2013 South Shields by-election

54°59′56″N 1°25′44″W / 54.99889°N 1.42889°W / 54.99889; -1.42889

2013 South Shields by-election
2 May 2013 (2013-05-02)
The South Shields seat in the House of Commons.
Triggered by vacation of seat by incumbent
Registered64,084
Turnout39.3%
  First party Second party
 
UKI
Candidate Emma Lewell-Buck Richard Elvin
Party Labour UKIP
Popular vote 12,493 5,988
Percentage 50.4% 24.2%
Swing 1.6 pp New party
  Third party Fourth party
 
Con
Ind
Candidate Karen Allen Ahmed Khan
Party Conservative Independent
Popular vote 2,857 1,331
Percentage 11.5% 5.4%
Swing 10.1 pp New party
MP before election

David Miliband
Labour

Subsequent MP

Emma Lewell-Buck
Labour

A by-election for the United Kingdom parliamentary constituency of South Shields was held on 2 May 2013, triggered by the resignation of incumbent Labour Party Member of Parliament (MP) and former Foreign Secretary David Miliband in order to take up a position as head of the International Rescue Committee in New York City. It was won by Labour candidate Emma Lewell-Buck who held the seat with 50.4% of the vote.

The UK Independence Party (UKIP) came second with 24.2%, with the Conservatives dropping to third with 11.5%. The Liberal Democrats' candidate came seventh with just 1.4%, the Liberals' or Liberal Democrats' lowest share of the vote at a by-election since 1948. The by-election coincided with local elections across England.

Resignation of David Miliband

The seat became vacant after David Miliband, the incumbent Member of Parliament (MP) and former Foreign Secretary, announced on 27 March 2013 that he intended to resign from Parliament, in order to take up a position as head of the International Rescue Committee in New York City.[1] He had held the seat for Labour since 2001.[2] In an interview with the BBC, he also explained that he "feared" his continued involvement in British politics was a "distraction" to his brother Ed's leadership of the Labour Party.[3] Miliband's resignation was formally announced on 15 April.[4]

Date

The date for the by-election was scheduled for 2 May 2013 to coincide with local elections across England, although none of those local elections were for councils or positions in South Shields – the nearest elections being for the county councils of Durham and Northumberland, and for the directly elected mayor of North Tyneside.[5]

Candidates and campaign

The Labour Party selected South Tyneside councillor Emma Lewell-Buck as its candidate on 10 April 2013.[6] Mark Walsh, a fellow councillor, had been considered the favourite to be selected, but withdrew for "personal reasons" hours before the vote.[7]

The Conservative Party selected the previous 2010 candidate Karen Allen to once again stand for the party[8] on 11 April 2013.

The Liberal Democrats chose Hugh Annand as their candidate on 11 April 2013.[9] Annand had previously stood in North East Hertfordshire and has also been chosen as the seventh candidate on their East of England party-list for the 2014 European elections.[10][11]

The UK Independence Party announced on 7 April 2013 that Richard Elvin would be their candidate.[12] Elvin finished second in the 2012 Middlesbrough by-election with 12% of the vote.[13]

Alan "Howling Laud" Hope, the leader of the Official Monster Raving Loony Party and perennial by-election candidate, stood as the party's candidate.[14]

Comedian Simon Brodkin, in character as Lee Nelson, was duly nominated as a candidate for 'Lee Nelson's Well Good Party', but then withdrew his nomination.[15][16]

Result

Election Political result Candidate Party Votes % ±%
South Shields by-election, 2013[16][17][18]
Resignation of David Miliband
Electorate: 62,979
Turnout: 24,780 (39.3%) −18.4		Labour hold
Majority: 6,505 (26.2%) −4.2 		Emma Lewell-BuckLabour12,49350.4−1.6
Richard Elvin UKIP5,98824.2New
Karen Allen Conservative2,85711.5−10.1
Ahmed Khan Independent1,3315.4N/A
Phil Brown Independent Socialist Party7503.0New
Dorothy Brookes BNP7112.9−3.6
Hugh Annand Liberal Democrats3521.4−12.8
Alan "Howling Laud" Hope Monster Raving Loony1970.8New
Thomas Darwood Independent570.2N/A
General Election 2010[19]
Electorate: 64,084
Turnout: 36,518 (57.7%) +7.0		Labour hold
Majority: 11,109 (30.4%) −10.4
Swing: −6.4% from Lab to Con 		David MilibandLabour18,99552.0-8.8
Karen Allen Conservative7,88621.6+4.0
Stephen Psallidas Liberal Democrats5,18914.2-5.0
Donna Watson BNP2,3826.5New
Shirley Ford Green7622.1New
Siamak Kaikavoosi Independent7292.0New
Victor Thompson Independent3160.9New
Sam Navabi Independent1680.5New
Roger Nettleship Fight for an Anti-War Government910.2New

See also

References

  1. ^ Miliband, David (27 March 2013). Letter to Alan Donnelly, Chair of South Shields Constituency Labour Party. Archived from the original on 30 March 2013. Retrieved 27 March 2013. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  2. ^ "David Miliband to step down as MP". BBC News. 27 March 2013.
  3. ^ "David Miliband 'feared being distraction' for Labour". BBC News. 27 March 2013.
  4. ^ "By-election after Miliband quits". MSN. 15 April 2013. Archived from the original on 19 April 2013. Retrieved 15 April 2013.
  5. ^ "South Shields byelection date set". The Guardian. 12 April 2013. Retrieved 3 May 2013.
  6. ^ "Female S Tyne councillor wins Labour nomination". Shields Gazette. 10 April 2013. Archived from the original on 17 April 2013. Retrieved 10 April 2013.
  7. ^ Hughes, Andy (10 April 2013). "Shock Withdrawal of Labour Party Favourite To Replace David Miliband As South Shields MP". Sky Tyne & Wear. Archived from the original on 14 April 2013. Retrieved 10 April 2013.
  8. ^ "Conservatives name candidate for South Shields by-election". ITV Tyne Tees. 11 April 2013. Retrieved 3 May 2013.
  9. ^ "Lib Dems select South Shields candidate". North East Region Lib Dems. 11 April 2013. Archived from the original on 23 October 2013. Retrieved 3 May 2013.
  10. ^ "Hertfordshire North East candidates – their election pledges". Hertfordshiremercury.co.uk. 20 May 2013. Retrieved 24 May 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  11. ^ "European selection results – complete". Libdemvoice.org. 1 December 2012. Archived from the original on 24 January 2016. Retrieved 24 May 2013.
  12. ^ Candidate announcement Official UKIP Twitter account
  13. ^ "Labour wins Middlesbrough by-election, with UKIP second". The Mirror.
  14. ^ "Loony leader's bid to be South Shields MP". Shields Gazette. 4 April 2013. Archived from the original on 7 April 2013. Retrieved 24 May 2013.
  15. ^ Dipper, Andrew (19 April 2013). "Comedian Lee Nelson announces plans to stand in South Shields by-election". Giggle Beats.
  16. ^ a b "South Shields by-election", South Tyneside Council
  17. ^ "South Shields Constituency – 02 May 2013 Parliamentary By-Election". SouthTyneside.info. Retrieved 3 May 2013.
  18. ^ "South Shields by-election: Labour wins as UKIP makes big gains". BBC News. 3 May 2013. Retrieved 3 May 2013.
  19. ^ "UK General Election results May 2010, part21". Richard Kimber's political science resources. Archived from the original on 2 May 2015. Retrieved 3 May 2013.
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