Uxbridge by-election, 1997

The Uxbridge by-election, 1997 was held after the Member of Parliament for Uxbridge, London, England, Sir Michael Shersby (Conservative), died unexpectedly on May 8, 1997, just seven days after his being returned in the 1997 UK general election.

The by-election for the vacancy was held on July 31, 1997. The seat previously had seen Shersby win a narrow victory over Labour candidate David Williams in May, but Williams was not selected for the by-election candidate shortlist, as he was seen as too left-wing, and therefore unelectable, even though his supporters argued for the selection for this locally-based politician.Fact|date=February 2007 The Conservative Party selected John Randall, the Managing Directory of the century-old Randall's Furniture Store in Uxbridge. The Labour Party eventually chose Andy Slaughter, the Leader of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham Council, over the Barrister Willie Bach from Nottinghamshire. Keith Kerr, a senior executive with British Airways, represented the Liberal Democrats.

Labour's concentrated campaign included an unusual visit by Prime Minister Tony Blair. This was unusual in that a sitting Prime Minister does not normally campaign personally in by-elections for fear that a defeat may harm his own political standing. In the end, the Conservative candidate was elected by a large majority, gaining over 50% of all votes cast, while the Labour and Liberal Democrat vote fell sharply.

Results

Election box candidate with party link
party = Conservative Party (UK)
candidate = John Randall
votes = 16,288
percentage = 51.1
change = +7.6Election box candidate with party link
party = Labour Party (UK)
candidate = Andy Slaughter
votes = 12,522
percentage = 39.3
change = -2.5Election box candidate with party link
party = Liberal Democrats (UK)
candidate = Keith Kerr
votes = 1,792
percentage = 5.6
change = -5.4Election box candidate with party link
party = Official Monster Raving Loony Party
candidate = Screaming Lord Sutch
votes = 396
percentage = 1.3
change = "N/A"Election box candidate with party link
party = Socialist Party (England and Wales)
candidate = Julia Leonard
votes = 259
percentage = 0.8
change = -0.1Election box candidate with party link
party = British National Party
candidate = Frances Taylor
votes = 205
percentage = 0.7
change = "N/A"Election box candidate with party link
party = National Democrats (UK)
candidate = Ian Anderson
votes = 157
percentage = 0.5
change = "N/A"Election box candidate with party link
party = British National Front
candidate = John McAuley
votes = 110
percentage = 0.3
change = "N/A"Election box candidate with party link
party = Independent Liberal
candidate = Henry Middleton
votes = 69
percentage = 0.2
change = "N/A"Election box candidate with party link
party = United Kingdom Independence Party
candidate = James Feisenberger
votes = 39
percentage = 0.1
change = "N/A"Election box candidate with party link
party = Vote For Yourself Rainbow Dream Ticket
candidate = Ronnie Carroll
votes = 30
percentage = 0.1
change = "N/A"Election box majority
votes = 3,766
percentage =
change = Election box turnout
votes =
percentage = 55.2
change = -16.9Election box hold with party link
winner = Conservative Party (UK)
swing =

Election box candidate with party link
party = Conservative Party (UK)
candidate = Michael Shersby
votes = 18,095
percentage = 43.5
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Labour Party (UK)
candidate = David Williams
votes = 17,371
percentage = 41.8
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Liberal Democrats (UK)
candidate = Andrew Malyan
votes = 4,528
percentage = 10.9
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Referendum Party
candidate = Garrick Aird
votes = 1,153
percentage = 2.8
change = "N/A"Election box candidate with party link
party = Socialist Party (England and Wales)
candidate = Julia Leonard
votes = 398
percentage = 1.0
change = "N/A"Election box majority
votes = 724
percentage =
change = Election box turnout
votes =
percentage = 72.3
change = Election box hold with party link
winner = Conservative Party (UK)
swing =

External links

* [http://www.geocities.com/by_elections/uxbridge97.html British Parliamentary By Elections: Campaign literature from the by-election]

ee also

*List of United Kingdom by-elections