Gibraltar were given the right to vote in the European Parliament elections. The British government decided not to give Gibraltar its own seat due to its small electorate of just over 20,000 which would have meant with just one seat Gibraltar would have been over-represented by about 30 times the average. None of the main Gibraltar political parties contested the election, so voters chose from United Kingdom party lists. However, Lyana Armstrong-Emery of Gibraltar's Reform Party had a place on a joint list with the Green Party. In addition both the leader of the Conservative Party, Michael Howard, and his deputy, Michael Ancram, campaigned in Gibraltar. Turnout in Gibraltar was 57.5%, higher than the 37.6% for the South West England electoral region as a whole. The Conservative Party polled over two-thirds of the Gibraltar vote, with no other party exceeding 10% support. Northern Ireland Turnout in Northern Ireland was 51.2%. Sinn Féin beat the SDLP in the polls and took its first Northern Ireland seat. Sinn Féin also won a seat in the corresponding elections in the Republic of Ireland. Sinn Féin and the DUP increased their shares of the vote relative to the 1999 European Parliament elections, while the shares for both the SDLP and the UUP fell. This was also the final election in which a Unionist candidate topped the poll in Northern Ireland. Jim Allister of the DUP and Bairbre de Brún of Sinn Féin were elected in the first round while Jim Nicholson of the UUP was elected in the third stage, after the votes of the other candidates were reallocated. Summary of the election results for Northern Ireland MEPs defeated Labour David Bowe (Yorkshire and the Humber) Bill Miller (Scotland) Brian Simpson (North West England) - returned to the European Parliament in September 2006 and subsequently defended his seat in 2009. Mo O'Toole (North East England) Mark F. Watts (South East England) Conservative Jacqueline Foster (North West England) - was subsequently reelected in the 2009 election. Alexander Macmillan (South West England) Roy Perry (South East England) Ian Twinn (London) - only took seat on 21 October 2003 after the ill-health resignation of Lord Bethell. Plaid Cymru Eurig Wyn (Wales) Aftermath Both Tony Blair and Michael Howard faced criticism for their results with then Secretary of State for Health John Reid calling the results "disappointing" for Labour and "disastrous" for the Conservatives. Shortly after the election