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| Turnout | 41.6% 13.23pp | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Aby-election was held on 19 July 2007 for theHouse of Commons constituency ofSedgefield inCounty Durham. TheEaling Southall by-election was also held on 19 July.
The by-election was triggered whenTony Blair, theLabour PartyMember of Parliament (MP) for Sedgefield and formerPrime Minister,resigned to become envoy for the international diplomaticQuartet on the Middle East. Blair accepted the office ofSteward and Bailiff of the Three Hundreds of Chiltern,[1] thereby disqualifying himself from Parliament and causing the by-election. Blair had held the constituency since its creation for the1983 election, and Labour had held its predecessor constituencies since the1935 election.
According toSedgefield Borough Council, the electorate for the by-election was 67,339 which represents an increase of 673 (1%) on the2005 general election.
TheLabour Party selectedPhil Wilson, apublic relations consultant, local party member and one of the "Famous Five" who had promotedTony Blair's first candidacy in 1983. He was chosen from a shortlist of five candidates, including former MinisterMelanie Johnson.[2] TheLiberal Democrats chose North East regeneration expert Greg Stone, a councillor inNewcastle-upon-Tyne and former candidate in theVale of York in the2001 election andNewcastle-upon-Tyne Central in the2005 election.[2] The Conservatives stood Graham Robb, apublic relations consultant and formerradio presenter, who stood for the party in1992 inHartlepool, losing toPeter Mandelson.[3]
Several other candidates contested the election. TheUK Independence Party (UKIP) selected Toby Horton, who formerly contested the seat for the Conservatives in 1983, and in 1992 stood inRother Valley. TheGreen Party of England and Wales chose Chris Haine, and theBritish National Party chose Andrew Spence, who was involved in the 2000fuel protests and stood for UKIP in the seat in 2001. The leader of theOfficial Monster Raving Loony Party,Alan Hope, also stood, having previously contested a long list of seats in both general and by-elections. TheEnglish Democrats chose Stephen Gash, andOperation Christian Vote fielded barrister Tim Grainger.Norman Scarth stood as an independent "anti crime" candidate, having previously contestedChesterfield in 1997 as an "independent old age pensioner".[3] Localindependent councillor Paul Gittins stood on a platform calling for the regeneration of the centre ofNewton Aycliffe.[4]
Wilson held the seat for Labour with a majority reduced by over 11,000. The Liberal Democrats overtook the Conservatives for second place, with an 11% swing. The British National Party and independent local campaigner Paul Gittins both retained their deposits.[5] The turnout for the by-election was down by 13.23 percentage points in comparison with 2005.[6]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Phil Wilson | 12,528 | 44.8 | –14.1 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Greg Stone | 5,572 | 19.9 | +8.0 | |
| Conservative | Graham Robb | 4,082 | 14.6 | +0.2 | |
| BNP | Andrew Spence | 2,494 | 8.9 | New | |
| Independent | Paul Gittins | 1,885 | 6.7 | New | |
| UKIP | Toby Horton | 536 | 1.9 | +0.3 | |
| Green | Chris Haine | 348 | 1.2 | New | |
| English Democrat | Stephen Gash | 177 | 0.6 | New | |
| Christian | Tim Grainger | 177 | 0.6 | New | |
| Monster Raving Loony | Alan Hope | 129 | 0.5 | +0.1 | |
| Anti Crime | Norman Scarth | 34 | 0.1 | New | |
| Majority | 6,956 | 24.9 | –19.6 | ||
| Turnout | 27,962 | 41.6 | –20.6 | ||
| Labourhold | Swing | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Tony Blair | 24,421 | 58.9 | –6.0 | |
| Conservative | Al Lockwood | 5,972 | 14.4 | –6.5 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Robert Browne | 4,935 | 11.9 | +2.9 | |
| Independent | Reg Keys | 4,252 | 10.3 | New | |
| UKIP | William Brown | 646 | 1.6 | –0.8 | |
| National Front | Mark Farrell | 253 | 0.6 | New | |
| Veritas | Fiona Luckhurst-Matthews | 218 | 0.5 | New | |
| Independent | Berony Abraham | 205 | 0.5 | New | |
| Monster Raving Loony | Melodie Staniforth | 157 | 0.4 | New | |
| Blair Must Go Party | Jonathan Cockburn | 103 | 0.2 | New | |
| Senior Citizens | Terry Pattinson | 97 | 0.2 | New | |
| UK Pensioners Party | Cherri Gilham | 82 | 0.2 | New | |
| Independent | Helen John | 68 | 0.2 | –0.4 | |
| Independent | John Barker | 45 | 0.1 | New | |
| Independent | Julian Brennan | 17 | 0.0 | New | |
| Majority | 18,449 | 44.5 | +0.5 | ||
| Turnout | 41,475 | 62.2 | +0.2 | ||
| Labourhold | Swing | –0.2 | |||
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