2004 Leicester South by-election
A by-election was held in Leicester South on 15 July, the same day as the Birmingham Hodge Hill by-election. It was won by Parmjit Singh Gill of the Liberal Democrats, over-turning a Labour majority of 13,243 votes at the 2001 general election.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Leicester South parliamentary seat | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
The MP for Leicester South, Jim Marshall, from the Labour Party died on 27 May 2004, shortly before the local and European elections in June.
The seat was first won by Marshall in 1974. He lost it to the Conservative Party candidate, Derek Spencer, in the 1983 general election by 7 votes, but won it back at the 1987 election. Marshall had a large personal vote, and both the Liberal Democrat and Conservative Parties targeted the seat at the 2004 by-election. At the 2005 general election, the Liberal Democrats were unable to retain the seat and Peter Soulsby became Leicester South's MP.
The constituency is diverse, covering leafy suburbs such as Stoneygate and Knighton along with inner city areas with a strong Asian community.
Results
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Liberal Democrats | Parmjit Singh Gill | 10,274 | 34.9 | +17.7 | |
Labour | Peter Soulsby | 8,620 | 29.3 | -25.2 | |
Conservative | Chris Heaton-Harris | 5,796 | 19.7 | -3.4 | |
Respect | Yvonne Ridley | 3,724 | 12.7 | New | |
Socialist Labour | Dave Roberts | 263 | 0.9 | -0.7 | |
Monster Raving Loony | R. U. Seerius | 225 | 0.8 | New | |
Independent | Pat Kennedy | 204 | 0.7 | New | |
Independent | Paul Lord | 186 | 0.6 | New | |
Independent | Mark Benson | 55 | 0.2 | New | |
Independent | Jitendra Bardwaj | 36 | 0.1 | New | |
Ind. Conservative | Alan Barrett | 25 | 0.1 | New | |
Majority | 1,654 | 5.6 | N/A | ||
Turnout | 29,438 | 41.6 | -16.4 | ||
Liberal Democrats gain from Labour | Swing | +21.5 | |||
The by-election was considered a referendum on Blair's policies, especially the ongoing Iraq War; Leicester South has one of the largest South Asian populations of any constituency in the UK. In his victory speech, Gill said, "Yesterday, Lord Butler gave his views on Tony Blair's reasoning for backing the invasion of Iraq. Today, people in Leicester have given theirs."[2] He then went on to say, "The justification which Tony Blair gave for backing George Bush was wrong. The people of Leicester South have spoken for the people of Britain. Their message is that the prime minister has abused and lost their trust.He should apologize and he should apologize now."[3]
2001 result
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Jim Marshall | 22,958 | 54.5 | -3.5 | |
Conservative | Richard Hoile | 9,715 | 23.1 | -0.7 | |
Liberal Democrats | Parmjit Singh Gill | 7,243 | 17.2 | +3.4 | |
Green | Margaret Layton | 1,217 | 2.9 | New | |
Socialist Labour | Arnie Gardner | 676 | 1.6 | New | |
UKIP | Kirti Ladwa | 330 | 0.8 | New | |
Majority | 13,243 | 31.4 | |||
Turnout | 42,139 | 58.0 | |||
Labour hold | Swing |
References
- Boothroyd, David. "Results of Byelections in the 2001-2005 Parliament". United Kingdom Election Results. Retrieved 5 October 2015.
- "By-election disaster for Blair". Al Jazeera. 16 July 2004. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
- "Blair's party loses parliament by-election in Leicester". People's Daily. 16 July 2004. Retrieved 24 January 2021.