The South Shields by-election was a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election ( Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to ...

held for the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

constituency An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other poli ...

South Shields South Shields () is a coastal town in South Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the south bank of the mouth of the River Tyne. Historically, it was known in Roman times as Arbeia, and as Caer Urfa by Early Middle Ages. According to the 20 ...

. It was triggered by the resignation of

David Miliband David Wright Miliband (born 15 July 1965) is the president and chief executive officer (CEO) of the International Rescue Committee and a former British Labour Party politician. He was the Foreign Secretary from 2007 to 2010 and the Member of ...

, the previous

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

(MP) and former

Foreign Secretary The secretary of state for foreign, Commonwealth and development affairs, known as the foreign secretary, is a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), minister of the Crown of the Government of the United Kingdom and head of the Foreign, Commonwe ...

, who had held the seat for Labour since 2001. The by-election took place on 2 May 2013, coinciding with local elections across England. The by-election was won by

Emma Lewell-Buck Emma Louise Lewell-Buck (born 8 November 1978) is a Labour Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for South Shields since winning a by-election in 2013. She is South Shields’s first female MP. Early life From a family ...

of the Labour Party with 50.4% of the vote. The

UK Independence Party The UK Independence Party (UKIP; ) is a Eurosceptic, right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. The party reached its greatest level of success in the mid-2010s, when it gained two members of Parliament and was the largest par ...

(UKIP) came second with 24.2%, with the

Conservatives Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

dropping to third with 11.5%. The Liberal Democrats' candidate came seventh with just 1.4%, the Liberals' or Liberal Democrats' lowest share of the vote at a by-election since 1948.

Resignation of David Miliband

The seat became vacant after

, the incumbent

(MP) and former

, announced on 27 March 2013 that he intended to resign from Parliament, in order to take up a position as head of the

International Rescue Committee The International Rescue Committee (IRC) is a global humanitarian aid, relief, and development nongovernmental organization. Founded in 1933 as the International Relief Association, at the request of Albert Einstein, and changing its name in ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. In an interview with the BBC, he also explained that he "feared" his continued involvement in British politics was a "distraction" to his brother Ed's leadership of the Labour Party. Miliband's resignation was formally announced on 15 April.

Date

The date for the by-election was scheduled for 2 May 2013 to coincide with local elections across England, although none of those local elections were for councils or positions in South Shields – the nearest elections being for the county councils of Durham and Northumberland, and for the directly elected mayor of North Tyneside.

Candidates and campaign

The Labour Party selected

South Tyneside South Tyneside is a metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear, North East England. It is bordered by all four other boroughs in Tyne and Wear – Gateshead to the west, Sunderland in the south, North Tyneside to the no ...

councillor

as its candidate on 10 April 2013. Mark Walsh, a fellow councillor, had been considered the favourite to be selected, but withdrew for "personal reasons" hours before the vote. The

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

selected the previous 2010 candidate Karen Allen to once again stand for the party on 11 April 2013. The Liberal Democrats chose Hugh Annand as their candidate on 11 April 2013. Annand had previously stood in

North East Hertfordshire North East Hertfordshire is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 1997 by Oliver Heald, a Conservative. Constituency profile The constituency includes the towns of Letchworth, Baldock and Royston and th ...

and has also been chosen as the seventh candidate on their

East of England The East of England is one of the nine official regions of England. This region was created in 1994 and was adopted for statistics purposes from 1999. It includes the ceremonial counties of Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, ...

party-list for the 2014 European elections. The

announced on 7 April 2013 that Richard Elvin would be their candidate.Candidate announcement
Official UKIP Twitter account Elvin finished second in the

2012 Middlesbrough by-election The Middlesbrough by-election was a by-election for the Parliament of the United Kingdom's House of Commons constituency of Middlesbrough. The by-election was caused by the death of its Member of Parliament, Sir Stuart Bell. It was held on 29 N ...

with 12% of the vote. Alan "Howling Laud" Hope, the leader of the Official Monster Raving Loony Party and perennial by-election candidate, stood as the party's candidate. Comedian

Simon Brodkin Simon Benjamin Brodkin (born 29 September 1977) is an English comedian, performing both on the stand-up circuit and in comedy television series. He is best known for playing a cheerful chav character called Lee Nelson, but also performs as othe ...

, in character as Lee Nelson, was duly nominated as a candidate for 'Lee Nelson's Well Good Party', but then withdrew his nomination."South Shields by-election"

South Tyneside Council South Tyneside Council is the local authority of South Tyneside in Tyne and Wear, North East England. It is a metropolitan borough A metropolitan borough (or metropolitan district) is a type of local government district in England. Created in ...

Result

References

{{By-elections to the 55th UK Parliament South Shields by-election South Shields by-election South Shields by-election 21st century in Tyne and Wear South Shields by-elections

Resignation of David Miliband

Date

Candidates and campaign

Result

See also

References