Livingston by-election, 2005

The Livingston by-election, 2005 was triggered when Robin Cook, the Labour Party Member of Parliament for Livingston, in Scotland, died on August 6, 2005.

Notice of the vacancy in the constituency was published in the London Gazette on September 2, 2005, which allowed the Speaker of the House of Commons to issue the writ for the election on September 8 under the Recess Elections Act 1975. The poll was held on September 29, in the week of the Labour Party Conference, when the Labour candidate Jim Devine held the seat for his party.

A by-election for the Glasgow Cathcart seat in the Scottish Parliament was also held on the same day.

Election box begin no clear
title=Candidates for Livingston by-election, 2005Election box candidate with party link
party = Labour Party (UK)
candidate = Jim Devine
votes = 12,319
percentage = 41.8%
change = -9.3%Election box candidate with party link
party = Scottish National Party
candidate = Angela Constance
votes = 9,639
percentage = 32.7%
change = +11.1%Election box candidate with party link
party = Liberal Democrats (UK)
candidate = Charles Dundas
votes = 4,362
percentage = 14.8%
change = -0.6%Election box candidate with party link
party = Conservative Party (UK)
candidate = Gordon Lindhurst
votes = 1,993
percentage = 6.8%
change = -3.4%Election box candidate with party link
party = Scottish Green Party
candidate = David Robertson
votes = 529
percentage = 1.8%
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Scottish Socialist Party
candidate = Steven Nimmo
votes = 407
percentage = 1.4%
change = -0.4%Election box candidate with party link
party = United Kingdom Independence Party
candidate = Peter Adams
votes = 108
percentage = 0.4%
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Independent (politician)
candidate = Melville Brown
votes = 55
percentage = 0.2%
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Alliance for Change (UK)
candidate = John William Allman
votes = 33
percentage = 0.1%
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Socialist Party of Great Britain
candidate = Brian Gardner
votes = 32
percentage = 0.1%
change = Election box majority
votes = 2,680
percentage = 9.1%
change = Election box turnout
votes = 29,477
percentage = 38.6%
change = -19.5%Election box hold with party link
winner = Labour Party (UK)
swing = -10.2%

Election box begin no clear
title=General Election 2005: LivingstonElection box candidate with party link
party = Labour Party (UK)
candidate = Robin Cook
votes = 22,657
percentage = 51.1
change = -4.1Election box candidate with party link
party = Scottish National Party
candidate = Angela Constance
votes = 9,560
percentage = 21.6
change = -1.7Election box candidate with party link
party = Liberal Democrats (UK)
candidate = Charles Dundas
votes = 6,832
percentage = 15.4
change = +5.5Election box candidate with party link
party = Conservative Party (UK)
candidate = Alison Ross
votes = 4,499
percentage = 10.1
change = +2.5Election box candidate with party link
party = Scottish Socialist Party
candidate = Steven Nimmo
votes = 789
percentage = 1.8
change = -1.2Election box majority
votes = 13,097
percentage = 29.5
change = Election box turnout
votes = 44,337
percentage = 58.1
change = +2.0Election box hold with party link
winner = Labour Party (UK)
swing = -1.2%

Reaction to results

Labour's retention of the seat, albeit with a reduced majority, was regarded by the party with satisfaction given the popularity of Robin Cook locally. The Scottish National Party was the only party to increase their vote from the general election, and although did not win, their swing of 10% from Labour was widely regarded as quite an achievement. The Liberal Democrats were generally regarded as having a poor result in that their vote fell.

There was a swing from Labour to Conservatives of 3%, but given the fourth place position of the Conservative Party in this seat, and their third place position in Scotland, the significance of this is debatable.

UKIP failed to even beat the Scottish Socialists, and did badly as is typical of them in Scotland.

In 2007 Angela Constance gained the Livingston seat in the Scottish Parliament (which has slightly different boundaries) from Labour.

ee also

*Livingston (UK Parliament constituency)
*Elections in Scotland

External links

* [http://www.geocities.com/by_elections/livingston05.html British Parliamentary By Elections: Campaign literature from the by-election]
*BBC News: [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/4207176.stm Date is set for Cook by-election]