

Year	Mayoralties won	Change	Ref
2017	2 / 6	2	[74]
2018	1 / 1	1	[75]
2019	1 / 1	1	[76]
2021	5 / 7	2	[77]
2022	1 / 1	1	[78]
2024	8 / 9	1	[79]

During the UK's membership of theEuropean Union (1973–2020), the UK participated inEuropean Parliament elections, held every five years from1979 until2019.^[80] Elections to the European Parliament began in 1979, and were held under thefirst past the post system until the1994 election.^[80] From1999 onwards, a regional list system ofproportional representation system was used.^[80]

Labour's best result was the1994 election in terms of numbers of MEPs elected (62/87) and vote share (44%).^[80] The party earned more votes in2004 than in1999 but their vote share fell due to a higher turnout.^[80] In2009, Labour finished behind the Conservatives andUKIP.^[80]

Year	Leader[18]	Votes	% share of votes	Seats	Change	Position	Ref
1979	James Callaghan	4,253,207	33	17 / 81	—	2nd	[80]
1984	Neil Kinnock	4,865,261	37	32 / 81	15	2nd	[80]
1989		6,153,661	40	45 / 81	13	1st	[80]
1994	Margaret Beckett[a]	6,753,881	44	62 / 87	17	1st	[80]
1999[b][80]	Tony Blair	2,803,820	28.0[81]	29 / 87	33	2nd	[80]
2004		3,718,683	22.6[82]	19 / 78	10	2nd	[80]
2009	Gordon Brown	2,381,760	15.7[83]	13 / 72	6	3rd	[80]
2014	Ed Miliband	4,020,646	25.4[84]	20 / 73	7	2nd	[80]
2019	Jeremy Corbyn	2,347,255	14.1[85]	10 / 73	10	3rd	[80]

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