Introduction: more power (the EP), less influence (the UK)

The United Kingdom was not “present at the creation” of the European Economic Community in 1957, but it was very much present when the first direct elections to the European Parliament (EP) took place on 7–10 June 1979. Indeed, the elections had been postponed from the 1978 date initially envisaged by the 1974 Paris European Council because of delays in the UK’s parliamentary ratification of the necessary implementing legislation (following on from the 1976 EEC Act). Characteristically, the delays were due, in part, to growing opposition within the governing Labour Party to the very principle of direct elections, but they were also due to an extended debate about the type of electoral system to be used. Because of Northern Ireland’s special circumstances, a broad agreement emerged about the use of the Single Transferable Vote for the province (to secure the representation of the Catholic minority). But for the mainland there were protracted arguments in favour of some system of proportional representation on the one hand, and an extrapolation of the Westminster-style, constituency-based, first-past-the-post system on the other. For example, Edward Heath, championing PR, argued that first-past-the-post would inter alia freeze out small parties and lead to widespread distortions (Huber 1979: 163). Proportional representation, argued others, “could endanger the British party system” and “allow minorities (or even extremists) to gain seats” (ibid.: 162). In reality, as this chapter will show, such arguments were two sides of the same coin.

In the end, parliament opted for STV to return three members for Northern Ireland and 78 constituencies for the rest of the United Kingdom, using the first-past-the-post electoral system. The European Assembly Elections Bill passed into law on 4 May 1978 and the other, disgruntled member states subsequently decided to postpone the European elections to June 1979. The United Kingdom would be the only one of the then nine member states not to use some form of proportional representation. As will be seen below, there was further disgruntlement when, as Edward Heath had predicted, the first direct elections in the UK produced a distorted result.