This is an annotated list of notable records from United Kingdom elections to the European Parliament, which were held from 1979 through 2019.
European Parliament elections in Great Britain used two very different electoral systems. From 1979 until 1994, elections were conducted using first past the post (FPTP), with Great Britain divided into numerous single member constituencies. From 1999 through 2019, however, mainland elections used the d'Hondt method of proportional representation (PR), with 11 multi-member constituencies corresponding to Scotland, Wales and the regions of England. Northern Ireland always used the single transferable vote system.
As a result, comparisons between these two types elections are problematic, and the voting system will be noted by each record.
Swing between the largest party at the previous election and the largest party at the next, or the second-largest party if there was no change.
1 A majority of UKIP MEPs defected to the Brexit Party over the course of the 2014-2019 Parliament, and both UKIP in 2014 and the Brexit Party in 2019 were led by Nigel Farage.
2 The first election held under PR, swing is compared to previous FPTP election.
3 At least one major party was not in the top two.
1 The first election held under PR, fall is compared to previous FPTP election.
2 Compared to the UK Green Party in 1989.
After the introduction of PR, the number of seats correlated closely with national vote share, and no party ever won a majority. Under FPTP, the number of seats won can diverge significantly from national vote share. In the following elections, all FPTP, a single party won a majority:
Since 1999, the following elections saw one party take at least a third of the available seats:
Turnout was historically low in UK EP elections compared to other European countries.
For parties that returned at least one MEP:
| Party | Election | % Share | Stood in | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 election | 33.5 | Great Britain | ||
| 2019 election | 30.5 | Great Britain | ||
| 2014 election | 26.6 | Great Britain | ||
| 2019 election | 19.6 | Great Britain | ||
| 1999 election | 26.3 | Great Britain | ||
| 2019 election | 11.8 | England and Wales | ||
| 2009 election | 6.0 | Great Britain | ||
| 2019 election | 3.6 | Scotland | ||
| 1999 election | 1.7 | Wales | ||
The use of multiple preference votes makes comparisons with Northern Irish parties difficult.
For parties that returned at least one MEP:
| Party | Election | % Share | Stood in | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 election | 30.5 | Great Britain | ||
| 2019 election | 13.6 | Great Britain | ||
| 2019 election | 8.8 | Great Britain | ||
| 2014 election | 6.6 | Great Britain | ||
| 1999 election | 5.3 | England and Wales | ||
| 2019 election | 3.21 | Great Britain | ||
| 2004 election | 1.4 | Scotland | ||
| 1999 election | 1.0 | Great Britain | ||
| 2014 election | 0.7 | Wales | ||
1: Party failed to return any MEPs
For parties that returned at least one MEP:
| Party | Election | % Share | Stood in | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 election | 48.4 | Great Britain | ||
| 1994 election | 42.6 | Great Britain | ||
| 1994 election | 16.1 | Great Britain | ||
| 2014 election | 3.1 | Scotland | ||
The Green Party won 14.5% of the vote in 1989, still the best Green performance at any nationwide election, but failed to win any seats due to the FPTP system. Similarly, the SDP–Liberal Alliance took 18.5% of the vote in 1984, again without winning a seat.