Barnsley Central by-election, 2011

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Barnsley Central by-election
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Barnsley Central constituency
 First partySecond partyThird party
  Official portrait of Dan Jarvis crop 2.jpg JaneCollinsMEPUKIP.jpg No image.svg
Candidate Dan Jarvis Jane Collins James Hockney
Party Labour UKIP Conservative
Popular vote14,7242,9531,999
Percentage60.8%12.2%8.3%
SwingIncrease2.svg13.5%Increase2.svg7.5%Decrease2.svg9.0%
 Fourth partyFifth party
  No image.svg No image.svg
CandidateEnis DaltonTony Devoy
Party BNP Independent
Popular vote1,4631,266
Percentage6.0%5.2%
SwingDecrease2.svg9.0%New party
BarnsleyCentral2007Constituency.svg
Map showing the Barnsley Central Parliamentary constituency within the county of South Yorkshire.
MP before election

Eric Illsley
Labour

Subsequent MP

Dan Jarvis
Labour

The Barnsley Central by-election was a by-election for the Parliament of the United Kingdom's House of Commons constituency of Barnsley Central which took place on 3 March 2011. [1] The by-election resulted in the Labour Party holding the seat with an increased majority.

Parliament of the United Kingdom supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom

The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known internationally as the UK Parliament, British Parliament, or Westminster Parliament, and domestically simply as Parliament, is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It alone possesses legislative supremacy and thereby ultimate power over all other political bodies in the UK and the overseas territories. Parliament is bicameral but has three parts, consisting of the Sovereign, the House of Lords, and the House of Commons. The two houses meet in the Palace of Westminster in the City of Westminster, one of the inner boroughs of the capital city, London.

House of Commons of the United Kingdom lower house in the Parliament of the United Kingdom

The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster. Officially, the full name of the house is the Honourable the Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in Parliament assembled. Owing to shortage of space, its office accommodation extends into Portcullis House.

Barnsley Central (UK Parliament constituency) Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom

Barnsley Central is a constituency in South Yorkshire represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2011 by Dan Jarvis of the Labour Party.

Contents

Background

On 19 June 2009, Barnsley Central MP Eric Illsley of the Labour Party was one of dozens of MPs identified by the Daily Telegraph as having made "phantom" claims for council tax on their parliamentary expenses. Illsley claimed over £10,000 for council tax in four years although he was only charged £3,966 for his Band C property in Lambeth in this period. He regularly submitted claims for £200 a month, which meant that he did not have to submit receipts. [2] He was re-elected in the 2010 general election, but shortly after, on 19 May 2010, he was charged with three counts of false accounting. [3] He was subsequently suspended from the Labour Party [3] and continued to sit as an Independent Labour MP.

Eric Evlyn Illsley is a British Labour politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Barnsley Central from 1987 until 2011. He was a Labour Party representative until suspended from the party after being charged with false accounting as part of the United Kingdom Parliamentary expenses scandal, and then sat as an Independent. When he pleaded guilty to three counts of false accounting on 11 January 2011, he became the first sitting Member of Parliament to be convicted of a criminal offence in the scandal. Illsley resigned from the House of Commons on 8 February 2011, following his conviction, and was sentenced to 12 months' imprisonment on 10 February 2011.

The Labour Party is a centre-left political party in the United Kingdom which has been described as an alliance of social democrats, democratic socialists and trade unionists. The party's platform emphasises greater state intervention, social justice and strengthening workers' rights.

Lambeth district in Central London, England

Lambeth is a district in Central London, England, in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is situated 1 mile (1.6 km) south of Charing Cross. The population of the London Borough of Lambeth was 303,086 in 2011. The area experienced some slight growth in the medieval period as part of the manor of Lambeth Palace. By the Victorian era the area had seen significant development as London expanded, with dense industrial, commercial and residential buildings located adjacent to one another. The changes brought by World War II altered much of the fabric of Lambeth. Subsequent development in the late 20th and early 21st centuries has seen an increase in the number of high-rise buildings. The area is home to the International Maritime Organization.

On 11 January 2011, Illsley pleaded guilty to three charges. [4] Sentencing was postponed for four weeks, during which Illsley remained an MP and therefore continued to receive a Parliamentary salary. A prison sentence of more than 12 months would have meant Illsley being automatically disqualified from Parliament under the provisions of the Representation of the People Act 1981, [5] but a sentence of 12 months or less would not. [6] [7] The Speaker ruled that Illsley's case was sub judice and therefore no motion to expel him from the House of Commons could be debated until after sentencing. Labour leader Ed Miliband and others called on Illsley to resign, and Illsley announced on 12 January 2011 that he would do so. [8] Illsley resigned on 8 February, two days before sentencing. [9] The writ for the by-election was moved the following day, setting polling day as 3 March 2011. [1] On 10 February, Illsley was sentenced to exactly 12 months.

Representation of the People Act 1981

The Representation of the People Act 1981 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

Speaker of the House of Commons (United Kingdom) presiding officer of the United Kingdoms lower chamber of Parliament

The Speaker of the House of Commons is the presiding officer of the House of Commons, the United Kingdom's lower chamber of Parliament. The office is currently held by John Bercow, who was initially elected on 22 June 2009, following the resignation of Michael Martin. He has since been re-elected (unopposed) three times, following the general elections in 2010, 2015 and 2017.

In law, sub judice, Latin for "under judgment", means that a particular case or matter is under trial or being considered by a judge or court. The term may be used synonymously with "the present case" or "the case at bar" by some lawyers.

At the 2010 general election, Barnsley Central was Labour's 52nd safest seat, [10] and has, with its predecessor seat of Barnsley been held by the party since 1935. In 2010, the Liberal Democrats and the Conservative Party took second and third places, with only six votes separating them. The British National Party was the only other party to retain its deposit.

A safe seat is an electoral district (constituency) in a legislative body which is regarded as fully secure, for either a certain political party, or the incumbent representative personally or a combination of both. In such seats, there is very little chance of a seat changing hands because of the political leanings of the electorate in the constituency concerned and/or the popularity of the incumbent member. The opposite type of seat is a marginal seat.

Barnsley was a Parliamentary constituency covering the town of Barnsley in England. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post voting system.

Liberal Democrats (UK) Political party in the United Kingdom

The Liberal Democrats are a liberal political party in the United Kingdom. They presently have 11 Members of Parliament in the House of Commons, 96 members of the House of Lords, and one member of the European Parliament. They also have five Members of the Scottish Parliament and a member each in the Welsh Assembly and London Assembly. The party reached the height of its influence in the early 2010s, forming a junior partner in a coalition government from 2010 to 2015. It is presently led by Vince Cable.

Candidates

Barnsley Council confirmed the Statement of Persons Nominated on 16 February. [11]

Labour Party members of the Barnsley Central constituency chose Dan Jarvis as their candidate on 27 January 2011. [12] Jarvis, a Major in the 1st Battalion, The Parachute Regiment who served in Kosovo, Sierra Leone, Iraq and Afghanistan, is the first Labour candidate for this constituency or its predecessor to be born outside Yorkshire since 1938. [13]

Dan Jarvis British politician

Daniel Owen Woolgar Jarvis, is a British Labour Party politician and former British Army Major. From 1997 to 2011, he served in the Parachute Regiment of the British Army, before being elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Barnsley Central in a by-election. He was elected as Mayor of the Sheffield City Region in 2018.

On 10 February it was disclosed that Conservative Party leader David Cameron had approached former Yorkshire cricketer Darren Gough, known to be a party supporter, with an invitation to fight the seat. Gough declined due to other commitments but pledged to campaign in the by-election. [14] Later that day 32-year-old businessman James Hockney was announced as the Conservative candidate. [15] Hockney is a South Cambridgeshire councillor who fought the neighbouring Barnsley East constituency in 2010. [16]

The Liberal Democrats selected journalist Dominic Carman on 12 February. The son of late barrister George Carman, he had fought Barking at the 2010 election and, as a long-time campaigner against the British National Party, [17] wrote an unofficial biography of British National Party leader Nick Griffin that remains unpublished. [18] [19] (On polling day, the London Evening Standard reported that Nick Clegg had not visited the seat at all during the campaign, and was "the first Lib-Dem leader to jettison his candidate in this way since at least 1999". [20] )

The British National Party had declared its intention to stand Enis Dalton as a candidate in the election. [21] [22] The Candidate for UK Independence Party was Jane Collins, a miner's daughter from Pontefract. [23]

Independent candidate Tony Devoy stood in the same constituency at the general election with policies related to living wages and MP salary reductions. He was the Libertas.eu lead candidate at the 2009 European Parliament elections in the East Midlands region. [24] [25] Fellow independent Michael Val Davies campaigned on reforming the tax system, telling the Barnsley Chronicle newspaper that he had 'no chance of winning' the byelection. [26]

Result

Labour retained the seat with a significantly increased majority, while the Liberal Democrats suffered a sharp fall in votes compared to the election 10 months previously. UKIP finished second with nearly one in eight of the votes, while the Conservatives finished third with just over 8% of the votes, and the British National Party's 6% share of the vote saw them finish fourth.

The result was notable for being the first time that UKIP came second in a Westminster election, and for the large drops in vote share by the coalition Government members, the Liberal Democrats' sixth position attracting particular attention. [27] [28] This would set the pattern for many more by-elections during the 2010-2015 parliament; the Liberal Democrats would lose their deposit in 11 of 19 by-elections in Great Britain, while UKIP came second in eight contests, and would ultimately go on to win two by-elections in 2014.

General election results since 1983 BarnsleyCentralGraph.png
General election results since 1983
ElectionPolitical resultCandidatePartyVotes%±%
Barnsley Central by-election, 2011  [29]
Turnout: 24,219 (36.5%) -19.6		 Labour hold
Majority: 11,771 (48.6%) +18.6
Swing: 13.3% from Lib Dem to Lab 		Dan Jarvis Labour 14,72460.8+13.5
Jane Collins UKIP 2,95312.2+7.5
James Hockney Conservative 1,9998.3-9.0
Enis Dalton BNP 1,4636.0-2.9
Tony Devoy Independent 1,2665.2+3.6
Dominic Carman Liberal Democrat 1,0124.2-13.1
Kevin Riddiough English Democrat 5442.2N/A
Howling Laud Hope Monster Raving Loony 1980.8N/A
Michael Davies Independent 600.2N/A
General Election 2010   [30] [31]
Turnout: 37,001 (56.5%) +8.8		 Labour hold
Majority: 11,093 (30.0%) −14.5
Swing: 5.5% from Lab to Lib Dem 		Eric Illsley Labour 17,48747.3−10.4
Christopher Wiggin Liberal Democrat 6,39417.3+0.7
Piers Tempest Conservative 6,38817.3+2.5
Ian Sutton BNP 3,3078.9+4.4
David Silver UKIP 1,7274.7N/A
Donald Wood Independent 7322.0-2.1
Tony Devoy Independent 6101.6N/A
Terence Robinson Socialist Labour 3561.0N/A

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 "Race to succeed shamed MP under way". Press Association. 9 February 2011.
  2. ↑ Winnett, Robert; Wyatt, Holly (19 June 2009). "MPs' expenses: MPs made inflated council tax claims". London: Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 19 May 2010.
  3. 1 2 "Labour MP charged over expenses". BBC. 19 May 2010. Archived from the original on 22 May 2010. Retrieved 19 May 2010.
  4. ↑ "MPs' expenses: Labour's Eric Illsley admits fraud". BBC website. 11 January 2011. Retrieved 11 January 2011.
  5. ↑ Alexandra Topping (11 January 2011). "Eric Illsley admits MP expenses charges | Politics | guardian.co.uk". London: Guardian. Archived from the original on 26 January 2011. Retrieved 20 January 2011.
  6. ↑ "Representation of the People Act 1981". legislation.gov.uk. 2 July 1981. Retrieved 27 February 2011.
  7. ↑ PA (12 January 2011). "MP Eric Illsley resigns after expenses shame". London: The Independent. Retrieved 27 February 2011.
  8. ↑ Shamed expenses fraud MP Eric Illsley still picking up full salary Archived 29 January 2011 at the Wayback Machine ., Joe Murphy, Evening Standard, 26 January 2011
  9. ↑ "Expenses fraud Barnsley Central MP Eric Illsley resigns", BBC News , 8 February 2011
  10. ↑ "Constituencies in order of % Majority after the 2010 General Election". Politicsresources.net. 13 January 2011. Retrieved 20 January 2011.
  11. ↑ "Statement of Persons Nominated and Notice of Poll" (PDF). Barnsley Council on-line. 16 February 2011.
  12. ↑ Barnsley candidate announced Archived 28 January 2011 at the Wayback Machine . LabourList accessed 27 January 2010
  13. ↑ "Len Tingle's Blog: Dan Jarvis – a surprise choice for Labour in Barnsley". BBC News online. Archived from the original on 11 February 2011. Retrieved 12 February 2011.
  14. ↑ "Darren Gough turns down chance to become Tory candidate". BBC News online. 10 February 2011.
  15. ↑ Isaby, Jonathan (10 February 2011). "James Hockney to be Conservative candidate at Barnsley Central by-election". ConservativeHome.
  16. ↑ UK Polling Report, Barnsley East
  17. ↑ Dominic Carman: “Why I’m standing against Nick Griffin”, The Times, 23 April 2010
  18. ↑ Dominic Carman>Liberal Democrat, Barking Daily Telegraph
  19. ↑ Duffett, Helen (12 February 2011). "Dominic Carman selected as Liberal Democrat candidate for Barnsley Central by-election". Liberal Democrat Voice.
  20. ↑ Evening Standard, 3 March 2011, p.16
  21. ↑ "British National Party Will Fight Barnsley Central By-Election | British National Party". Bnp.org.uk. Archived from the original on 15 January 2011. Retrieved 20 January 2011.
  22. ↑ "British National Party". Bnp.org.uk. 29 January 2011. Archived from the original on 1 February 2011. Retrieved 2 February 2011.
  23. ↑ UKIP candidate launches campaign Barnlsey Chronicle
  24. ↑ Yorkshire and Humberside candidates UKPolling
  25. ↑ Leaflets tagged with Devoy electionleaflets.org
  26. ↑ Independent has 'no chance' of winning Barnsley Chronicle
  27. ↑ Lib Dems slump to sixth as Labour win Barnsley poll, BBC News, 4 March 2011
  28. ↑ Barnsley by-election: What now for Lib Dems?, by Brian Wheeler, BBC News, 4 March 2011
  29. ↑ "By election result for Barnsley Central". BBC. 4 March 2011. Archived from the original on 4 March 2011. Retrieved 4 March 2011.
  30. ↑ Barnsley Central UKPolling
  31. ↑ "UK general election 2010: Results for Barnsley Central". Electoral Commission. Archived from the original on 28 December 2010. Retrieved 12 January 2011.

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