1990 Bootle by-elections
Two Bootle by-elections were held during 1990, for the House of Commons constituency of Bootle in Merseyside.
Bootle was one of the Labour Party's safest seats, having held the seat since 1945.
May by-election
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Constituency of Bootle | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Turnout | 50.6% ( 22.3%) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The first by-election was caused by the death of Labour MP Allan Roberts, on 21 March 1990. Roberts had held the seat since the 1979 general election, and his majority had remained over 15,000 votes; even at the 1983 general election, which was a landslide victory for the Conservative Party. At the 1987 general election, Roberts' majority had increased to almost 25,000 votes.
For the by-election, Labour selected
The newly named
The
The Loonies gained publicity after the Labour Party
The election was held on 24 May. Despite having to contend with a large field of candidates, Carr increased the Labour vote, to win with more than three-quarters of all the votes cast. The Conservative vote halved, although they retained second place, as the Liberal Democrat vote could not match that of the SDP–Liberal Alliance in 1987. The Greens polled 3.6%, while the continuing Liberals fared poorly, and the continuing Social Democrats were beaten even by the Monster Raving Loonies. Sutch jokingly offered to form a coalition with them, and the party was wound up soon afterwards, but Holmes formed yet another
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
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Labour | Michael Carr | 26,737 | 75.4 | +8.5 | |
Conservative | James Clappison | 3,220 | 9.1 | − 11.0 | |
Liberal Democrats | John Cunningham | 3,179 | 8.9 | − 4.1 | |
Green | Sean Brady | 1,269 | 3.6 | N/A | |
Liberal | Kevin White | 474 | 1.3 | N/A | |
Monster Raving Loony | Lord David Sutch | 418 | 1.2 | N/A | |
SDP
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Jack Holmes | 155 | 0.4 | N/A | |
Independent
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T. J. Schofield | 27 | 0.1 | N/A | |
Majority | 23,517 | 66.3 | +19.5 | ||
Turnout | 35,477 | 50.6 | |||
Labour hold | Swing | +9.7 |
November by-election
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Constituency of Bootle | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Turnout | 39.7% ( 10.9%) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Carr died on 20 July, only 57 days after his by-election victory. A second by-election was called for 8 November.
Labour nominated
On a low turnout of 39.7%, Benton increased the Labour Party majority again, taking 78.2% of the vote. The Conservative vote held steady, while all the other parties fell back. This allowed the Loonies to overtake the continuing Liberal Party.
Benton remained as the Member of Parliament for Bootle until he retired in 2015,[2] while Clappison was elected in 1992 for Hertsmere; he too retired in 2015.
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
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Labour | Joe Benton | 22,052 | 78.2 | + 2.8 | |
Conservative | James Clappison | 2,587 | 9.2 | + 0.1 | |
Liberal Democrats | John Cunningham | 2,216 | 7.9 | - 1.0 | |
Green | Sean Brady | 557 | 2.0 | - 1.6 | |
Monster Raving Loony | Lord David Sutch | 310 | 1.1 | - 0.1 | |
Liberal | Kevin White | 291 | 1.0 | - 0.3 | |
Christian Alliance | David Black | 132 | 0.5 | N/A | |
Majority | 19,465 | 69.1 | |||
Turnout | 28,145 | 39.7 | |||
Labour hold | Swing | + 1.5 |
References
- ^ Boothroyd, David. "Results of Byelections in the 1987-92 Parliament". United Kingdom Election Results. Retrieved 1 October 2015.
- ^ "Joe Benton to step down as Labour MP for Bootle". BBC News. BBC. 12 June 2014. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
- ^ Boothroyd, David. "Results of Byelections in the 1987-92 Parliament". United Kingdom Election Results. Retrieved 1 October 2015.