2015 Oldham West and Royton by-election
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Oldham West and Royton constituency | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Turnout | 40.3% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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On 3 December 2015, a by-election was held in the UK Parliamentary constituency of Oldham West and Royton in Greater Manchester. This was the first by-election of the 56th UK Parliament.
The by-election was caused by the death of the sitting Member of Parliament (MP) Michael Meacher on 21 October 2015;[1] Meacher had been the Labour Party MP for the seat since its creation in 1997 and had represented its predecessor seat of Oldham West since 1970.
A
Jim McMahon held the seat for Labour with a winning 62% of the vote, an increase of 7.3 percentage points. There was a 40.3% turnout.
Candidates
Six candidates contested the election; the statement of persons nominated was released by
The Labour Party, which last held the seat, selected its candidate on 5 November 2015[5] from a shortlist of four: Mohammed Azam, National Executive Committee member and former local councillor; Jane East, who contested the seat of Colne Valley unsuccessfully at the 2015 general election; Failsworth East councillor Jim McMahon, leader of Oldham Council; and Chris Williamson, former MP for Derby North.[6][7][3] McMahon won the selection, reportedly with 232 votes against 141 for Azam in the final round, after the elimination of East and Williamson.[8][9]
UK Independence Party (UKIP) came second in the constituency at the 2015 general election[10] and fielded a new candidate, John Bickley, who was runner-up at the by-election held in 2014 in the neighbouring constituency of Heywood and Middleton.[11] Others talked about as potential candidates were Paul Nuttall, the UKIP deputy leader,[12] and Steven Woolfe, both MEPs for North West England.[13]
The
The Liberal Democrat candidate was Jane Brophy, who works for the NHS in Greater Manchester and has served as a Trafford councillor for over 15 years; she was LibDem candidate for Altrincham and Sale West at the 2010 and 2015 general elections.[16]
Simeon Hart stood for the Green Party, having contested the constituency for the Greens at the 2015 general election.[9]
Sir Oink A-Lot stood for the Official Monster Raving Loony Party.[17]
Results
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Jim McMahon | 17,209 | 62.1 | +7.3 | |
UKIP | John Bickley | 6,487 | 23.4 | +2.8 | |
Conservative | James Daly | 2,596 | 9.4 | –9.6 | |
Liberal Democrats | Jane Brophy | 1,024 | 3.7 | 0.0 | |
Green | Simeon Hart | 249 | 0.9 | –1.0 | |
Monster Raving Loony | Sir Oink A-Lot | 141 | 0.5 | New | |
Majority | 10,722 | 38.7 | +4.5 | ||
Turnout | 27,706 | 40.3 | –19.3 | ||
Labour hold | Swing | +2.3 |
Aftermath
The result was considered by commentators as surprisingly good for Labour, who had been expected to be more closely challenged by UKIP.[19] It was also reported as a boost for Jeremy Corbyn's leadership of the party.[20][21]
On the morning after the by-election, UKIP leader Nigel Farage and some other party sources claimed that there had been voting fraud particularly around ethnic minority voters and around postal votes,[22][23][24] with Farage claiming the vote was "bent" and that in constituencies with large numbers of ethnic minority voters who do not speak English, "effectively the electoral process is now dead".[24][25] Paul Nuttall, UKIP's deputy leader, said to journalists: "You've got to ask yourself, is this Britain or is this Harare?"[26] However, others in UKIP downplayed the allegations,[27] with deputy chairman Suzanne Evans saying the party risks sounding like "bad losers".[26] Tom Watson, Labour's deputy leader, dismissed the complaints as "sour grapes".[25]
Farage stated that he was planning to make a formal complaint about the allegations.[24][20] Nuttall wrote an open letter to Greg Clark, the Secretary of State for the Department for Communities and Local Government, raising concerns about postal voting processes.[28]
Previous result
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Michael Meacher | 23,630 | 54.8 | +9.3 | |
UKIP | Francis Arbour | 8,892 | 20.6 | +17.4 | |
Conservative | Kamran Ghafoor | 8,187 | 19.0 | –4.7 | |
Liberal Democrats | Garth Harkness | 1,589 | 3.7 | –15.4 | |
Green | Simeon Hart | 839 | 1.9 | New | |
Majority | 14,738 | 34.2 | |||
Turnout | 43,137 | 59.6 | |||
Labour hold | Swing | –4.0 |
See also
- Oldham
- Royton
- 1968 Oldham West by-election
- List of United Kingdom by-elections (2010–present)
- Parliament of the United Kingdom
References
- ^ "Labour MP Michael Meacher dies". BBC News. 21 October 2015. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
- ^ Zeffman, Henry (31 October 2015). "Jeremy Corbyn to face Oldham West election test on 3 December". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 November 2015.
- ^ a b "Oldham West by-election date confirmed". BBC News. 2 November 2015. Retrieved 3 November 2015.
- Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council. Archived from the originalon 17 November 2015. Retrieved 9 November 2015.
- ^ "Selection timetable for Oldham West by-election revealed". LabourList. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
- ^ Fitzgerald, Todd (2 November 2015). "Labour announces shortlist for the Oldham West and Royton by-election". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
- ^ Hooton, Richard (30 October 2015). "Town Hall chief McMahon in MP contest". Oldham Evening Chonicle. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
- ^ "Jim McMahon selected in Oldham West". Labour List. Retrieved 5 November 2015.
- ^ a b "Labour chooses by-election candidate for Oldham West and Royton". BBC News. 6 November 2015. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
- ^ "Is Ukip a threat in Oldham West?". Progress. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
- ^ Pickard, Jim (3 November 2015). "UKIP announces John Bickley as Oldham by-election candidate". Financial Times. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
- ^ "John Healey: Labour frontbencher warns of Ukip threat as Oldham West and Royton prepares for byelection". The Independent. 23 October 2015. Archived from the original on 1 May 2022. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
- ^ Payne, Sebastian (22 October 2015). "How UKIP intends to fight and maybe win Oldham West and Royton". The Spectator. Archived from the original on 17 November 2015. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
- ^ "Cllr James Daly". Bury North. Archived from the original on 17 November 2015. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
- ^ Wallace, Mark (5 November 2015). "Cllr James Daly selected to fight the Oldham West and Royton by-election". ConservativeHome. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
- ^ "By-election news – Jane Brophy selected for Oldham West and Royton". Liberal Democrat Voice. Retrieved 3 November 2015.
- ^ Carey, Alex (25 November 2015). "All heated at the hustings". Oldham Evening Chronicle. Retrieved 4 December 2015.
- ^ "Oldham West and Royton: Parliamentary By-Election Results". Oldham Council. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 4 December 2015.
- ^ Ansari, Arif (4 December 2015). "Oldham by-election: 'Nobody anticipated a victory on this scale'". BBC News. Retrieved 4 December 2015.
- ^ a b Pidd, Helen; Watt, Nicholas (4 December 2015). "Corbyn hails Oldham byelection as sign of Labour's deep-rooted support". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
- ^ Hodges, Dan (4 December 2015). "Oldham by-election: Nigel Farage will always be a bridesmaid, never a bride". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
- ^ "Jeremy Corbyn hails Oldham West and Royton by-election victory". BBC News. 4 December 2015. Retrieved 4 December 2015.
- ^ "UKIP to review by-election 'evidence' amid fraud claims". BBC News. 4 December 2015. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
- ^ a b c "UKIP make formal complaint over alleged 'abuses' in Oldham West by-election as Labour claim victory". The Herald. 4 December 2015. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
- ^ a b "Watson: Farage postal vote complaint 'sour grapes'". BBC News. 4 December 2015. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
- ^ a b Wilkinson, Michael (4 December 2015). "Oldham by-election: Police could be called in to investigate alleged voting fraud amid Ukip complaints about Labour victory". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
- ^ Parfitt, Tom; Laura, Mowat. "UKIP's Nigel Farage claims 'perverse' Labour win in Oldham West was FIXED". Daily Express. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
- ^ "Our postal voting system is open to abuse". UKIP North West. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
- ^ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
- ^ "Oldham West & Royton". BBC News. Retrieved 11 May 2015.