Vote! Photo Ti.mo, fickr

Voting patterns were considerably different in 2001 compared to 2005.

Labour received approximately 8 per cent more vote share in 2001, at 47 per cent, compared to 2005. The Conservatives received a broadly similar share of the votes in both elections, while the Liberal Democrats increased their vote share in 2005 by roughly 4 per cent. This time around the election is likely to be a much closer affair, with a more even distribution of votes expected for the three most prominent political parties.

As the charts showing percentage vote share demonstrate, voting patterns for the 2005 general election were broadly similar for both London and the UK as a whole. Just over a third of the vote in London, 39 per cent, went to Labour, compared to 35  per cent across the UK. In the case of both the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives, percentage vote share was identical for both London and the UK, at 22 per cent and 32 per cent respectively. However, the most recent projections for this year’s election, courtesy of YouGov, suggest a much tighter election race, with the Conservatives enjoying a roughly similar vote share at 33 per cent, Labour 30 per cent and the Liberal Democrats 29 per cent; an 8 per cent uplift over their 2005 performance.

Use the zoom tool to look closer at the graphs below.

2005 election, London percentage vote share

2005 election, UK percentage vote share

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2005 vs 2001 election percentage vote share

2005 election London votes

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cTo see the 2005  election results breakdown for each individual boroughs click HACKNEY, CROYDON, TOWER HAMLETS, LEWISHAM,