2011 Feltham and Heston by-election

The Feltham and Heston by-election was a by-election for the Parliament of the United Kingdom's House of Commons constituency of Feltham and Heston in the London Borough of Hounslow. The by-election was caused by the death of its Member of Parliament Alan Keen.[1] It took place on 15 December 2011,[2][3] and was held by the Labour Party candidate, Seema Malhotra.

2011 Feltham and Heston by-election
15 December 2011
Feltham and Heston constituency
  First party Second party
 
Candidate Seema Malhotra Mark Bowen
Party Labour Conservative
Popular vote 12,639 6,436
Percentage 54.4% 27.7%
Swing 10.8% 6.3%
  Third party Fourth party
 
Candidate Roger Crouch Andrew Charalambous
Party Liberal Democrats UKIP
Popular vote 1,364 1,276
Percentage 5.9% 5.5%
Swing 7.8% 3.5%
Map showing the Feltham and Heston Parliamentary constituency within Greater London.
MP before election

Alan Keen
Labour

 Subsequent MP

Seema Malhotra
Labour

Boundaries

Feltham and Heston covers the western end of the London Borough of Hounslow. Feltham lies in the western half of the constituency, Heston in the north. At the south of the constituency lies Hanworth, with Bedfont in the west. Across the parliamentary and borough boundary to the south-east lies Twickenham. Feltham & Heston shares the London Borough of Hounslow with the Brentford and Isleworth parliamentary constituency.

The constituency comprises ten electoral wards of the Borough of Hounslow: Bedfont, Cranford, Feltham North, Feltham West, Hanworth, Hanworth Park, Heston Central, Heston East, Heston West, and Hounslow West.

Constituency profile

Most parts of the Feltham and Heston constituency are lower on the socio-economic scale than those in neighbouring Brentford and Isleworth. There is a higher proportion of social housing, though unemployment is low by London standards. The seat also includes parts of Hounslow itself.

To the North and West, just over the border in the London Borough of Hillingdon, is London Heathrow Airport where many local constituents are employed, while there is considerable small industry in the Heston area. The constituency includes a Young Offenders Institution and a motorway service station.

Candidates

The candidature deadline was 30 November 2011.[4][5]

On 24 November 2011, the UK Independence Party chose Andrew Charalambous,[6] a former nightclub owner and Conservative Party electoral candidate. The Conservative candidate was named as Hounslow Councillor Mark Bowen on the same day.[7][8]

Labour chose Seema Malhotra[9] as their candidate on 27 November 2011 after a quickfire selection[10] from four other candidates. Malhotra is the Director of Fabian's Women Network and was a Chair of the Fabian Society.[11][12] Dave Furness was selected by the British National Party on 29 November 2011,[13] the same day as Roger Crouch was confirmed as the Liberal Democrats nominee.[14] Crouch is a supporter of the Liberal Democrats' Chinese branch.[15]

Roger Cooper is the English Democrat Party chairman for their London region.[16] David Bishop stood in the 2011 Oldham East and Saddleworth by-election in addition to being one of the 26 candidates at the 2008 Haltemprice and Howden by-election. His website explains that his party was created in protest at the capitalist system which turned Elvis Presley "into a fat media joke." George Hallam stood on a socialist platform against austerity cuts and in favour of high rates of income tax for the highest earners. He was a candidate at the 2010 general election in the Lewisham East seat under the ballot paper description "Community Need Before Private Greed".[17] The Green Party candidate, Daniel Goldsmith, is an IT consultant from Chiswick.[18]

Result

The result was marked by a particularly low turnout of 28.8%, the lowest since Tottenham, April 2000 (25.4%) and West Bromwich West, November 2000 (27.3%). Whilst a low turnout is generally expected at by-elections, such a low turnout surprised many experts who attributed it to a couple of main factors: the relatively short space of time between the death of the sitting MP (Alan Keen) and the by-election, only 35 days in this case when the average since 1979 is 73;[19] and the time of year, as it was held close to Christmas and during the long and cold winter nights. The electorate was 80,813.[20]

2011 Feltham and Heston by-election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Seema Malhotra 12,639 54.4 +10.8
Conservative Mark Bowen 6,436 27.7 -6.3
Liberal Democrats Roger Crouch 1,364 5.9 −7.8
UKIP Andrew Charalambous 1,276 5.5 +3.5
BNP Dave Furness 540 2.3 −1.2
Green Daniel Goldsmith 426 1.8 +0.7
English Democrat Roger Cooper 322 1.4 New
London People Before Profit George Hallam 128 0.6 New
Bus-Pass Elvis David Bishop 93 0.4 New
Majority 6,203 26.7 +17.1
Rejected ballots 75
Turnout 23,299 28.8 −31.1
Registered electors 80,813
Labour hold Swing +8.6
General election 2010: Feltham and Heston[21]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Co-op Alan Keen 21,174 43.6 −4.5
Conservative Mark Bowen 16,516 34.0 +5.2
Liberal Democrats Munira Wilson 6,669 13.7 −2.9
BNP John Donnelly 1,714 3.5 New
UKIP Jerry Shadbolt 992 2.0 +0.5
Green Elizabeth Anstis 530 1.1 −1.2
Independent Dharmendra Tripathi 505 1.0 New
Independent Asa Khaira 180 0.4 New
Independent Roger Williams 168 0.3 New
Workers Revolutionary Matthew Linley 78 0.2 New
Majority 4,658 9.6 -8.7
Turnout 48,526 59.9 +12.0
Registered electors 81,058
Labour Co-op hold Swing −4.8

See also

References
  1. Langdon, Julia (14 November 2011). "Alan Keen obituary". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 23 November 2011.
  2. "Labour announces byelection date". Press Association. 24 November 2011. Retrieved 24 November 2011.
  3. Waugh, Paul. "Winter by-election". Politics Home. Archived from the original on 28 November 2011. Retrieved 23 November 2011.
  4. Feltham and Heston by-election Archived 2012-05-01 at the Wayback Machine London Borough of Hounslow
  6. "UKIP chooses by-election candidate". UK Independence Party. Archived from the original on 26 November 2011. Retrieved 24 November 2011.
  7. Bowen's Blog Mark Bowen personal blog
  8. ToryHQ Twitter feed
  9. LabourList
  10. LabourList
  11. Seema Malhotra Profile Archived 2011-12-04 at the Wayback Machine Fabian Society
  12. LabourList
  13. Vote Dave Furness for Feltham and Heston Archived 2011-11-30 at the Wayback Machine British National Party
  14. Roger Crouch to be LibDem candidate Liberal England blog
  15. Chinese Liberal Democrats Archived 2012-04-26 at the Wayback Machine Profile Page
  16. Party Structure VoteEnglish - English Democrats
  17. Home Archived 2011-08-21 at the Wayback Machine George Hallam
  18. Daniel Goldsmith to stand for the Green Party in Feltham and Heston By-Election Archived 2012-04-29 at the Wayback Machine Green Party
  19. "What lessons from Feltham and Heston by-election?". BBC News. 16 December 2011.
  20. Brentworth and Isleworth Chronicle
  21. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
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