‹ 2010  2020 ›
| ||||
| United Kingdom general election, 2015 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All 650 seats in the House of Commons
326 seats needed for a majority | ||||
| 7 May 2015 | ||||
| Turnout | 66.1% | |||
| First party | Second party | Third party | ||
|
|
| ||
| Leader | David Cameron | Ed Miliband | Nicola Sturgeon | |
| Party | Conservative Party | Labour | SNP | |
| Leader since | 6 December 2005 | 25 September 2010 | 14 November 2014 | |
| Leader's seat | Witney | Doncaster North | Did not stand | |
| Last election | 306 | 256 | 6 | |
| Seats after | 331 | 232 | 56 | |
| Seat change |  25
|
 26
|
50
| |
| Fourth party | ||||
|
||||
| Leader | Nick Clegg | |||
| Party | Liberal Democrats (UK)
| |||
| Leader since | 18 December 2007 | |||
| Leader's seat | Sheffield Hallam | |||
| Last election | 56 | |||
| Seats after | 8 | |||
| Seat change | 48
| |||
Prime Minister before election
David Cameron Conservative
Subsequent Prime Minister
David Cameron Conservative | ||||
The 2015 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday, 7 May 2015 to elect 650 members to the British House of Commons. The Conservative Party captured the majority in one of the biggest upsets in U.K. history.
Many were shocked by the results of the elections, as the Tories had consistently trailed Labour in opinion polls all the way up to election day. Some attributed the upset to the gradual GDP growth of the U.K. since the Tories took power in 2010. While some believed that SNP's blowout over Labour in Scotland had greatly affected the outcome. Others pointed to the defection of Labour voters to UKIP, as the majority had previously believed the Conservatives would suffer from the fourth party's rise.
The Labour Party was demoralized, while the LibDems were driven into near extinction. UKIP lost one seat, despite predictions that they would become the recognized fourth party of the U.K.
Ed Miliband and Nick Clegg both stepped down following the elections, shamed by their parties' poor performances.