The 2015 general election took place on 7 May 2015 and saw each of Parliament's 650 constituencies return one

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

(MP) to the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

, which consists of the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminst ...

and the elected House of Commons, was convened on 27 May at the

Palace of Westminster The Palace of Westminster serves as the meeting place for both the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Informally known as the Houses of Parliament, the Palace lies on the north b ...

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

. It was dissolved just after midnight on 3 May 2017, being 25 working days ahead of the general election on 8 June 2017. The dissolution was originally scheduled for 2020, but took place almost three years early following a call for a snap election by

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

Prime Minister

Theresa May Theresa Mary May, Lady May (; née Brasier; born 1 October 1956) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2016 to 2019. She previously served in David Cameron's cab ...

which received the necessary two-thirds majority in a 522 to 13 vote in the House of Commons on 19 April 2017. It was the shortest Parliament since

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...

. The 2015 general election resulted in a

majority, a massive loss of seats for the Liberal Democrats, and all but three Scottish seats going to the SNP. The

UK Independence Party The UK Independence Party (UKIP; ) is a Eurosceptic, right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. The party reached its greatest level of success in the mid-2010s, when it gained two members of Parliament and was the largest par ...

elected their first MP at a general election. The

Alliance Party of Northern Ireland The Alliance Party of Northern Ireland (APNI), or simply Alliance, is a liberal and centrist political party in Northern Ireland. As of the 2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election, it is the third-largest party in the Northern Ireland Assembl ...

and the

Respect Party The Respect Party was a left-wing to far-left, socialist political party active in the United Kingdom between 2004 and 2016. At the height of its success in 2007, the party had one Member of Parliament (MP) in the House of Commons and nineteen ...

lost their singular seats that they had in the previous Parliament. The

Ulster Unionist Party The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) is a unionist political party in Northern Ireland. The party was founded in 1905, emerging from the Irish Unionist Alliance in Ulster. Under Edward Carson, it led unionist opposition to the Irish Home Rule m ...

won back representation electing two MPs, having had none in the previous Parliament. Notable newcomers to enter the House of Commons in this General Election included future

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

Rishi Sunak Rishi Sunak (; born 12 May 1980) is a British politician who has served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party since October 2022. He previously held two cabinet positions under Boris Johnson, lastly as ...

and Leader of the Labour Party;

Keir Starmer Sir Keir Rodney Starmer (; born 2 September 1962) is a British politician and barrister who has served as Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party since 2020. He has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Holborn and St Pancras s ...

, as well as the future

parliamentary leader A parliamentary leader is a political title or a descriptive term used in various countries to designate the person leading a parliamentary group or caucus in a legislative body, whether it be a national or sub-national legislature. They are their ...

s of the

Scottish National Party The Scottish National Party (SNP; sco, Scots National Pairty, gd, Pàrtaidh Nàiseanta na h-Alba ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic political party in Scotland. The SNP supports and campaigns for Scottish independence from th ...

and

Plaid Cymru Plaid Cymru ( ; ; officially Plaid Cymru – the Party of Wales, often referred to simply as Plaid) is a centre-left to left-wing, Welsh nationalist political party in Wales, committed to Welsh independence from the United Kingdom. Plaid wa ...

; Ian Blackford and Liz Saville Roberts. Other new MPs included; Chris Philp, Rebecca Long-Bailey,

Angela Rayner Angela Rayner (' Bowen; born 28 March 1980) is a British politician serving as Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office and Shadow Secretary of State for the Future of Work since 2021. She has been Sha ...

, Antoinette Sandbach, Mhairi Black, Richard Burgon,

Sue Hayman Susan Mary Hayman, Baroness Hayman of Ullock (''née'' Bentley; born 28 July 1962) is a British politician and life peer who served as Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs from 2017 to 2019. A member of the Labour P ...

Joanna Cherry Joanna Catherine Cherry (born 18 March 1966) is a Scottish politician and lawyer serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Edinburgh South West since 2015. A member of the Scottish National Party (SNP), she was the party's Shadow Home Secr ...

, Oliver Dowden,

Andrea Jenkyns Andrea Marie Jenkyns (born 16 June 1974) is a British politician serving as Deputy Chairwoman of the European Research Group (ERG) since 2019. She was first elected as the Conservative Member of Parliament for Morley and Outwood in West York ...

, Suella Braverman, Chris Matheson, Amanda Milling, Heidi Allen,

Stephen Kinnock Stephen Nathan Kinnock (born 1 January 1970) is a Welsh politician who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Aberavon since 2015. A member of the Labour Party, he has been Shadow Minister for Immigration since 2022. Early life and educ ...

Jess Phillips Jessica Rose Phillips (; born 9 October 1981) is a British politician serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Birmingham Yardley since 2015. A member of the Labour Party, she has been Shadow Minister for Domestic Violence and Safeguardi ...

, Ruth Smeeth,

Kelly Tolhurst Kelly Jane Tolhurst (born 23 August 1978) is a British politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Rochester and Strood since 2015. A member of the Conservative Party, she served as Minister of State for Schools and Childhood ...

, Tulip Siddiq, Amanda Solloway,

Craig Mackinlay Craig Mackinlay (born 7 October 1966) is a Conservative Party politician and businessman. Since May 2015, he has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for South Thanet. Initially a member of the UK Independence Party (UKIP), Mackinlay served a ...

, Alison Thewliss and Clive Lewis. During the 2015–17 Parliament,

John Bercow John Simon Bercow (; born 19 January 1963) is a British former politician who was Speaker of the House of Commons from 2009 to 2019, and Member of Parliament (MP) for Buckingham between 1997 and 2019. A member of the Conservative Party prior t ...

was the Speaker of the House of Commons,

David Cameron David William Donald Cameron (born 9 October 1966) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2005 to 2016. He previously served as Leader o ...

and

served as

, and

Harriet Harman Harriet Ruth Harman (born 30 July 1950) is a British politician and solicitor who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Camberwell and Peckham, formerly Peckham, since 1982. A member of the Labour Party, she has served in various Cabi ...

and

Jeremy Corbyn Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (; born 26 May 1949) is a British politician who served as Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party from 2015 to 2020. On the political left of the Labour Party, Corbyn describes himself as a socialis ...

served as Leader of Her Majesty's Most Loyal Opposition.

House of Commons composition

Below is a graphical representation of the House of Commons showing a comparison of party strengths as it was directly after the 2015 general election. This is not a seating plan of the House of Commons, which has five rows of benches on each side, with the government party to the right of the Speaker and opposition parties to the left, but with room for only around two-thirds of MPs to sit at any one time. House of Commons 2015

This table shows the number of MPs in each party: ;Notes *See

here Here is an adverb that means "in, on, or at this place". It may also refer to: Software * Here Technologies, a mapping company * Here WeGo (formerly Here Maps), a mobile app and map website by Here Television * Here TV (formerly "here!"), a ...

for a full list of changes during the fifty-sixth Parliament. *In addition to the parties listed in the table above, the

Co-operative Party The Co-operative Party is a centre-left political party in the United Kingdom, supporting co-operative values and principles. Established in 1917, the Co-operative Party was founded by co-operative societies to campaign politically for the fair ...

was also represented in the House of Commons by Labour MPs sitting with the Labour Co-operative designation. The number of these MPs was 24 after the general election, and was 28 at dissolution. *The actual government majority is calculated as Conservative MPs less all other parties. This calculation excludes the Speaker, Deputy Speakers (two Labour and one Conservative) and Sinn Féin (who follow a policy of abstentionism).

List of MPs elected in the general election

The following table is a list of MPs elected, ordered by constituency. Names of

incumbent The incumbent is the current holder of an office or position, usually in relation to an election. In an election for president, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the office of president before the election, whether seeking re-ele ...

s are listed where they stood for re-election; for details of defeated new candidates and the incumbent who stood down in those cases see individual constituency articles. ;Notes

Changes and by-elections

After the general election, changes can occur in the composition of the House of Commons. This happens as a result of the election of Deputy Speakers, by-elections, defections, suspensions or removal of

whip A whip is a tool or weapon designed to strike humans or other animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain. They can also be used without inflicting pain, for audiovisual cues, such as in equestrianism. They are generally ...

. After the swearing in of MPs and the elections of the Speaker and the Deputy Speakers, the initial government majority was calculated to be sixteen. Technically, MPs cannot resign. However, they can effectively do so by requesting to be appointed as the Crown Steward and Bailiff of the Manor of Northstead or the

Crown Steward and Bailiff of the three Chiltern Hundreds of Stoke, Desborough and Burnham A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, partic ...

, which vacates their seat. The net outcome of all changes over the course of the Parliament had resulted in two fewer Labour MPs, two fewer SNP MPs, one more Liberal Democrat MP and three more independent MPs.

Deputy Speakers

In accordance with a decision taken by the House of Commons on the final day of its sitting in the previous Parliament, the Speaker appointed two members to serve as Temporary Deputy Speakers until the Deputy Speakers had been elected. Directly after the 2015 State Opening of Parliament, the Speaker nominated Sir

Roger Gale Sir Roger James Gale (born 20th August 1943) is a British politician who has served as the member of Parliament (MP) for North Thanet since 1983. He had a career in journalism and broadcasting from 1964, around the same time as he joined the C ...

(Conservative,

North Thanet North Thanet is a constituency in Kent represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since its 1983 creation by Sir Roger Gale, a Conservative. History North Thanet and South Thanet were created by a rearrangement of the former ...

) and George Howarth (Labour, Knowsley) for these positions. The election of Deputy Speakers took place on 3 June 2015. Although Deputy Speakers do not resign from their parties, they cease to vote (except to break ties) and they do not participate in party-political activity until the next election.

By-elections

By-elections are held for seats that become vacant. A by-election was planned to be held in the seat of

Manchester Gorton Manchester Gorton is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament by Labour's Afzal Khan, who was elected at the 2017 general election. It is the safest Labour seat in Greater Manchester by numerical majority and ...

following the death of Sir Gerald Kaufman on 26 February 2017. Following the announcement on 18 April 2017 of a snap general election by Theresa May, it was confirmed that the

Cabinet Office The Cabinet Office is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for supporting the prime minister and Cabinet. It is composed of various units that support Cabinet committees and which co-ordinate the delivery of government object ...

would intervene to cancel the by-election, leaving the seat vacant until the general election on 8 June 2017.

Defections, suspensions and removal of whip

In some situations, the label under which MPs sit in the House of Commons can change. When this happens, MPs often become independents.

Progression of government majority and party totals

The government voting total is the total number of Conservative MPs, minus the Conservative Deputy Speaker. The opposition voting total is the total number of other MPs, minus the Speaker, the two Labour Deputy Speakers, and all Sinn Féin MPs. The majority is the difference between the former and the latter.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mps Elected In The United Kingdom General Election, 2015 UK MPs 2015 United Kingdom general election

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the April ...