2024 Kingswood by-election

2024 Kingswood by-election

←  2019 15 February 2024 July 2024  →
Kingswood constituency
Turnout	37.1% ( 34.4 pp)
First party Second party   Con Candidate Damien Egan Sam Bromiley Party Labour Conservative Popular vote 11,176 8,675 Percentage 44.9% 34.9% Swing 11.5 pp 21.3 pp   Third party Fourth party   Grn Candidate Rupert Lowe Lorraine Francis Party Reform UK Green Popular vote 2,578 1,450 Percentage 10.4% 5.8% Swing New 3.4 pp
Boundary of the Kingswood constituency in Avon
MP before election Chris Skidmore Independent [N 1] Elected MP Damien Egan Labour

A by-election took place on 15 February 2024 in the UK Parliament constituency of Kingswood in South Gloucestershire. This followed the resignation of Conservative ^{[N 1]} MP Chris Skidmore, in protest at the UK government's decision to issue more oil and gas licences. Skidmore announced his resignation on 5 January and it was effected three days later.

The election was won by Damien Egan of the Labour Party with a 16% swing. The turnout was 37.1%. ^[1]

The by-election took place on the same day as the Wellingborough by-election, also won by Labour from the Conservatives.

Constituency

The Kingswood constituency in South Gloucestershire had been won by the main party of government since its creation in February 1974, except for 1992. It voted Leave in the 2016 EU referendum by a margin of 58% to 42%. ^[2]

In the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, Kingswood was set to be split between three seats: North East Somerset and Hanham, Bristol North East, and Filton and Bradley Stoke. ^[3] The new boundaries did not impact the by-election, instead taking effect at the 2024 general election. Egan had already been selected as the Labour candidate for Bristol North East.

Background

Chris Skidmore

Chris Skidmore was first elected to the constituency of Kingswood in the 2010 general election, gaining the seat from the incumbent Labour MP Roger Berry. As Minister for Energy and Clean Growth, he signed the UK's net zero pledge into law. ^[4] He has stated his opposition to further oil and gas extraction in the UK, including his refusal to support the government of Liz Truss on the matter in October 2022. ^[5]

He announced his resignation on 5 January 2024, prior to the second reading of the Offshore Petroleum Licensing Bill which would guarantee annual licensing rounds, having previously announced he would be standing down at the 2024 general election. ^[6] Skidmore formally resigned as a member of Parliament on 8 January. ^[7]

The writ of election was moved on 11 January 2024 and the date of election is 15 February 2024, the same day as another by-election in Wellingborough. ^[8]

Candidates

The Labour Party selected Damien Egan as their candidate on 9 January. ^[9] Egan was elected Mayor of Lewisham in 2018, and in July 2023 was selected as parliamentary candidate for Bristol North East, ^[10] one of the seats that will succeed Kingswood following the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies. ^[11] Egan resigned the mayorality to contest the seat. ^[12]

The Conservative Party selected Sam Bromiley, the party group's leader on the South Gloucestershire Council, on 14 January. ^[13] He is a councillor for Parkwall & Warmley. ^[14]

Though initially stating that they would not stand a candidate over frustrations with the cost of the by-election, Reform UK later selected former MEP for the West Midlands and Referendum Party candidate Rupert Lowe. ^{[15] [16]}

The Liberal Democrats selected Bristol City councillor Andrew Brown, who works in the financial sector and is a councillor for the Hengrove and Whitchurch Park ward. ^[17]

The Green Party candidate was another Bristol City councillor, Lorraine Francis. ^[18] Francis is a councillor for the Eastville ward and a social worker, who had already been selected as their candidate for Bristol North East at the next general election. ^[19] She campaigned on protecting the green belt from development. ^[20]

The UK Independence Party (UKIP) selected Nicholas Wood, its May 2023 candidate in the Surrey County Council by-election for the Walton South & Oatlands division and Elmbridge Council elections for Oatlands and Burwood Park ward. ^{[21] [22] [23]}

Result

Bar chart of the election result.

2024 Kingswood by-election ^{[24] [25]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Damien Egan	11,176	44.9	+11.5
	Conservative	Sam Bromiley	8,675	34.9	–21.3
	Reform UK	Rupert Lowe	2,578	10.4	New
	Green	Lorraine Francis	1,450	5.8	+3.4
	Liberal Democrats	Andrew Brown	861	3.5	–3.5
	UKIP	Nicholas Wood	129	0.5	New
Majority			2,501	10.0	N/A
Turnout			24,869	37.1	–34.4
Registered electors			67,103
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+16.4

Previous result

General election 2019: Kingswood ^[26]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Chris Skidmore	27,712	56.2	+1.3
	Labour	Nicola Bowden-Jones	16,492	33.4	–6.1
	Liberal Democrats	Dine Romero	3,421	6.9	+3.3
	Green	Joseph Evans	1,200	2.4	+0.4
	Animal Welfare	Angelika Cowell	489	1.0	New
Majority			11,220	22.8	+7.4
Turnout			49,314	71.5	+1.3
Registered electors			68,972
	Conservative hold		Swing	+3.7

Notes

1. Skidmore resigned from the Conservative Party when announcing his resignation from Parliament, meaning that he was nominally an independent MP when the latter was effected

References

1. Baker, Tim (16 February 2024). "Kingswood by-election: Labour takes seat from Tories in key vote". Sky News. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
2. "Seat Details – Kingswood". Electoral Calculus. Retrieved 6 January 2024.
3. "Initial proposals for new Parliamentary constituency boundaries in the South West region". Boundary Commission for England. p. 5. Retrieved 6 January 2024.
4. "UK becomes first major economy to pass net zero emissions law". gov.uk. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
5. "Fracking: Tory MPs set to defy Liz Truss in loyalty vote". BBC News. 19 October 2022. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
6. "Chris Skidmore: Tory MP quits over oil and gas licences". BBC News. BBC. 5 January 2024. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
7. "Former net zero tsar Chris Skidmore formally quits as MP triggering by-election". The Independent. 8 January 2024. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
8. "Kingswood by-election 2024". South Gloucestershire Council. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
9. Cork, Tristan (9 January 2024). "Labour announce candidate to fight Kingswood by-election". Bristol Live. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
10. "London candidate beats Bristol mayor for MP seat". BBC News. 30 July 2023. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
11. "The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume one: Report – South West". Boundary Commission for England. p. 3. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
12. "Resignation of Damien Egan, Mayor of Lewisham". Lewisham Council. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
13. "Sam Bromiley chosen as Tory Party candidate for by-election". BBC News. 15 January 2024. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
14. Feather, Becky (15 January 2024). "Sam Bromiley chosen to defend Kingswood for the Tories at next month's by-election". The Week In. Retrieved 15 January 2013.
15. Ross, Alex (13 January 2024). "'Waste of money, waste of time': The unwanted by-election in the constituency destined for the scrapheap". The Independent. Retrieved 14 January 2024.
16. "Reform UK announce candidate for Kingswood by-election". Bristol24/7 . 17 January 2024. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
17. Booth, Martin (19 January 2024). "Andrew Brown named as Lib Dem candidate for Kingswood by-election". Bristol24/7. Retrieved 19 January 2024.
18. Rowsell, Simeon. "Lorraine Francis". Bristol Green Party. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
19. Feather, Becky (18 January 2024). "Greens announce their candidate for Kingswood by-election". The Week In. Retrieved 18 January 2013.
20. Feather, Becky (12 February 2024). "Kingswood's Green candidate backs protecting the Green Belt from house-building". The Week In. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
21. "NICHOLAS WOOD FOR #UKIP". UKIP Official Twitter account. Archived from the original on 21 January 2024. Retrieved 20 January 2024.
22. "Election results for Walton South & Oatlands". Surrey County Council. 4 May 2023. Archived from the original on 21 January 2024. Retrieved 20 January 2024.
23. "Election results for Oatlands & Burwood Park". Who Can I Vote For? (Elmbridge District Council). Archived from the original on 21 January 2024. Retrieved 20 January 2024.
24. "Statement of Persons Nominated" (PDF). South Gloucestershire Council. 19 January 2024. Retrieved 19 January 2024.
25. "Labour overturns Tory majority to win key by-election seat in Kingswood". BBC News. 16 February 2024. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
26. "Kingswood Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 5 January 2024.