The Crewe and Nantwich by-election, 2008 was a parliamentary by-election

By-election

A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....

 held on 22 May 2008, for the British House of Commons

British House of Commons

The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...

 constituency of Crewe and Nantwich

Crewe and Nantwich (UK Parliament constituency)

Crewe and Nantwich is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first-past-the-post system of election. For 25 years since its creation in 1983, the constituency had elected the Labour MP Gwyneth...

, in Cheshire

Cheshire

Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. The election was won by the Conservative

Conservative Party (UK)

The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...

 party candidate Edward Timpson

Edward Timpson

Anthony Edward Timpson is a British Conservative Party politician. He became a Member of Parliament in 2008 after winning a by-election in the constituency of Crewe and Nantwich.-Biography:Timpson was born in Knutsford, Cheshire, in 1973...

, who defeated the Labour

Labour Party (UK)

The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...

 party candidate Tamsin Dunwoody, on a swing

Swing (politics)

An electoral swing analysis shows the extent of change in voter support from one election to another. It is an indicator of voter support for individual candidates or political parties, or voter preference between two or more candidates or parties...

 from Labour to Conservative of 17.6%, a swing that in a general election would see nine Labour cabinet ministers

Cabinet of the United Kingdom

The Cabinet of the United Kingdom is the collective decision-making body of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom, composed of the Prime Minister and some 22 Cabinet Ministers, the most senior of the government ministers....

 lose their seats. At the time of the by-election, a swing of 7% in a general election would have seen the Conservatives gain an overall majority over Labour. This was the first seat gained by the Conservatives in a by-election since the Mitcham and Morden by-election, 1982

Mitcham and Morden by-election, 1982

-Overview:The British by-election was caused by the resignation of Bruce Douglas-Mann, the Member of Parliament for Mitcham and Morden. Douglas-Mann had retained the seat for the Labour Party since its creation for the February 1974 general election...

.

Overview

The by-election was called following the death on 17 April 2008 of the sitting MP Gwyneth Dunwoody

Gwyneth Dunwoody

Gwyneth Patricia Dunwoody was a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament for Exeter from 1966 to 1970, and then for Crewe from 1974 to her death in 2008...

. The timing of the election caused controversy as, by convention, by-elections are not moved until after the funeral of the deceased Member of Parliament, which drew protests from Conservative and Liberal Democrat

Liberal Democrats

The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...

 members in the House of Commons. However the writ was called with the approval of the Dunwoody family.

The election had attracted high media and public interest following heavy defeats for the incumbent Labour party in the local elections held earlier that same month

United Kingdom local elections, 2008

The 2008 United Kingdom local elections were held on 1 May 2008. These elections took place in 137 English Local Authorities and all Welsh Councils....

, and the fact it followed the controversial removal by the Labour government of the 10 pence national income tax band, which had seen a backbench rebellion against the prime minister Gordon Brown

Gordon Brown

James Gordon Brown is a British Labour Party politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 until 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Labour Government from 1997 to 2007...

, causing an announcement in the same month of a recovery package to help the people left worse off by the move.

Immediately following the announcement of the result following the speeches, the defeated Tamsin Dunwoody speaking live to the BBC blamed the swing on a higher turn-out than usual due to the high interest in the election, despite both the turnout and winning vote being lower than the 2005 general election result for this seat. Telling the BBC the Labour vote "held up" in a "democratic decision", defeated Labour candidate Tasmin Dunwoody called herself a "fighter". New MP Edward Timpson said in his victory speech that he would "not let you down". The Prime Minister Gordon Brown attributed the defeat to rising petrol prices, and the recent increases in the cost of living.

Result

Opinion polling

An ICM poll from mid-May gave the Conservative candidate 43% to Labour's 39% and the Lib Dems' 16%; a second ICM poll from a week after gave the Conservatives 45% to Labour's 37%.

Candidates

On 3 May 2008, incumbent Gwyneth Dunwoody

Gwyneth Dunwoody

Gwyneth Patricia Dunwoody was a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament for Exeter from 1966 to 1970, and then for Crewe from 1974 to her death in 2008...

's daughter Tamsin, a former Welsh assembly member, was selected as the Labour candidate. Prior to Dunwoody's death, the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats had already selected candidates to contest the seat at the general election. The Conservative Party candidate Edward Timpson

Edward Timpson

Anthony Edward Timpson is a British Conservative Party politician. He became a Member of Parliament in 2008 after winning a by-election in the constituency of Crewe and Nantwich.-Biography:Timpson was born in Knutsford, Cheshire, in 1973...

 was a barrister

Barrister

A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...

 practising in Chester

Chester

Chester is a city in Cheshire, England. Lying on the River Dee, close to the border with Wales, it is home to 77,040 inhabitants, and is the largest and most populous settlement of the wider unitary authority area of Cheshire West and Chester, which had a population of 328,100 according to the...

. Since 2006, he had been the Conservative Party's campaigns co-ordinator for the Eddisbury constituency

Eddisbury (UK Parliament constituency)

Eddisbury is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first-past-the-post system of election.- Boundaries :...

. The Liberal Democrat candidate Elizabeth Shenton had worked as a senior manager for the RBS

Royal Bank of Scotland

The Royal Bank of Scotland Group is a British banking and insurance holding company in which the UK Government holds an 84% stake. This stake is held and managed through UK Financial Investments Limited, whose voting rights are limited to 75% in order for the bank to retain its listing on the...

 and Natwest, where she was an active member of the trade union. At the time of the election she was also a councillor in Newcastle-under-Lyme

Newcastle-under-Lyme

Newcastle-under-Lyme is a market town in Staffordshire, England, and is the principal town of the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme. It is part of The Potteries Urban Area and North Staffordshire. In the 2001 census the town had a population of 73,944...

.

The UK Independence Party

United Kingdom Independence Party

The United Kingdom Independence Party is a eurosceptic and right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. Whilst its primary goal is the UK's withdrawal from the European Union, the party has expanded beyond its single-issue image to develop a more comprehensive party platform.UKIP...

 candidate was Mike Nattrass

Mike Nattrass

Mike Nattrass is an English politician and Member of the European Parliament, representing the West Midlands constituency for the UK Independence Party , elected for the first time in June 2004 and re-elected in June 2009....

, MEP

Member of the European Parliament

A Member of the European Parliament is a person who has been elected to the European Parliament. The name of MEPs differ in different languages, with terms such as europarliamentarian or eurodeputy being common in Romance language-speaking areas.When the European Parliament was first established,...

 for the nearby West Midlands

West Midlands (European Parliament constituency)

West Midlands is a constituency of the European Parliament. For 2009 it elected 6 MEPs using the d'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation. The constituency will also elect a "virtual MEP" who will be able to sit in the Parliament if the Treaty of Lisbon comes into effect...

 and a former deputy party leader. Robert Smith, a 23-year-old town planner (and transport planning specialist) educated at the University of Liverpool

University of Liverpool

The University of Liverpool is a teaching and research university in the city of Liverpool, England. It is a member of the Russell Group of large research-intensive universities and the N8 Group for research collaboration. Founded in 1881 , it is also one of the six original "red brick" civic...

 stood for the Green Party of England and Wales

Green Party of England and Wales

The Green Party of England and Wales is a political party in England and Wales which follows the traditions of Green politics and maintains a strong commitment to social progressivism. It is the largest Green party in the United Kingdom, containing within it various regional divisions including...

 and particularly campaigned to reverse the privatisation of British Rail

Privatisation of British Rail

The privatisation of British Rail was set in motion when the Conservative government enacted, on 19 January 1993, the British Coal and British Rail Act 1993 . This enabled the relevant Secretary of State to issue directions to the relevant Board...

 (and associated fare increases).

The Official Monster Raving Loony Party

Official Monster Raving Loony Party

The Official Monster Raving Loony Party is a registered political party established in the United Kingdom in 1983 by musician and politician David Sutch , better known as Screaming Lord Sutch.-History:...

 stood "The Flying Brick" (his legal name, although he was formerly known as Nick Delves), the party's treasurer and Shadow Minister for the Abolition of Gravity (see Official Monster Raving Loony Party#Crewe and Nantwich By-Election). Independent candidate Mark Walklate is a locally educated salesperson (with a business degree) who stood for the Conservatives in the 2006 and 2007 council elections. Paul Thorogood's party, Cut Tax on Petrol and Diesel, was registered with the Electoral Commission on 23 March 2008, with Thorogood as its Leader, Nominating Officer and Treasurer, although his party is listed on the nomination paper as "Cut Tax on Diesel and Petrol" (the fourth and sixth words reversed). The newly formed Beauties for Britain Party fielded Gemma Garrett, the then Miss Great Britain

Miss Great Britain

Miss Great Britain is a female beauty contest currently held in London. Between 1956 and 1989, it was held in the seaside resort of Morecambe. It is one of the oldest of its kind in the country, with the first edition held in 1945...

, as a candidate in what was their first election campaign, announcing that they wanted to "help make Westminster as glamorous a place as its fellow European legislatures, where beautiful women abound in the higher echelons of government". The party was not, however, registered with the Electoral Commission, so she had to stand as an independent. Garrett and fellow independent Mark Walklate are recorded as having no party name or description at all on the official record of candidates as opposed to having the word, 'Independent' by their names on the ballot paper.

Campaign

The Labour Party ran a personal class-based campaign against the Conservative candidate, calling him "the Tarporley

Tarporley

Tarporley is a large village and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England....

 Toff", "Lord Snooty

Lord Snooty

Lord Snooty was a fictional character in a comic strip in the UK comic The Beano, first appearing in issue 1, dated 30 July 1938, and was the longest running strip in the comic until Dennis the Menace and Gnasher overtook it...

", "Tory Boy Timpson". Labour supporters donned top hat

Top hat

A top hat, beaver hat, high hat silk hat, cylinder hat, chimney pot hat or stove pipe hat is a tall, flat-crowned, broad-brimmed hat, predominantly worn from the latter part of the 18th to the middle of the 20th century...

s to mock Timpson, whose family own a national shoe repair and key-cutting business. This has been viewed by some social commentators as a form of reverse snobbery. Dunwoody, who arrived for the campaign from her 6 acres (24,281.2 m²) holding in Wales, was termed "One of us", as she was daughter of the deceased Labour MP. The campaign was criticised by a number of national newspapers, including the left-leaning Guardian

The Guardian

The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...

as well as The Times

The Times

The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...

, while Dunwoody herself was confronted by Jeremy Paxman

Jeremy Paxman

Jeremy Dickson Paxman is a British journalist, author and television presenter. He has worked for the BBC since 1977. He is noted for a forthright and abrasive interviewing style, particularly when interrogating politicians...

 on Newsnight

Newsnight

Newsnight is a BBC Television current affairs programme noted for its in-depth analysis and often robust cross-examination of senior politicians. Jeremy Paxman has been its main presenter for over two decades....

 over the fact that she has an entry in Burke's Peerage and Baronetage

Burke's Peerage

Burke's Peerage publishes authoritative, in-depth historical guides to the royal and titled families of the United Kingdom, such as Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, and of many other countries. Founded in 1826 by British genealogist John Burke Esq., and continued by his son, Sir John...

.

On the last day of the campaign, the accidental communication by a Conservative party worker of voting intention data of 8,000 people to a radio station sparked an investigation by the Information Commissioner

Information Commissioner

The role of Information Commissioner differs from nation to nation. Most commonly it is a title given to a government regulator in the fields of freedom of information and the protection of personal data in the widest sense.-Canada:...

 into possible breaches of data protection laws.

History

The constituency was held by Gwyneth Dunwoody for Labour since its creation in 1983. Just three parties contested the seat at the 2005 UK general election

United Kingdom general election, 2005

The United Kingdom general election of 2005 was held on Thursday, 5 May 2005 to elect 646 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party under Tony Blair won its third consecutive victory, but with a majority of 66, reduced from 160....

. Dunwoody held the seat with a reduced majority, while both the Conservative Party and Liberal Democrats enjoyed an increase in their vote share.

External links

• Nick The Flying Brick candidate's website including manifesto
• Tamsin Dunwoody official campaign page
• Mike Nattrass official website
• David Roberts English Democrats announcement of candidacy
• Elizabeth Shenton official campaign page
• Robert Smith Green Party announcement of candidacy
• Paul Thorogood Cut Tax on Petrol and Diesel by-election page
• Edward Timpson campaign website
• Election leaflets from the by-election campaign