| South West | |
| Locationmap2014: | UK-sw-eng |
| Coordinates: | 51.3°N -2.6°W |
| Map: | EnglandSouthWestRegion2004.png |
| Mapcaption: | Shown in England, Gibraltar inset |
| Electorate Population: | 3,998,479 |
| Created: | 1999 |
| Dissolved: | 2020 |
| Meps: | 7 (1999–2009) 6 (2009–2020) |
| Memberstate: | United Kingdom |
| Memberstatelink2: | the United Kingdom |
| Sources: | EuroParl 2004 Election - EuroParl |
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.
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.
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.[1]
The number of seats was reduced from seven to six for the 2009 election.[2]
| MEPs for former South West England constituencies, 1979 – 1999 | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Election | width=1px | 1979 – 1984 | width=1px | 1984 – 1989 | width=1px | 1989 – 1994 | width=1px | 1994 – 1999 | width=1px | |||||
| Bristol | width=1px style="background-color: " | Richard Cottrell Conservative | width=1px style="background-color: " | Ian White Labour | width=1px style="background-color: " | |||||||||
| Cornwall and Plymouth (1979–1994) Cornwall and West Plymouth (1994–1999) | width=1px style="background-color: " | David Harris Conservative | width=1px style="background-color: " | Christopher Beazley Conservative | width=1px style="background-color: " | Robin Teverson Liberal Democrat | width=1px style="background-color: " | |||||||
| Cotswolds | width=1px style="background-color: " | Lord Plumb Conservative | width=1px style="background-color: " | |||||||||||
| Devon (1979–1994) Devon and East Plymouth (1994–1999) | width=1px style="background-color: " | Lord O'Hagan Conservative | width=1px style="background-color: " | Giles Chichester Conservative | width=1px style="background-color: " | |||||||||
| Somerset (1979–1984) Somerset and Dorset West (1984–1994) Somerset and North Devon (1994–1999) | width=1px style="background-color: " | Frederick Warner Conservative | width=1px style="background-color: " | Margaret Daly Conservative | width=1px style="background-color: " | Graham Watson Liberal Democrat | width=1px style="background-color: " | |||||||
| Upper Thames (1979–1984) Wiltshire (1984–1994) Wiltshire North and Bath (1994–1999) | width=1px style="background-color: " | Robert Jackson Conservative | width=1px style="background-color: " | Caroline Jackson Conservative | width=1px style="background-color: " | |||||||||
| Wessex (1979–1984) Dorset East and Hampshire West (1984–1994) Dorset and East Devon (1994–1999) | width=1px style="background-color: " | James Spicer Conservative | width=1px style="background-color: " | Bryan Cassidy Conservative | width=1px style="background-color: " | |||||||||
| MEPs for South West England, 1999 onwards | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Election | |||||||||||||||||||||
| MEP Party | width=1px style="background-color: " | Michael Holmes[3] UKIP (1999–2000) Independent (2000–02) | width=1px style="background-color: " | Graham Booth[4] UKIP | width=1px style="background-color: " | Trevor Colman[5] UKIP | width=1px style="background-color: " | Julia Reid UKIP (2014–18) Independent (2018–19) Brexit Party | width=1px style="background-color: " | Ann Widdecombe Brexit Party | width=1px style="background-color: " | ||||||||||
| MEP Party | width=1px style="background-color: " | Conservative | width=1px style="background-color: " | Roger Knapman UKIP | width=1px style="background-color: " | 10th Earl of Dartmouth UKIP (2009–18) Independent (2018–19) | width=1px style="background-color: " | James Glancy Brexit Party | width=1px style="background-color: " | ||||||||||||
| MEP Party | width=1px style="background-color: " | Caroline Jackson Conservative | width=1px style="background-color: " | Ashley Fox Conservative | width=1px style="background-color: " | Christina Jordan Brexit Party | width=1px style="background-color: " | ||||||||||||||
| MEP Party | width=1px style="background-color: " | Neil Parish Conservative | width=1px style="background-color: " | Julie Girling Conservative (2009–17) Independent (2017–19) Change UK (2019) Renew | width=1px style="background-color: " | Caroline Voaden Liberal Democrat | width=1px style="background-color: " | ||||||||||||||
| MEP Party | width=1px style="background-color: " | Giles Chichester Conservative | width=1px style="background-color: " | Clare Moody Labour | width=1px style="background-color: " | Martin Horwood Liberal Democrat | width=1px style="background-color: " | ||||||||||||||
| MEP Party | width=1px style="background-color: " | Graham Watson Liberal Democrat | width=1px style="background-color: " | Molly Scott Cato Green | width=1px style="background-color: " | ||||||||||||||||
| MEP Party | width=1px style="background-color: " | Glyn Ford Labour GSLP | Seat abolished | ||||||||||||||||||
See also: 2004 European Parliament election in Gibraltar and 2009 European Parliament election in GibraltarElected 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.
The Cornish nationalist party Mebyon Kernow campaigned for a separate European Parliament constituency for Cornwall.[6] Until 1994 Cornwall was represented by the much smaller Cornwall and Plymouth constituency.