This is a list of parliamentary by-elections in the United Kingdom since 2010, with the names of the incumbent and victor and their respective parties. Where seats changed political party at the election, the result is highlighted: blue for a Conservative gain, red for a Labour gain, orange for a Liberal Democrat gain, purple for a UKIP gain and other colours for any other gains.
As of May 2024 [update] , a total of 59 by-elections have been held in this period. The first was held in January 2011 and the most recent in May 2024.
Where the cause of by-election is given as "resignation" or "seeks re-election", this indicates that the incumbent was appointed on his or her own request to an "office of profit under the Crown", either the Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds or the Steward of the Manor of Northstead. Accepting an office of profit under the Crown vacates the member's seat. [1] This process is used because members of the House of Commons are not technically permitted to resign. A member who vacates their seat in this manner may stand for re-election.
A recall petition is created by advice of the Speaker of the House of Commons if an MP is suspended from the House for at least 10 sitting days, usually a result of a criminal conviction or breaking Commons Select Committee on Standards conventions. A petition is successful if at least 10 per cent of the constituency's electorate sign the petition. Successful petitions result in the MP vacating the seat, triggering a by-election.
As of March 2024, six petitions have been held under the Act, four resulting in by-elections and one being terminated early due to the MP's resignation.
23 by-elections occurred in the 2019–2024 Parliament, the most by-elections in one parliament since the 1987–1992 Parliament, which had 24. Fourteen by-elections occurred in constituencies previously represented by the governing Conservatives, seven in constituencies represented by Labour, and two in constituencies represented by the SNP. The incumbent MP's party won nine by-elections, including one at Southend West, in which the other major parties did not field candidates. Labour won thirteen by-elections, gaining seven seats from the Conservatives and one from the SNP, but losing one to the Conservatives and one to the Workers Party of Britain. The Liberal Democrats gained four seats from the Conservatives, while the Conservatives gained one from Labour. Five by-elections happened due to the deaths of the incumbent MPs, three of whom represented the Conservatives and two Labour.
There were five by-elections in the 2017–2019 Parliament, which was the smallest number since the six-month parliament that sat between the two general elections in February and October 1974. Three were in seats held by Labour, one by the governing Conservatives and one by Sinn Féin, who do not take up their seats in the House of Commons. Four by-elections were won by the incumbent party and the Liberal Democrats won a seat from Conservatives. One by-election was a result of the death of the incumbent MP, who represented Labour. Two by-elections were the result of recall petitions via the provisions of the Recall of MPs Act 2015, the first such in the country.
At the dissolution of Parliament in 2019 there were two vacancies: Bassetlaw, caused by the resignations of Labour member John Mann, and Buckingham, caused by the resignation of Speaker John Bercow. With the proximity of the 2019 general election, by-elections were not called for these seats. The Conservatives, the party Bercow had represented before he took up the speakership, regained Buckingham and won Bassetlaw from Labour as well.
By-election | Date | Incumbent | Party | Winner | Party | Cause | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Brecon and Radnorshire [lower-alpha 10] | 1 August 2019 | Chris Davies | Conservative | Jane Dodds | Liberal Democrats | Recall petition after conviction for false expenses claims. [36] [37] | ||
Peterborough | 6 June 2019 | Fiona Onasanya | Labour [lower-alpha 11] | Lisa Forbes | Labour | Recall petition after conviction for perverting the course of justice, in relation to a motoring offence. [39] [40] | ||
Newport West | 4 April 2019 | Paul Flynn | Labour | Ruth Jones | Labour | Death (long illness). [41] [42] | ||
Lewisham East | 14 June 2018 | Heidi Alexander | Labour | Janet Daby | Labour | Resignation on appointment as Deputy Mayor of London. [43] [44] | ||
West Tyrone | 3 May 2018 | Barry McElduff | Sinn Féin | Órfhlaith Begley | Sinn Féin | Resignation after a joke about the Kingsmill massacre on social media. [45] [46] |
There were ten by-elections in the 2015–2017 Parliament (with a planned by-election in Manchester Gorton cancelled when the 2017 general election was called). Seven were in seats held by Labour, and three by the governing Conservatives. Eight by-elections were won by the incumbent party: the Conservatives won a seat from Labour and lost one to the Liberal Democrats. Three by-elections happened due to the deaths of the incumbent MPs, all of whom represented Labour.
At the dissolution of Parliament in 2017, one seat was vacant: that for Manchester Gorton, caused by the death of its Labour member Gerald Kaufman. [47] With the close proximity of the 2017 general election on 8 June, the by-election previously called for 4 May had its writ cancelled by the House of Commons. [48] All but two of the candidates nominated for the by-election then stood at the general election, and Labour held the seat.
There were 21 by-elections in the 2010–2015 Parliament. Fourteen were in constituencies held by Labour, four by the governing Conservatives, one by their coalition partners the Liberal Democrats and two by Sinn Féin, who do not take up their seats in the House of Commons. Seventeen by-elections were won by the incumbent party: Labour won a seat from the Conservatives and lost one to Respect, while UKIP gained two seats from the Conservatives after the incumbent MPs defected to the party and were re-elected. Six by-elections happened due to the deaths of the incumbent MPs, all of whom represented Labour. In all six of those by-elections, Labour retained the seat.
The 2010 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 6 May 2010, with 45,597,461 registered voters entitled to vote to elect members to the House of Commons. The election took place in 650 constituencies across the United Kingdom under the first-past-the-post system.
John Douglas Wilson Carswell is a British former politician who served as a Member of Parliament from 2005 to 2017, co-founded Vote Leave and currently serves as president and CEO of the Mississippi Center for Public Policy.
Craig Mackinlay is a Conservative Party politician and businessman. Since May 2015, he has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for South Thanet.
Mark John Reckless is a British lawyer and former politician who served as a Member of the Senedd (MS) for South Wales East from 2016 until 2021, having previously served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Rochester and Strood from 2010 to 2015. Initially a member of the Conservative Party, he crossed the floor to join the UK Independence Party (UKIP) in September 2014. He has since changed parties a further three times.
On 5 June 2014, a by-election was held for the UK parliamentary constituency of Newark, following the resignation of Patrick Mercer. Conservative Robert Jenrick won the seat with a majority of 7,403.
On 9 October 2014, a by-election was held for the UK parliamentary constituency of Clacton in Essex, England. The by-election was triggered by the Conservative MP for Clacton, Douglas Carswell, defecting to the UK Independence Party (UKIP) and subsequently resigning his seat to seek re-election as its candidate.
The 2015 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 7 May 2015 to elect 650 Members of Parliament to the House of Commons. It was the only general election held under the rules of the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 and was the last general election to be held before the United Kingdom would vote to end its membership of the European Union (EU). Local elections took place in most areas of England on the same day.
A by-election was held on 20 November 2014 for the UK parliamentary constituency of Rochester and Strood in Kent, England. The sitting Member of Parliament (MP) Mark Reckless called it on joining the UK Independence Party (UKIP), from the Conservatives. He resigned his seat.
The 2017 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 8 June 2017, two years after the previous general election in 2015; it was the first since 1992 to be held on a day that did not coincide with any local elections. The governing Conservative Party remained the largest single party in the House of Commons but lost its small overall majority, resulting in the formation of a Conservative minority government with a confidence and supply agreement with the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) of Northern Ireland.
Kelly Jane Tolhurst is a British politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Rochester and Strood since 2015. A member of the Conservative Party, she served as Minister of State for Schools and Childhood from September to October 2022.
A by-election for the House of Commons constituency of Sleaford and North Hykeham in Lincolnshire, England, was held on 8 December 2016. It was triggered by the resignation of the Conservative member of parliament (MP) Stephen Phillips, who left Parliament on 4 November 2016 due to policy differences with the Conservative government led by the prime minister, Theresa May, over Brexit – the British withdrawal from the European Union (EU). The Conservatives nominated Caroline Johnson, a paediatrician, to replace Phillips; she won the by-election with more than 50 per cent of the vote, a sizable majority. The Conservatives' vote share fell slightly compared to the result at the previous general election in 2015.
There was a by-election in the British parliamentary constituency of Copeland on 23 February 2017, following the resignation of Labour Member of Parliament (MP) Jamie Reed. Conservative candidate Trudy Harrison gained the seat from Labour, the first gain for a governing party in a by-election since 1982.
Reform UK is a right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. It was founded by Catherine Blaiklock with support from Nigel Farage in November 2018 as the Brexit Party, advocating hard Euroscepticism and a no-deal Brexit. It won the United Kingdom’s component of the 2019 European Parliament election, but failed to win any seats at the 2019 general election. After the UK's withdrawal from the European Union (EU) on 31 January 2020, it was renamed to Reform UK, and it became primarily an anti-lockdown party during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since 2022, the party has campaigned on a broader platform, chiefly surrounding opposing immigration and opposing the government's Net Zero energy policy.
A by-election was held on 3 February 2022 in the parliamentary constituency of Southend West following the murder of the Conservative MP Sir David Amess on 15 October 2021. Amess had been the MP for the constituency since 1997, and previously represented the nearby seat of Basildon from 1983 to 1997. Similarly to the 2016 Batley and Spen by-election—held after Labour MP Jo Cox was murdered—the major opposition parties declined to stand out of respect for Amess. The Conservative candidate Anna Firth won the by-election with 86% of the vote, with a turnout of 24%. No other candidate reached the 5% threshold to save their election deposit.
UK Parliamentary By-Election – Thursday 19 October 2023