1999 Wigan by-election

Last updated

1999 Wigan by-election
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg
  1997 23 September 1999 2001  
Turnout25%
 First partySecond party
 
Candidate Neil Turner Tom Peet
Party Labour Conservative
Popular vote9,6412,912
Percentage59.6%18.0%
SwingDecrease2.svg9.0 pp Increase2.svg 1.1pp

 Third partyFourth party
  John Whittaker.jpg
CandidateJonathan Rule John Whittaker
Party Liberal Democrats UKIP
Popular vote2,148834
Percentage13.3%5.2%
SwingIncrease2.svg 3.3pp New

MP before election

Roger Stott
Labour

Elected MP

Neil Turner
Labour

The 1999 Wigan by-election of 23 September 1999 was held after the death of the incumbent Labour MP, Roger Stott.

Contents

The by-election was contested by nine candidates in total, with Labour selecting Neil Turner, who had been a local councillor for 27 years, to defend the seat. Meanwhile, the Conservatives chose Tom Peet, who was an active Trade Unionist and had worked at a nearby coal mine.

The result was a hold for the Labour Party, with Turner gaining 59.6% of the vote, in spite of a 5% swing to the Conservative Party.

Result of the by-election

Wigan by-election, 1999 [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Neil Turner 9,641 59.6 Decrease2.svg 9.0
Conservative Tom Peet2,91218.0Increase2.svg 1.1
Liberal Democrats Jonathan Rule2,14813.3Increase2.svg 3.3
UKIP John Whittaker 8345.2New
Socialist Labour William Kelly2401.5New
Green Chris Maile1901.2Increase2.svg 0.2
National Democrats Stephen Ebbs1000.6New
Natural Law Paul Davis640.4Increase2.svg 0.2
Independent David Braid580.4New
Majority6,72941.6Decrease2.svg 10.1
Turnout 16,18725.0Decrease2.svg 42.7
Labour hold Swing Decrease2.svg 5.0

Result of the previous general election

General election 1997: Wigan [2]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Roger Stott 30,043 68.6 Increase2.svg 5.6
Conservative Mark A. Loveday7,40016.9Decrease2.svg 6.7
Liberal Democrats Trevor R. Beswick4,39010.0Decrease2.svg 1.0
Referendum Anthony Bradborne1,4503.3New
Green Christopher Maile4421.0New
Natural Law William J. Ayliffe940.2Decrease2.svg 0.2
Majority22,64351.7Increase2.svg 12.3
Turnout 43,81967.7Decrease2.svg 8.5
Labour hold Swing Increase2.svg 6.2

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2001 United Kingdom general election</span>

The 2001 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 7 June 2001, four years after the previous election on 1 May 1997, to elect 659 members to the House of Commons. The governing Labour Party was re-elected to serve a second term in government with another landslide victory with a 167 majority, returning 412 members of Parliament versus 418 from the 1997 general election, a net loss of six seats, though with a significantly lower turnout than before—59.4%, compared to 71.6% at the previous election. The number of votes Labour received fell by nearly three million. Tony Blair went on to become the only Labour Prime Minister to serve two consecutive full terms in office. As Labour retained almost all of their seats won in the 1997 landslide victory, the media dubbed the 2001 election "the quiet landslide".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1997 United Kingdom general election</span>

The 1997 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday, 1 May 1997. The governing Conservative Party led by Prime Minister John Major was defeated in a landslide by the Labour Party led by Tony Blair, achieving a 179-seat majority.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1992 United Kingdom general election</span>

The 1992 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 9 April 1992, to elect 651 members to the House of Commons. The election resulted in the fourth consecutive victory for the Conservative Party since 1979, with a majority of 21 and would be the last time that the Conservatives would win an overall majority at a general election until 2015. It was also the last general election to be held on a day which did not coincide with any local elections until 2017. This election result took many by surprise, as opinion polling leading up to the election day had shown a narrow but consistent lead for the Labour Party under leader Neil Kinnock.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1987 United Kingdom general election</span>

The 1987 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 11 June 1987, to elect 650 members to the House of Commons. The election was the third consecutive general election victory for the Conservative Party, who won a majority of 102 seats and second landslide under the leadership of Margaret Thatcher, who became the first Prime Minister since the Earl of Liverpool in 1820 to lead a party into three successive electoral victories.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Politics of Scotland</span> Overview of the politics of Scotland

The politics of Scotland operate within the constitution of the United Kingdom, of which Scotland is a country. Scotland is a democracy, being represented in both the Scottish Parliament and the Parliament of the United Kingdom since the Scotland Act 1998. Most executive power is exercised by the Scottish Government, led by the First Minister of Scotland, the head of government in a multi-party system. The judiciary of Scotland, dealing with Scots law, is independent of the legislature and the Scottish Government. Scots law is primarily determined by the Scottish Parliament. The Scottish Government shares some executive powers with the Government of the United Kingdom's Scotland Office, a British government department led by the Secretary of State for Scotland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">October 1974 United Kingdom general election</span>

The October 1974 United Kingdom general election took place on Thursday 10 October 1974 to elect 635 members of the British House of Commons. It was the second general election held that year; the first year that two general elections were held in the same year since 1910; and the first time that two general elections were held less than a year apart from each other since the 1923 and 1924 elections, which took place 10 months apart. The election resulted in the Labour Party, led by Prime Minister Harold Wilson, winning a bare majority of three seats. That enabled the remainder of the Labour government to take place, but it saw a gradual loss of its majority.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sheffield Hallam (UK Parliament constituency)</span> Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 1885 onwards

Sheffield Hallam is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Olivia Blake of the Labour Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1999 Eddisbury by-election</span>

The 1999 Eddisbury by-election was a parliamentary by-election held on 22 July 1999 for the British House of Commons constituency of Eddisbury in Cheshire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1999 Hamilton South by-election</span>

On 4 August 1999, NATO announced that the Member of Parliament for the constituency of Hamilton South, in Scotland, George Robertson, had been chosen as their new Secretary-General. This meant that Robertson was required to resign from his seat which he had won at the 1997 general election. The seat had fallen vacant in a Parliamentary recess, and the law does not permit a by-election to be called during a recess if the sitting member resigns by taking the Chiltern Hundreds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brighton Pavilion (UK Parliament constituency)</span> Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom

Brighton Pavilion is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Caroline Lucas of the Green Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blaenau Gwent (UK Parliament constituency)</span> Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 1983 onwards

Blaenau Gwent is a constituency in South Wales, represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Nick Smith of the Labour Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brighton Kemptown (UK Parliament constituency)</span> UK Parliament constituency in England since 1950

Brighton Kemptown, often referred to as Brighton Kemptown and Peacehaven by local political parties, is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2017 by Lloyd Russell-Moyle, a Labour Co-op MP.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wolverhampton South West (UK Parliament constituency)</span> Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom

Wolverhampton South West is a constituency created in 1950 represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Stuart Anderson of the Conservative Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Putney (UK Parliament constituency)</span> Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 1918 onwards

Putney is a constituency created in 1918. It is currently represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Fleur Anderson of the Labour Party. Putney was the only seat that Labour gained during the 2019 general election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Witney (UK Parliament constituency)</span> Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom since 1983

Witney is a county constituency in Oxfordshire represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom since 2016 by Robert Courts of the Conservative Party. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first-past-the-post system of election, and was created for the 1983 general election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chingford and Woodford Green (UK Parliament constituency)</span> UK Parliament constituency since 1997

Chingford and Woodford Green is a constituency in North East London represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament by Sir Iain Duncan Smith of the Conservative Party since its creation in 1997.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harrow West (UK Parliament constituency)</span> Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 1945 onwards

Harrow West is a constituency in Greater London created in 1945 and represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. Until 1997, it only returned Conservative MPs; since then, it has elected the Labour Co-operative MP Gareth Thomas on a fluctuating majority. Since 2010, this has been bolstered by the loss of Pinner from the seat and the gain of a favourable ward for Labour from Harrow East.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Political history of the United Kingdom (1979–present)</span> Political outline of the history of the United Kingdom since 1979

The modern political history of the United Kingdom (1979–present) began when Margaret Thatcher gained power in 1979, giving rise to 18 years of Conservative government. Victory in the Falklands War (1982) and the government's strong opposition to trade unions helped lead the Conservative Party to another three terms in government. Thatcher initially pursued monetarist policies and went on to privatise many of Britain's nationalised companies such as British Telecom, British Gas Corporation, British Airways and British Steel Corporation. She kept the National Health Service. The controversial "poll tax" to fund local government was unpopular, and the Conservatives removed Thatcher as Prime Minister in 1990, although Michael Heseltine, the minister who did much to undermine her, did not personally benefit from her being ousted.

Welsh Labour, formerly known as the Labour Party in Wales, is an autonomous section of the United Kingdom Labour Party in Wales and the largest party in modern Welsh politics. Welsh Labour and its forebears have won a plurality of the Welsh vote at every UK general election since 1922, every Assembly and Senedd election since 1999, and all elections to the European Parliament in the period 1979–2004 and in 2014. Welsh Labour holds 22 of the 40 Welsh seats in the UK Parliament, 30 of the 60 seats in the Welsh Senedd and 576 of the 1,264 councillors in principal local authorities including overall control of 10 of the 22 principal local authorities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liberal Democrats (UK)</span> British political party

The Liberal Democrats are a liberal political party in the United Kingdom, founded in 1988. Since the 1992 general election, with the exception of the 2015 general election, they have been the third-largest UK political party by the number of votes cast. They have 15 members of Parliament in the House of Commons, 84 members of the House of Lords, four Members of the Scottish Parliament and one member in the Welsh Senedd. The party has nearly 3,000 local council seats. The party holds a twice-per-year Liberal Democrat Conference, at which party policy is formulated. In contrast to its main opponents' conference rules, the Lib Dems grant all members attending its Conference the right to speak in debates and vote on party policy, under a one member, one vote system. The party also allows its members to vote online for its policies and in the election of a new leader. The party served as the junior party in a coalition government with the Conservative Party between 2010 and 2015; with Scottish Labour in the Scottish Executive from 1999 to 2007, and with Welsh Labour in the Welsh Government from 2000 to 2003 and from 2016 to 2021.

References

  1. Boothroyd, David. "Results of Byelections in the 1997-2002 Parliament". United Kingdom Election Results. Retrieved 5 October 2015.
  2. "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.