2019 Newport West by-election

Last updated

2019 Newport West by-election
←  2017 4 April 2019 2019  →
Newport West constituency
Turnout37.1%
 First partySecond party
  Official portrait of Ruth Jones MP crop 2.jpg
CON
Candidate Ruth Jones Matthew Evans
Party Labour Conservative
Popular vote9,3087,357
Percentage39.631.3
SwingDecrease2.svg 12.7%Decrease2.svg 8%
 Third partyFourth party
  Neil Hamilton AM (28136586146).jpg
PC
Candidate Neil Hamilton Jonathan Clark
Party UKIP Plaid Cymru
Popular vote2,0231,185
Percentage8.65.0
SwingIncrease2.svg 6.1%Increase2.svg 2.5%
MP before election

Paul Flynn
Labour

Elected MP

Ruth Jones
Labour

A by-election was held in the UK Parliament constituency of Newport West in south Wales on 4 April 2019, following the death of Labour Party MP (Member of Parliament) Paul Flynn. Labour nominated the trade unionist Ruth Jones, who held the seat for the party with 40 per cent of the vote and a reduced majority. The Conservative candidate Matthew Evans came second with 31 per cent of the vote, followed by Neil Hamilton, the UKIP candidate, on 8%. This was the third parliamentary by-election held during the 57th UK Parliament, which was elected at the 2017 general election. [1]

Contents

Background

In October 2018, the sitting MP Paul Flynn indicated his intention to resign his seat in the imminent future following a worsening of his rheumatoid arthritis. [2] At the time, Flynn indicated that he would wait for a snap general election in case that allowed him to stand down without triggering a by-election, citing the expense involved in organising and holding one. [2] He died on 17 February 2019 following a "long illness". [3]

Newport West has been held by Labour since 1987, when Flynn won the seat from the Conservatives. The constituency is semi-marginal, with Labour majorities not exceeding 10,000 votes except during the electoral landslide of 1997. [4]

The writ of election was moved in Parliament on 28 February, scheduling the by-election for 4 April 2019. [5] [6]

Candidates and timetable

Flynn had indicated his intention to stand down at or before the next general election and political parties had begun to select candidates in Newport West for the next general election, [7] including Jonathan Clark (Plaid Cymru), [8] Matthew Evans (Welsh Conservatives), Ruth Jones (Welsh Labour) [6] and Amelia Womack (Green Party). [6] UKIP selected its Welsh leader Neil Hamilton. [9] The Liberal Democrats selected Ryan Jones. [10] Also standing were Richard Suchorzewski for the Abolish the Welsh Assembly Party; [11] June Davies for the Renew Party; [12] Ian McLean for the continuing SDP; [13] and candidates for For Britain and the Democrats and Veterans. [14]

The new Brexit Party said it would not be standing. [6] The recently formed Independent Group also declined to field its own candidate. [6]

The election was administered by Newport City Council, with the statement of persons nominated published on 8 March 2019. [15]

Campaign

Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford announced on 12 March that the expected decision on the construction of an M4 relief road around Newport would be delayed due to the purdah rules that had taken effect during the by-election. Such rules prevented the government from making major policy announcements to avoid unduly influencing an election campaign. The news was strongly criticised by the Conservative candidate. [16]

The national backdrop for the by-election was the continued uncertainty over Brexit during the Brexit negotiations in 2019, with the original planned date for leaving the European Union being postponed and the failure of the House of Commons to agree a way forward. The Conservatives were concerned this would adversely affect their vote. [17]

Result

Bar chart of the election result. 2019 Newport West by-election.svg
Bar chart of the election result.
2019 Newport West by-election [18]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Ruth Jones 9,308 39.6 −12.7
Conservative Matthew Evans7,35731.3−8.0
UKIP Neil Hamilton 2,0238.6+6.1
Plaid Cymru Jonathan Clark [19] 1,1855.0+2.5
Liberal Democrats Ryan Jones1,0884.6+2.4
Green Amelia Womack 9243.9+2.8
Renew June Davies8793.7N/A
Abolish Richard Suchorzewski2050.9N/A
SDP Ian McLean2020.9N/A
Democrats and Veterans Philip Taylor1850.8N/A
For Britain Hugh Nicklin1590.7N/A
Majority1,9518.3−4.7
Turnout 23,51537.1−30.4
Registered electors 63,623
Labour hold Swing −2.4

Previous result

Paul Flynn was re-elected to an eighth term of office in the 2017 general election, with an increased majority of 5,658 (13.0%) over the Conservative candidate.

General election 2017: Newport West [20]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Paul Flynn 22,723 52.3 +11.1
Conservative Angela Jones-Evans17,06539.3+6.8
UKIP Stan Edwards1,1002.5−12.7
Plaid Cymru Morgan Bowler-Brown1,0772.5−1.5
Liberal Democrats Sarah Lockyer9762.2−1.7
Green Pippa Bartolotti4971.1−2.0
Majority5,65813.0+4.3
Turnout 43,43867.5+2.6
Registered electors 64,399
Labour hold Swing +2.2

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wales (European Parliament constituency)</span> Constituency of the European Parliament

Wales was a constituency of the European Parliament. It elected 4 MEPs using the D'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation, until the UK exit from the European Union on 31 January 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Wales East (Senedd electoral region)</span> Electoral region of the Senedd

South Wales East is an electoral region of the Senedd, consisting of eight constituencies. The region elects 12 members, eight directly elected constituency members and four additional members. The electoral region was first used in 1999, when the National Assembly for Wales was created.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Flynn (politician)</span> British politician (1935–2019)

Paul Philip Flynn was a British Labour Party politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Newport West from the 1987 general election until his death in 2019. He briefly served as Shadow Secretary of State for Wales and Shadow Leader of the House of Commons in 2016, becoming the oldest MP to hold a Shadow Cabinet position, aged 81.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mohammad Asghar</span> British politician (1945–2020)

Mohammad Asghar, known as Oscar, was a Welsh politician who was a Member of the Senedd for South Wales East. He was a member of the Welsh Conservatives, and previously of Welsh Labour, and Plaid Cymru.

This article lists the election results and representation of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) with respect to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, Scottish Parliament, Senedd, Northern Ireland Assembly, London Assembly, European Parliament and local authorities.

Following the resignation of the sitting MP Alun Michael on 22 October 2012, a by-election for the Cardiff South and Penarth Westminster constituency was held on 15 November 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2016 National Assembly for Wales election</span>

The 2016 National Assembly for Wales election was held on Thursday 5 May 2016, to elect members (AMs) of the National Assembly for Wales, now known as the Senedd. It was the fifth election for the National Assembly, the third election taken under the rules of the Government of Wales Act 2006 and the first since the Wales Act 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nathan Gill</span> Reform UK politician

Nathan Lee Gill is a British politician, who was the Leader of Reform UK Wales from March to May 2021, when he resigned from the party. He previously served as Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for Wales from 2014 to January 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom</span> 2019 election of members of the European Parliament for the United Kingdom

The 2019 European Parliament election was the United Kingdom's component of the 2019 European Parliament election, held on Thursday 23 May 2019 and the results were announced on Sunday 26 and Monday 27 May 2019, after all the other EU countries had voted. This was the United Kingdom's final participation in a European Parliament election before leaving the European Union on 31 January 2020, and was also the last election to be held under the provisions of the European Parliamentary Elections Act 2002 before its repeal under the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2016 England and Wales police and crime commissioner elections</span>

Elections of police and crime commissioners in England and Wales were held on 5 May 2016.

The Abolish the Welsh Assembly Party, or in Wales, simply Abolish, is a registered single issue political party in Wales. It campaigns for the abolition of the Senedd, formerly known as the "National Assembly for Wales", the devolved legislature of Wales. Abolish advocates that devolved powers be returned to the Secretary of State for Wales within the UK Central Government and the Parliament of the United Kingdom at Westminster.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gareth Bennett (politician)</span> British politician

Gareth John BennettMS is a Welsh politician who served as the Leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) in the Senedd from 2018 to 2019, and was a Member of the Senedd (MS) for South Wales Central from 2016 to 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Members of the 5th National Assembly for Wales</span>

This is a list of Assembly Memberselected to thefifth National Assembly for Wales at the 2016 election. In May 2020, the representatives were renamed to Members of the Seneddin thefifth Senedd, they would be known as the fifth Senedd for the remainder of their term. From the 2021 election members would be elected under this new title of Senedd. There are a total of 60 members elected, 40 were elected from first past the post constituencies with a further 20 members being returned from five regions, each electing four AMs through mixed member proportional representation. In between elections, members of the legislature may not necessarily be of the same party or the same candidate elected in 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2021 Senedd election</span> General election held in Wales on 6 May 2021

The 2021 Senedd election took place on Thursday 6 May 2021 to elect 60 members to the Senedd. It was the sixth devolved general election since the Senedd was established in 1999. The election was held alongside the Scottish Parliament election, English local elections, London Assembly and mayoral election and the Hartlepool by-election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mandy Jones (politician)</span> Welsh politician

Mandy Jones is a Welsh politician who was a Member of the Senedd (MS) for North Wales from 2017 to 2021. Jones was elected for the UK Independence Party (UKIP) but sat as an independent politician within the Senedd from early January 2018 until May 2019, when she joined the Brexit Party. In October 2020 she joined the Independent Alliance for Reform group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Newport Independents Party</span> Political party in the United Kingdom

The Newport Independents Party is a small political party formed in 2017 to campaign in the city of Newport, Wales. The party won three council seats on Newport City Council in May 2022.

Events from the year 2019 in Wales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reform UK</span> Political party in the United Kingdom

Reform UK is a right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. It was founded with support from Nigel Farage in November 2018 as the Brexit Party, advocating hard Euroscepticism and a no-deal Brexit, and was a significant political force in 2019. After Brexit, it was renamed to Reform UK in January 2021, and became primarily an anti-lockdown party during the COVID-19 pandemic. Subsequently, in December 2022, it began campaigning on broader right-wing populist themes during the British cost-of-living crisis. Its greatest electoral success was as the Brexit Party, which won 29 seats and the largest share of the national vote in the 2019 European Parliament election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ruth Jones (politician)</span> British physiotherapist and Labour politician

Ruth Lorraine Jones is a British Labour Party politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Newport West since winning the seat at a by-election in April 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2019 Brecon and Radnorshire by-election</span> UK parliamentary by-election

A by-election was held in the UK Parliament constituency of Brecon and Radnorshire on 1 August 2019 after Chris Davies, who had held the seat for the Conservatives since the 2015 general election, was unseated by a recall petition. The by-election was won by Jane Dodds of the Liberal Democrats.

References

  1. ↑ "Newport West by-election: Labour holds on to seat". BBC News. 5 April 2019. Retrieved 8 January 2021.
  2. 1 2 Craig, Ian (26 October 2018). "Tributes paid to Paul Flynn following news he is to quit". South Wales Argus. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  3. ↑ "Tributes to veteran Labour MP Flynn". BBC News. 18 February 2019. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  4. ↑ "Newport West: 2015 Result". ukpollingreport.co.uk. UK Polling Report. Archived from the original on 19 February 2019. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  5. ↑ "Newport West by-election date announced". BBC News . 28 February 2019. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Craig, Ian (28 February 2019). "Newport West by-election to be held on April 4 following death of Paul Flynn". South Wales Argus . Retrieved 28 February 2019.
  7. ↑ "Green deputy leader selected as Newport West candidate". greenparty.org.uk. Green Party. 23 November 2018. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  8. ↑ Craig, Ian (10 February 2019). "Plaid select their Newport West Parliamentary candidate". South Wales Argus. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  9. ↑ "Neil Hamilton is Ukip's candidate for the Newport West by-election". South Wales Argus. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
  10. ↑ "Liberal Democrats announce Newport West by-election candidate". South Wales Argus. Retrieved 8 March 2019.
  11. ↑ Craig, Ian (22 February 2019). "Party dedicated to abolishing the Welsh Assembly will run in Newport West by-election". South Wales Argus. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
  12. ↑ Staff writer (28 February 2019). "Renew Party announces candidate for Newport West by-election". South Wales Argus. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
  13. ↑ "Social Democratic Party announces by-election candidate". South Wales Argus. Retrieved 8 March 2019.
  14. ↑ STATEMENT OF PERSONS NOMINATED AND NOTICE OF POLL/DATGANIAD YNGHYLCH Y PERSONAU A ENWEBWYD A HYSBYSIAD O’R BLEIDLAIS, Newport City Council
  15. ↑ Newport West Parliamentary By-election Newport City Council
  16. ↑ Craig, Ian (12 March 2019). "No M4 relief road decision until after by-election, confirms First Minister". South Wales Argus. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
  17. ↑ "Snap election under May would 'annihilate' Tories", By E Malnick & J Maidment. The Sunday Telegraph, p. 1, 31 March 2019
  18. ↑ "Newport West By-election results | Newport City Council". www.newport.gov.uk. Retrieved 5 April 2019.
  19. ↑ "Plaid4Newport". plaidnewport.blogspot.com. Retrieved 2 August 2022.
  20. ↑ "2017 Results". Newport Council. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.