[1] These representative diagrams show the composition of the parties in the 1997 general election.

This is not the official seating plan of the House of Commons, which has five rows of benches on each side, with the government party to the right of the speaker and opposition parties to the left, but with room for only around two-thirds of MPs to sit at any one time.

The effective majority is slightly higher as Sinn Féin members choose not to take up their seats, and the speaker doesn't usually vote.

Speaker Betty Boothroyd was included in a Labour notional majority for statistical purposes.

Note: See the list of United Kingdom by-elections.