A by-election was held in the UK parliament constituency of Bromley and Chislehurst in London, following the death of Conservative Member of Parliament Eric Forth on 17 May 2006.[1] The writ for the electing of a new member was issued on 6 June for a polling day of 29 June 2006, the same day as the Blaenau Gwent by-elections.[2] The Conservatives held the seat but with their majority much reduced by the Liberal Democrats.
 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bromley and Chislehurst parliamentary seat | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Turnout | 40.2% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Labour, who stood future Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves, was pushed into fourth place by Nigel Farage of the UK Independence Party. This was only the second time Labour had fallen to fourth place in an English by-election since World War II, the 1989 Richmond (Yorks) by-election being the other occasion. Labour would later drop to fifth place at the 2008 Henley by-election.
Candidates
editOn 3 June 2006, the local Conservative Association selected Bob Neill, the London Assembly Member for Bexley and Bromley and leader of the Conservative group in the Assembly.[2] The Liberal Democrats selected London Borough of Bromley councillor Ben Abbotts. He is the Liberal Democrat environment spokesman on Bromley Council.[3] Labour chose economist Rachel Reeves, runner-up in 2005, to stand once again.[2] The Green Party selected Ann Garrett as its candidate. Garrett stood as a Green Party candidate in the 2005 general election and the 2004 London Assembly elections.[4] The UK Independence Party selected Nigel Farage MEP, who represents South East England in the European Parliament. [5] The Official Monster Raving Loony Party selected John Cartwright. [6]
Two independent candidates were validly nominated: John Hemming-Clark and Nick Hadziannis. The English Democrats selected Steven Uncles[7] and candidates from the Money Reform Party and the National Front also ran. The Money Reform Party was a minor political party.
As per the Senior Electoral Officer of Bromley Council, the electorate for this by-election was 72,206, an increase of 1.50% from the 2005 election.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Bob Neill | 11,621 | 40.0 | –11.1 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Ben Abbotts | 10,988 | 37.8 | +17.5 | |
| UKIP | Nigel Farage | 2,347 | 8.1 | +4.9 | |
| Labour | Rachel Reeves | 1,925 | 6.6 | –15.6 | |
| Green | Ann Garrett | 811 | 2.8 | –0.4 | |
| National Front | Paul Winnett | 476 | 1.6 | New | |
| Independent | John Hemming-Clark | 442 | 1.5 | New | |
| English Democrat | Steven Uncles | 212 | 0.7 | New | |
| Monster Raving Loony | John Cartwright | 132 | 0.5 | New | |
| Independent | Nick Hadziannis | 65 | 0.2 | New | |
| Money Reform | Anne Belsey | 33 | 0.1 | New | |
| Majority | 633 | 2.2 | –26.7 | ||
| Turnout | 29,012 | 40.2 | –24.6 | ||
| Registered electors | 71,798 | ||||
| Conservative hold | Swing | –13.8 | |||
2005 general election result
edit| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Eric Forth | 23,583 | 51.1 | +1.6 | |
| Labour | Rachel Reeves | 10,241 | 22.2 | –6.4 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Peter Brooks | 9,368 | 20.3 | +1.4 | |
| UKIP | David Hooper | 1,475 | 3.2 | +0.3 | |
| Green | Ann Garrett | 1,470 | 3.2 | New | |
| Majority | 13,342 | 28.9 | +8.0 | ||
| Turnout | 46,137 | 64.8 | +0.5 | ||
| Registered electors | 71,137 | ||||
| Conservative hold | Swing | +4.0 | |||
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Tributes paid to Tory Eric Forth". BBC News. 18 May 2006. Retrieved 18 May 2006.
- ^ a b c "Conservatives nominate Bob Neill for the Bromley and Chislehurst by-election". BBC. 3 June 2006. Retrieved 3 June 2006.
- ^ "Lib Dem Choice for the Bromley & Chislehurst by-election". Bromley Liberal Democrats. 30 May 2006. Archived from the original on 1 October 2006. Retrieved 31 May 2006.
- ^ "Bromley Greens select candidate for Bromley and Chislehurst by-election". Bromley Green Party. 14 May 2006. Archived from the original on 23 March 2007. Retrieved 22 June 2006.
- ^ "UKIP announces Nigel Farage MEP to contest by-election". UKIP Bromley & Chislehurst. 3 June 2006. Archived from the original on 22 June 2006. Retrieved 3 June 2006.
- ^ "BROMLEY & CHISLEHURST - Vote for JOHN CARTWRIGHT, Vote for the Official Monster Raving Loony Party". Croydon Official Monster Raving Loony Party. Archived from the original on 2 March 2006. Retrieved 12 June 2006.
- ^ "The English Democrats announce Bromley and Chislehurst Candidate". 8 June 2006. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 12 June 2006.
- ^ Boothroyd, David. "Results of Byelections in the 2005-2010 Parliament". United Kingdom Election Results. Archived from the original on 27 December 2015. Retrieved 5 October 2015.
- ^ "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
- ^ "Election 2005 | Results | Bromley & Chislehurst". BBC News. 6 May 2005. Retrieved 30 June 2017.
External links
edit- Campaign literature from the by-election
- Bromley & Chislehurst Conservatives Archived 22 May 2006 at the Wayback Machine
- Ben Abbotts & Bromley Liberal Democrats
- Rachel Reeves - Labour Party[dead link]
- Bromley Green Party
- John Hemming-Clark
- Paul Winnett - National Front
- Nick Hadziannis[permanent dead link]
- Nigel Farage & UKIP Bromley & Chislehurst
- Steven Uncles - English Democrats
- Anne Belsey - Money Reform Party