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2011 Barnsley Central by-election

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On 3 March 2011, a by-election was held for the UK House of Commons constituency of Barnsley Central.[1] The by-election resulted in the Labour Party holding the seat with an increased majority.

Barnsley Central by-election
← 2010 3 March 2011 2015 →
Barnsley Central constituency
Turnout36.5%
  First party Second party Third party
 
Candidate Dan Jarvis Jane Collins James Hockney
Party Labour UKIP Conservative
Popular vote 14,724 2,953 1,999
Percentage 60.8% 12.2% 8.3%
Swing Increase13.5% Increase7.5% Decrease9.0%
  Fourth party Fifth party
 
Candidate Enis Dalton Tony Devoy
Party BNP Independent
Popular vote 1,463 1,266
Percentage 6.0% 5.2%
Swing Decrease2.9% New party
MP before election

Eric Illsley
Labour

Subsequent MP

Dan Jarvis
Labour

Background

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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.

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.

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.

Candidates

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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]

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 British National Party had declared its intention to stand Enis Dalton as a candidate in the election.[17][18] The Candidate for the UK Independence Party (UKIP) was Jane Collins, a miner's daughter from Pontefract.[19]

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 BNP,[20] wrote an unofficial biography of the party's leader, Nick Griffin, which remains unpublished.[21][22] (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".[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

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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
Election Political result Candidate Party Votes % ±%
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 JarvisLabour14,72460.8+13.5
Jane Collins UKIP2,95312.2+7.5
James Hockney Conservative1,9998.3–9.0
Enis Dalton BNP1,4636.0–2.9
Tony Devoy Independent1,2665.2+3.6
Dominic Carman Liberal Democrats1,0124.2–13.1
Kevin Riddiough English Democrat5442.2N/A
Howling Laud Hope Monster Raving Loony1980.8N/A
Michael Davies Independent600.2N/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 IllsleyLabour17,48747.3–10.4
Christopher Wiggin Liberal Democrats6,39417.3+0.7
Piers Tempest Conservative6,38817.3+2.5
Ian Sutton BNP3,3078.9+4.4
David Silver UKIP1,7274.7N/A
Donald Wood Independent7322.0–2.1
Tony Devoy Independent6101.6N/A
Terence Robinson Socialist Labour3561.0N/A

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Race to succeed shamed MP under way". Press Association. 9 February 2011.[dead link]
  2. ^ Winnett, Robert; Wyatt, Holly (19 June 2009). "MPs' expenses: MPs made inflated council tax claims". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 19 May 2010.
  3. ^ a b "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". The Guardian. London. 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". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 17 January 2011. 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. Archived from the original on 18 December 2010. Retrieved 20 January 2011.
  11. ^ "Statement of Persons Nominated and Notice of Poll". Barnsley Council on-line. 16 February 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 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. ^ "British National Party Will Fight Barnsley Central By-Election". British National Party. Archived from the original on 15 January 2011. Retrieved 20 January 2011.
  18. ^ "British National Party". Bnp.org.uk. 29 January 2011. Archived from the original on 1 February 2011. Retrieved 2 February 2011.
  19. ^ UKIP candidate launches campaign Barnsley Chronicle
  20. ^ Dominic Carman: “Why I’m standing against Nick Griffin”, The Times, 23 April 2010
  21. ^ Dominic Carman>Liberal Democrat, Barking Archived 31 August 2011 at the Wayback Machine Daily Telegraph
  22. ^ Duffett, Helen (12 February 2011). "Dominic Carman selected as Liberal Democrat candidate for Barnsley Central by-election". Liberal Democrat Voice.
  23. ^ Evening Standard, 3 March 2011, p.16
  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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