General Election 2019: how high was turnout in Scotland and the UK?

Turnout was up in Scotland this General Election – as was the popular vote for the SNP.

Turnout was up 1.6% in Scotland (Getty Images)

Boris Johnson emerged this morning as the UK's Prime Minister after the Conservative Party claimed a bruising majority, while the SNP claimed 48 of the 59 seats available in Scotland.

Two-thirds of the UK electorate - 47,587,254 in total - cast their vote at the 2019 General Election, down slightly on the 2017 election. 

With one seat still to declare the turnout stands at 67.3 %, approximately 1.5% less than the previous election.

The SNP significanlty increased their share of the popular vote (Getty Images)

Overall turnout was up in Scotland, however, as was the the SNP’s share of the popular vote.

Winning the popular vote

The Scottish National Party (SNP) saw a dramatic growth in their popular vote increasing from 977,569 to 1,242,380. 

Swathes of traditional Labour supporters appear to have swapped their loyalties for the Conservatives, with 13,905,520 voters in total casting their vote in favour of Johnson's party - up from 13,636,684 in 2017.

This dwarfed Labour's total of 10,282,632, dropping from 12,878,460 in 2017. 

Despite losing a seat the Liberal Democrats saw an increase in votes across the board winning 3,662,297 of the popular vote, up from 2,371,910.

How did turnout vary by country? 

Scotland’s turnout was up on the previous election with 68.1% of the electorate voting compared to 66.5% in 2017. 

England's turnout, meanwhile was down on the 2017 General Election from 69.1% to 67.4%.

In Wales there was a significant drop in turnout of 2%, dipping from 68.6% in 2017 to 66.6%.

Turnout was also significantly down in Northern Ireland with just 61.8% turnout, down from 65.4%.

A brief history

Figures from the House of Commons Library show how general election turnout – which measures valid votes as a percentage of total electors – has fluctuated since 1918.

At the most recent election in 2017 – when Theresa May lost her government majority – the turnout was 68.8 per cent, marking the fourth successive poll in which it increased.

This was almost 10 per cent higher than for Tony Blair's reelection in 2001, when 59.4 per cent of the electorate cast their vote, the lowest since 1918, which took place just after the First World War and drew a turnout of just 57.2 per cent.

The highest turnouts seen in the UK came in 1950 and 1951 at 83.9 per cent and 82.6 per cent respectively – the only occasions when the figure has climbed above 80 per cent.

Labour won the 1950 election, with Clement Attlee claiming a slim majority of just five seats. The government called a snap poll 20 months later, seeking to extend the party's grip on the Commons but, despite winning the popular vote, were beaten by Winston Churchill's  Conservatives, who stayed in power until 1964.