2013 South Shields by-election

The South Shields by-election was a by-election held for the United Kingdom House of Commons constituency of South Shields.[1] It was triggered by the resignation of David Miliband, the previous Member of Parliament (MP) and former Foreign Secretary, who had held the seat for Labour since 2001. The by-election took place on 2 May 2013, coinciding with local elections across England.[2]

2013 South Shields by-election
2 May 2013
The South Shields seat in the House of Commons.
Triggered by vacation of seat by incumbent
  First party Second party
 
Candidate Emma Lewell-Buck Richard Elvin
Party Labour UKIP
Popular vote 12,493 5,988
Percentage 50.4% 24.2%
Swing 1.6% New party
  Third party Fourth party
 
Candidate Karen Allen Ahmed Khan
Party Conservative Independent
Popular vote 2,857 1,331
Percentage 11.5% 5.4%
Swing 10.1% New party
Map showing the South Shields Parliamentary constituency within the English Metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear.
MP before election

David Miliband
Labour

 Subsequent MP

Emma Lewell-Buck
Labour

The by-election was won by Emma Lewell-Buck of the Labour Party 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.[3]

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.[4] 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.[5] Miliband's resignation was formally announced on 15 April.[6]

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.[2]

Candidates and campaign

The Labour Party selected South Tyneside councillor Emma Lewell-Buck as its candidate on 10 April 2013.[7] Mark Walsh, a fellow councillor, had been considered the favourite to be selected, but withdrew for "personal reasons" hours before the vote.[8]

The Conservative Party selected the previous 2010 candidate Karen Allen to once again stand for the party[9] on 11 April 2013.

The Liberal Democrats chose Hugh Annand as their candidate on 11 April 2013.[10] 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.[11][12]

The UK Independence Party announced on 7 April 2013 that Richard Elvin would be their candidate.[13] Elvin finished second in the 2012 Middlesbrough by-election with 12% of the vote.[14]

Alan "Howling Laud" Hope, the leader of the Official Monster Raving Loony Party and perennial by-election candidate, stood as the party's candidate.[15]

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.[16][17]

Result
Election Political result Candidate Party Votes % ±%
South Shields by-election, 2013 [17][18][19]
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 Independent1,3315.4New
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 Independent570.2New
General Election 2010 [20]
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. "David Miliband to step down as MP". BBC News. 27 March 2013.
  2. "South Shields byelection date set". The Guardian. 12 April 2013. Retrieved 3 May 2013.
  3. George Eaton "Labour holds South Shields as UKIP takes second", New Statesman, 3 May 2013
  4. Miliband, David (27 March 2013). Letter to Alan Donnelly, Chair of South Shields Constituency Labour Party. davidmiliband.net. Archived from the original on 30 March 2013. Retrieved 27 March 2013.
  5. "David Miliband 'feared being distraction' for Labour". BBC News. 27 March 2013.
  6. "By-election after Miliband quits". MSN. 15 April 2013. Archived from the original on 19 April 2013. Retrieved 15 April 2013.
  7. "Female S Tyne councillor wins Labour nomination". Shields Gazette. 10 April 2013. Archived from the original on 17 April 2013. Retrieved 10 April 2013.
  8. 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.
  9. "Conservatives name candidate for South Shields by-election". ITV Tyne Tees. 11 April 2013. Retrieved 3 May 2013.
  10. "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.
  11. "Hertfordshire North East candidates - their election pledges". Hertfordshiremercury.co.uk. 20 May 2013. Archived from the original on 5 May 2013. Retrieved 24 May 2013.
  12. "European selection results – complete". Libdemvoice.org. 1 December 2012. Archived from the original on 24 January 2016. Retrieved 24 May 2013.
  13. Candidate announcement Official UKIP Twitter account
  14. "Labour wins Middlesbrough by-election, with UKIP second". The Mirror.
  15. "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.
  16. Dipper, Andrew (19 April 2013). "Comedian Lee Nelson announces plans to stand in South Shields by-election". Giggle Beats.
  17. "South Shields by-election", South Tyneside Council
  18. "South Shields Constituency - 02 May 2013 Parliamentary By-Election". SouthTyneside.info. Retrieved 3 May 2013.
  19. "South Shields by-election: Labour wins as UKIP makes big gains". BBC News. 3 May 2013. Retrieved 3 May 2013.
  20. "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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