Abstract
The 2009 European Parliament and local elections were overshadowed by the revelations about Members of Parliament and their expenses claims. Although turnout at the contests was within the normal range, public reaction to the scandal could be seen in increased support for parties other than those with substantial representation at Westminster. This marked the continuation of a trend for voters to desert the political mainstream at second-order elections in particular. It could well be a feature of the forthcoming general election too but, handicapped by the operation of the electoral system, is unlikely there to lead to a significant advance in seats for these ‘other’ parties.
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Notes
In 2004, votes in Scotland were counted and reported for each parliamentary constituency; those in Wales for each local authority. In 2009 the process was the reverse. Change in Scotland and Wales can therefore only be analysed at country level.
Although the local contests in 2009 were held to elect members in just 34 county and unitary authorities, in most cases it is possible to analyse detailed turnout and party choice data at the lower, more numerous district council level of aggregation.
UKIP's 10.4 per cent in the delayed contest in Staffordshire South is ignored.
The constituency of Birmingham Sparkbrook, where Respect finished in second place 8.6 per cent behind Labour, has been redistricted four ways in the latest boundary review and will not recognisably exist at the next general election. See Rallings and Thrasher 2007.
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Acknowledgements
We are grateful to the Electoral Commission for supporting the collection of some of the data reported here and, as always, to Galina Borisyuk for invaluable assistance with data management and analysis.
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Rallings, C., Thrasher, M. Another (small) step on the road towards a multi-party Britain – turnout and party choice at the 2009 local and European Parliament elections. Br Polit 4, 463–477 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1057/bp.2009.22
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/bp.2009.22