The clear general trend is a swing against Labour, of about 6% on average. But the beneficiaries of the swing are varied. Around London and south-eastern England, the Conservatives gain by 1% to 3%. But in other regions, such as Yorkshire, North, West Midlands and South West, the Conservatives lose ground too as the Liberal Democrats and other parties gain.
These regional variations explain some of the seats which were won against national swing expectations, particularly in London.
We can also see the data in tabular form:
| Region | 2001 Election | 2005 Election | Swing | |||
| CON% | LAB% | CON% | LAB% | CON% | LAB% | |
| East Scotland | 17.0 | 37.2 | 16.3 | 33.5 | -0.7 | -3.7 |
| West Scotland | 13.9 | 51.8 | 15.3 | 46.1 | 1.4 | -5.7 |
| North | 24.7 | 55.7 | 22.9 | 49.6 | -1.8 | -6.1 |
| Lancashire | 28.9 | 52.3 | 27.8 | 47.1 | -1.1 | -5.2 |
| Greater Manchester | 24.3 | 53.7 | 23.7 | 47.2 | -0.6 | -6.5 |
| Yorkshire | 34.1 | 45.1 | 32.4 | 40.7 | -1.7 | -4.4 |
| Humberside | 30.3 | 49.1 | 30.2 | 43.0 | -0.1 | -6.1 |
| West Midlands | 30.6 | 51.3 | 29.5 | 44.4 | -1.1 | -6.9 |
| East Midlands | 35.2 | 46.7 | 34.6 | 40.8 | -0.6 | -5.9 |
| Severn | 37.5 | 41.2 | 38.7 | 35.7 | 1.2 | -5.5 |
| Wales | 21.0 | 48.6 | 21.4 | 42.7 | 0.4 | -5.9 |
| East Anglia | 41.2 | 38.4 | 41.6 | 31.6 | 0.4 | -6.8 |
| Essex | 43.0 | 35.2 | 46.0 | 28.7 | 3.0 | -6.5 |
| West | 37.2 | 32.9 | 38.6 | 27.8 | 1.4 | -5.1 |
| North London | 29.7 | 52.6 | 30.6 | 42.1 | 0.9 | -10.5 |
| South London | 31.3 | 42.6 | 33.2 | 36.1 | 1.9 | -6.5 |
| South West | 39.8 | 20.6 | 39.1 | 18.1 | -0.7 | -2.5 |
| South | 43.0 | 26.1 | 45.5 | 21.2 | 2.5 | -4.9 |
| South East | 43.1 | 32.9 | 44.6 | 27.9 | 1.5 | -5.0 |
| Total | 32.7 | 42.0 | 33.2 | 36.2 | 0.5 | -5.8 |
Details of the regions' makeup can be seen on the file format page. Compare with the 1997-2001 swing.