South West England (European Parliament constituency)
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.
Boundaries
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.History
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 Gibraltar participating in European elections to the European Court of Justice, but their case was unsuccessful.
The number of seats was reduced from seven to six for the 2009 election.
| MEPs for former South West England constituencies, 1979 – 1999 | MEPs for former South West England constituencies, 1979 – 1999 | MEPs for former South West England constituencies, 1979 – 1999 | MEPs for former South West England constituencies, 1979 – 1999 | MEPs for former South West England constituencies, 1979 – 1999 | MEPs for former South West England constituencies, 1979 – 1999 | MEPs for former South West England constituencies, 1979 – 1999 | MEPs for former South West England constituencies, 1979 – 1999 | MEPs for former South West England constituencies, 1979 – 1999 | MEPs for former South West England constituencies, 1979 – 1999 |
| Election | 1979 – 1984 | 1984 – 1989 | 1989 – 1994 | 1994 – 1999 | |||||
| Bristol | Richard Cottrell Conservative | Richard Cottrell Conservative | Richard Cottrell Conservative | Ian White Labour | Ian White Labour | Ian White Labour | |||
| Cornwall and Plymouth Cornwall and West Plymouth | David Harris Conservative | Christopher Beazley Conservative | Christopher Beazley Conservative | Christopher Beazley Conservative | Robin Teverson Liberal Democrat | ||||
| Cotswolds | Lord Plumb Conservative | Lord Plumb Conservative | Lord Plumb Conservative | Lord Plumb Conservative | Lord Plumb Conservative | Lord Plumb Conservative | Lord Plumb Conservative | ||
| Devon Devon and East Plymouth | Lord O'Hagan Conservative | Lord O'Hagan Conservative | Lord O'Hagan Conservative | Lord O'Hagan Conservative | Lord O'Hagan Conservative | Giles Chichester Conservative | |||
| Somerset Somerset and Dorset West Somerset and North Devon | Frederick Warner Conservative | Margaret Daly Conservative | Margaret Daly Conservative | Margaret Daly Conservative | Graham Watson Liberal Democrat | ||||
| Upper Thames Wiltshire Wiltshire North and Bath | Robert Jackson Conservative | Caroline Jackson Conservative | Caroline Jackson Conservative | Caroline Jackson Conservative | Caroline Jackson Conservative | Caroline Jackson Conservative | |||
| Wessex Dorset East and Hampshire West Dorset and East Devon | James Spicer Conservative | Bryan Cassidy Conservative | Bryan Cassidy Conservative | Bryan Cassidy Conservative | Bryan Cassidy Conservative | Bryan Cassidy Conservative |
Returned members
Election results
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.