Election Turnout
12.18 At 66.5%, electorate turnout in the South West for the May 2005 General Election was the highest of any English region, and was much greater than the turnout for England as a whole (61.3%). The 2005 turnout in the South West was 1.6 percentage points higher than in 2001, a smaller rise than for England (+2.2 percentage points). Within the region in 2005, turnout tended to be higher in rural constituencies, and in the more closely contested urban seats. Dorset West had the highest turnout of any English constituency (76.4%).
12.19 In 2005, the South West also had the third highest proportion of votes cast by post among the 9 English regions (16.5%; England: 15.4%). Within the region, the proportion was highest in Cheltenham and St Ives, where more than a quarter of the votes were postal. For more analysis of past elections, and for details of forthcoming elections, please see The Electoral Commission website.