Bromley and Chislehurst by-election, 2006

Bromley and Chislehurst by-election

2005 ← 29 June 2006 → 2010

Candidate Bob Neill Ben Abbotts Nigel Farage Party Conservative Liberal Democrat UKIP Popular vote 11,621 10,988 2,347 Percentage 40.0% 37.8% 8.1%   Candidate Rachel Reeves Party Labour Popular vote 1,925 Percentage 6.6%

MP before election Eric Forth Conservative Subsequent MP Bob Neill Conservative

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 by-election was an astonishing rebuff to both the governing and main opposition parties. The Conservatives held the seat, but with their majority much reduced by the Liberal Democrats. By some measures, this was the worst performance by the Conservative opposition since at least 1930. Labour were pushed into fourth place by the UK Independence Party, a terrible night for them as they also failed to win the Blaenau Gwent by-elections. 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 and Labour would later drop to 5th place at the Henley by-election, 2008.

Candidates

On 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 United Kingdom 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 is a minor political party who only fought this by-election.

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.

Bromley and Chislehurst by-election, 2006
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Bob Neill	11,621	40.0	-11.1
	Liberal Democrat	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	N/A
	Independent	John Hemming-Clark	442	1.5	N/A
	English Democrats	Steven Uncles	212	0.7	N/A
	Monster Raving Loony	John Cartwright	132	0.5	N/A
	Independent	Nick Hadziannis	65	0.2	N/A
	Money Reform Party	Anne Belsey	33	0.1	N/A
Majority			633	2.2	-26.7
Turnout			29,052	40.18	-24.68
	Conservative hold		Swing	14.3%

2005 general election result

General Election 2005: Bromley and Chislehurst
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Eric Forth	23,583	51.1	+1.6
	Labour	Rachel Reeves	10,241	22.2	-6.4
	Liberal Democrat	Peter Brookes	9,368	20.3	+1.4
	UKIP	David Hooper	1,475	3.2	+0.3
	Green	Ann Garrett	1,470	3.2	N/A
Majority			13,342	28.9
Turnout			46,137	64.8	+0.5
	Conservative hold		Swing

See also

• Bromley and Chislehurst constituency
• List of United Kingdom by-elections
• London Borough of Bromley

References

1. ^ "Tributes paid to Tory Eric Forth". BBC News. 2006-05-18. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4993000.stm. Retrieved 2006-05-18. 
2. ^ ^{a b c} "Conservatives nominate Bob Neill for the Bromley and Chislehurst by-election". BBC. 2006-06-03. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/5043528.stm. Retrieved 2006-06-03. 
3. ^ "Lib Dem Choice for the Bromley & Chislehurst by-election". Bromley Liberal Democrats. 2006-05-30. http://www.bromleylibdems.org.uk/news/241.html. Retrieved 2006-05-31. 
4. ^ "Bromley Greens select candidate for Bromley and Chislehurst by-election". Bromley Green Party. 2006-05-14. http://www.bromleygreens.org.uk/node/22. Retrieved 2006-06-22. 
5. ^ "UKIP announces Nigel Farage MEP to contest by-election". UKIP Bromley & Chiselhurst. 2006-06-03. http://www.ukipbromley.com/main.htm. Retrieved 2006-06-03. 
6. ^ "BROMLEY & CHISLEHURST - Vote for JOHN CARTWRIGHT, Vote for the Official Monster Raving Loony Party". Croydon Official Monster Raving Loony Party. http://www.croydonloony.co.uk/. Retrieved 2006-06-12. 
7. ^ "The English Democrats announce Bromley and Chislehurst Candidate". 2006-06-08. http://englishdemocrats.org.uk/news.php?subaction=showfull&id=1149785982&archive=. Retrieved 2006-06-12. ^{[dead link]}

External links

• Campaign literature from the by-election
• Bromley & Chislehurst Conservatives
• Ben Abbotts & Bromley Liberal Democrats
• Rachel Reeves - Labour Party^{[dead link]}
• Bromley Green Party
• John Hemming-Clark
• Paul Winnett - National Front
• Nick Hadziannis
• Nigel Farage & UKIP Bromley & Chislehurst
• Steven Uncles - English Democrats
• Anne Belsey - Money Reform Party