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The new British Parliament will see only slight differences as regards Welsh, Scottish, Northern Irish and Cornish parties in favour of breaking the union with England. Tories turned out to be the winners in the whole of the UK despite an insufficient victory, while Plaid Cymru, the Scottish National Party and Sinn Féin kept their 3, 6 and 4 seats each.

In Northern Ireland the seat obtained by the Alliance Party (AP) –the main cross-community political force in the North– came as a surprise mostly because it was taken from the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) –the main protestant and pro-British party. Thus AP has won its first seat ever in a general election, unseating current First Minister of Northern Ireland and DUP leader Peter Robinson. As regards the Irish side, Sinn Féin gained 4 seats and 3 went to the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP).

Labour’s hold over Scotland restrained the party’s fall in the rest of the UK. Results in Scotland are the same as in 2005: 41 seats for Labour, 10 for the Libdems, 6 for the Scottish National Party (SNP) and 1 for the conservatives. The SNP failed to deliver the East Glasgow seat, a traditionally Labour stronghold which was won by the SNP in the 2008 Scottish elections, and fell short of the 20 seats expected by SNP leader Alex Salmond. The effects of being ruled by conservatives in London without hardly any electoral strength in Scotland remain to be seen.

Elections in Wales have brought about the swapping of seats between conservatives (8 seats) and Labour (26), while Plaid Cymru (11%) and LibDems retain 3 seats each.

Cornish nationalists have failed to deliver any seat to Westminster, as Mebyon Kernow (MK) failed short to win in any of the constituencies. Leader of MK Dick Cole got his best results in St Austell and Newquay, coming fourth with 4.3% of the share. However, the party managed to run candidates in the 6 constituencies of Cornwall, which makes it a milestone in the party’s history. Tories took over from the LibDems in at least 3 constituencies.

The weight of Welsh and Scottish nationalism in Westminster

Minority forces might play a decisive role in this "hung parliament", as shown by the renewed alliance between the SNP and Plaid Cymru (9 seats all together). Nevertheless, the key to hold government is in the hands of the LibDems, which could form majority with either Tories or Labour.

Results (seats and percentage of votes):
Conservative: 306 (36%)
Labour: 258 (29%)
Liberal Democrat: 57 (23%)
DUP: 8 (0'6%)
SNP: 6 (1'7%)
Sinn Féin: 5 (0'6%)
Plaid Cymru: 3 (0'6%)
SDLP: 3 (0'4%)
Green: 1 (1%)
Alliance Party: 1 (0'1%)
Independent: 1 (1%)

Further information:

• Election results at Times, BBC i Guardian.