Hartlepool by-election, 2004
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On July 23, 2004, the Member of Parliament for Hartlepool, Peter Mandelson (Labour), was nominated as Britain's new European Commissioner. On September 8 he accepted the office of Steward of the Manor of Northstead, thereby disqualifying himself from Parliament and causing a by-election. Polling took place on September 30. The Labour Party candidate Iain Wright won the seat with a majority of 2,033.
Results
Out of a registered electorate of 68,517, there were 31,362 valid votes, making a turnout of 45.77%. This was the highest by-election turnout since the Romsey by-election in May 2000.
| Candidate | Party | Votes | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Iain Wright | Labour Party | 12,752 | 40.6% |
| Jody Dunn | Liberal Democrats | 10,719 | 34.1% |
| Stephen Allison | UKIP | 3,193 | 10.2% |
| Jeremy Middleton | Conservative Party | 3,044 | 9.7% |
| John Bloom | RESPECT | 572 | 1.8% |
| Iris Ryder | Green | 255 | 0.8% |
| James Starkey | NF | 246 | 0.8% |
| Paul Watson | Fathers 4 Justice | 139 | 0.4% |
| Christopher (Chris) Herriot | Socialist Labour | 95 | 0.3% |
| Rev. Dr. Richard (Dick) Rodgers | The Common Good | 91 | 0.3% |
| Philip Berriman | Independent | 90 | 0.3% |
| Alan Hope | MRLP | 80 | 0.3% |
| Ronnie Carroll | Independent | 45 | 0.1% |
| Edward Abrams | EDP | 41 | 0.1% |
| Spoilt Ballots | 31 | 0.1% |
Robert Kilroy-Silk of UKIP initially suggested he might stand but later ruled this out, as did Hartlepool and Middlesbrough mayors Stuart Drummond and Ray Mallon.
Preceding by-elections had seen the Liberal Democrats come from third place to beat the Conservative Party, and in Brent East and Leicester South took the seat from Labour Party. The seat was safer (judging by the 2001 result) than Leicester but was vulnerable to swings such as achieved in Brent, or in Birmingham Hodge Hill where the Lib Dems narrowly failed to win.
In the event the Liberal Democrats were not quite able to repeat these performances, with a swing of 18% rather than the 20+% figures in the previous three by-elections. In part this was attributed to the absence of a significant ethnic minority vote in Hartlepool, which was a major factor in the other three by-elections.
Liberal Democrats were nevertheless content to claim the large swing to them and the Conservatives' fourth place which established the Lib Dems as the main opposition party to Labour.
In contradistinction Labour regarded the result as good news for them as it came at the end of a very long campaign (effectively 71 days) and with a swing markedly smaller than in other seats over the previous year. Labour also regarded the result - along with that in Hodge Hill - as a vindication of their decision to aggressively attack the Liberal Democrats and essentially ignore the Conservative challenge.
2001 result
From the 2001 general election.
| Peter Mandelson | Labour | 22,506 | 59.1% |
| Gus Robinson | Conservative | 7,935 | 20.9% |
| Nigel Boddy | Lib Dem | 5,717 | 15.0% |
| Arthur Scargill | SLP | 912 | 2.4% |
| Ian Cameron | Independent | 557 | 1.5% |
| John Booth | Independent | 424 | 1.1% |