The Richmond Park by-election was a UK parliamentary

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 f ...

in the constituency of

Richmond Park Richmond Park, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, is the largest of London's Royal Parks, and is of national and international importance for wildlife conservation. It was created by Charles I in the 17th century as a deer park ...

which was held on 1 December 2016. It was triggered by the resignation of the

Conservative 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 ...

Member of Parliament

Zac Goldsmith Frank Zacharias Robin Goldsmith, Baron Goldsmith of Richmond Park, (born 20 January 1975) is a British politician, life peer and journalist serving as Minister of State for Overseas Territories, Commonwealth, Energy, Climate and Environment s ...

on 25 October 2016 over the Government's proposal for a third runway at the nearby Heathrow Airport. It was won by

Sarah Olney Sarah Jane Olney (' McGibbon; born 11 January 1977) is a British Liberal Democrat politician and former accountant who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Richmond Park since 2019, and previously from 2016 to 2017. Olney has served as ...

of the Liberal Democrats, after a campaign focused on opposition to

Brexit Brexit (; a portmanteau of "British exit") was the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 CET).The UK also left the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC ...

Background

When first elected in the 2010 general election and on several subsequent occasions, Goldsmith had promised that he would resign if the government supported a third runway at Heathrow. Following his re-election in the 2015 general election, he stood as the Conservative candidate in the

2016 London mayoral election The 2016 London mayoral election was held on 5 May 2016 to elect the Mayor of London, on the same day as the London Assembly election. It was the fifth election to the position of mayor, which was created in 2000 after a referendum in Greate ...

, and lost to

Sadiq Khan Sadiq Aman Khan (; born 8 October 1970) is a British politician serving as Mayor of London since 2016. He was previously Member of Parliament (MP) for Tooting from 2005 until 2016. A member of the Labour Party, Khan is on the party's sof ...

. When the May ministry announced on 25 October 2016 that the government would support a third runway at Heathrow, Goldsmith resigned his seat.

Candidates

Goldsmith stood as an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

candidate. He was described as an "

Independent Conservative Independent Conservative is a description which has been used in the United Kingdom, Canada, United States and elsewhere, to denote a political conservative who lacks a formal affiliation to the party of that name. In the United Kingdom As a de ...

", although that ballot paper description has not been permitted since the

Registration of Political Parties Act 1998 The Registration of Political Parties Act 1998 (c. 48), is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which made legal provision to set up a register of political parties in the United Kingdom. Previously there had been no such register, and ...

came into force. The Conservative Party decided not to stand an official candidate against him, because the local party were reported to be supportive of Goldsmith's stance, and putting up a candidate could have split the vote and led to the Liberal Democrats winning the seat. While not officially backed by the Conservative Party, his campaign was supported by some Conservative Parliamentarians, including

Jacob Rees-Mogg Jacob William Rees-Mogg (born 24 May 1969) is a British politician serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for North East Somerset since 2010. Now a backbencher, he served as Leader of the House of Commons and Lord President of the Council f ...

, a supporter of Heathrow expansion and Brexit, as well as

Tania Mathias Tania Wyn Mathias (born 21 June 1964) is a British ophthalmologist and Conservative Party politician. She served as the Member of Parliament for Twickenham from May 2015 to June 2017. Early life and career Mathias was born in Kensington, London ...

Theresa Villiers Theresa Anne Villiers (born 5 March 1968) is a British politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Chipping Barnet since 2005, having previously served as a Member of the European Parliament from 1999 to 2005. A member of the ...

, and

Lord True Nicholas Edward True, Baron True (born 31 July 1951) is a British Conservative politician serving as Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal since September 2022. Early life and education True was born on 31 July 1951 ...

, leader of

Richmond Council Richmond upon Thames London Borough Council is the Local government, local authority for the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in London, the United Kingdom capital. Richm ...

. A leader for the ''

Evening Standard The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format. In October 2009, after be ...

'' described the Conservative Prime Minister,

Theresa May Theresa Mary May, Lady May (; née Brasier; born 1 October 1956) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2016 to 2019. She previously served in David Cameron's cabi ...

, as having "endorsed" Goldsmith. The local party's website carried contact details for those wanting to support his campaign. The Liberal Democrats confirmed

, who was selected to fight the constituency in the event of a

snap election A snap election is an election that is called earlier than the one that has been scheduled. Generally, a snap election in a parliamentary system (the dissolution of parliament) is called to capitalize on an unusual electoral opportunity or to ...

, as their candidate for the by-election on 30 October. Olney joined the Liberal Democrats in May 2015, following the general election. She lives locally in North Kingston and worked as an accountant at the National Physical Laboratory in Teddington. Her husband, Ben, was previously employed with the delivery of Heathrow Airport's Terminal 5, ten years previously. The day after Goldsmith's resignation, three senior Labour Party MPs suggested that Labour could choose not to stand to maximise the chance of defeating Goldsmith in protest at his support for Brexit and his negative campaign against

in the mayoral contest. However, other Labour MPs rejected the suggestion, and the party continued with the process of choosing a candidate. On 5 November they selected

Christian Wolmar Christian Tage Forter Wolmar (born 3 August 1949) is a British journalist, author, railway historian and Labour Party politician.General Council of the Bar of England and Wales; Barnaby Marder, a local activist backed by Momentum; Sachin Patel, a supermarket manager and

Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers The Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (Usdaw) is a trade union in the United Kingdom, consisting of around 360,000 members. Usdaw members work in a variety of occupations and industries including: shopworkers, factory and warehouse wo ...

representative who contested the seat for Labour at the 2015 election; and Jessica Toale, who had been an advisor to

Ivan Lewis Ivan Lewis (born 4 March 1967) is a British politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Bury South from 1997 to 2019, initially as a member of the Labour Party then as an independent from 2017. After serving in various ministeria ...

MP. The

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation f ...

leaders hinted that the party might not stand a candidate for fear of splitting the vote. However, they stressed that it was for the local party to decide. The party shares an anti-

and anti-Heathrow expansion stance with the Liberal Democrats. On 2 November, the Richmond Green Party voted against standing a candidate and to back the Liberal Democrat candidate. On 3 November, the Kingston Green Party did the same, and confirmed that there would not be a Green Party candidate in the by-election. 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 ...

, the only other party to stand in 2015, did not put forward a candidate and endorsed Goldsmith. The

Women's Equality Party The Women's Equality Party (WEP) is a feminist political party set up in the United Kingdom in 2015. The idea was conceived by Catherine Mayer and Sandi Toksvig at the Women of the World Festival, when they concluded that there was a need ...

did not stand a candidate and backed Olney, in opposition to what they described as Goldsmith's record of "racist" campaigning. Fiona Syms stood as an

, but said she would join the Conservatives if elected. The 47-year-old activist was critical of Goldsmith, describing his actions as a "tantrum" and saying he was "abandoning" Conservative voters. Syms described herself as a longstanding Conservative supporter, although she had left the party some time before the by-election was called. Syms was married to Conservative MP

Robert Syms The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

for 18 years and claimed 25 years of experience in politics as a speechwriter, organiser and constituency worker. She launched her campaign on 5 November. Regular by-election candidate Ankit Love stood for the

One Love Party The One Love Party was a minor political party in the United Kingdom that identified itself as techno-progressive. The party campaigned for clean air and a federal union of the world. It was founded in 2015 and its first contest was in the 2016 Lo ...

under his claimed title of Maharaja Jammu and Kashmir.

Campaign

This was the first UK by-election in which the Conservatives declined to field a candidate in a seat they held since the Bristol South East by-election in 1963, which was triggered to allow

Tony Benn Anthony Neil Wedgwood Benn (3 April 1925 – 14 March 2014), known between 1960 and 1963 as Viscount Stansgate, was a British politician, writer and diarist who served as a Cabinet minister in the 1960s and 1970s. A member of the Labour Party, ...

to regain the seat he was disqualified from holding upon his inheritance of the Stansgate viscounty. Conservative MP Alec Shelbrooke criticised the decision by the party not to stand. The Liberal Democrats also oppose a third runway at Heathrow. They held the seat from 1997 until 2010, when Goldsmith won. They campaigned on an anti-

position, noting Goldsmith's own support for Brexit whereas the area strongly voted for Remain in the

2016 EU membership referendum The United Kingdom European Union membership referendum, commonly referred to as the EU referendum or the Brexit referendum, took place on 23 June 2016 in the United Kingdom (UK) and Gibraltar to ask the electorate whether the country shoul ...

. The constituency is estimated to have had a 72% support for Remain. Goldsmith's Mayoral campaign was also expected to become a focal point of campaigning. The Liberal Democrat campaign started quickly, with leader

Tim Farron Timothy James Farron (born 27 May 1970) is a British politician who served as Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 2015 to 2017. He has also served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Westmorland and Lonsdale since 2005, before which he worked in ...

first visiting the constituency on 26 October. According to the ''

Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily tabloid. Founded in 1903, it is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the title on its masthead was simply ''The Mirror''. It had an average daily print c ...

'', bookmakers had Goldsmith as clear favourite, although the Liberal Democrats were favourite for a period.

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

reported senior Liberal Democrats think odds predicting the Liberal Democrats would do well have been over-stated. Goldsmith said on 28 October that he would be partly funding his campaign himself. He also did not rule out the possibility of re-joining the Conservative Party after the next general election. A poll released by BMG Research on 28 October showed Goldsmith on 56% of the vote to Olney's 29%. An as-yet unnamed Labour candidate attracted 11% of the vote, with the Green Party and UKIP tied on 2% each. Asked about the main issues in the election, respondents identified Brexit (25%), Goldsmith's records and views (22%), and Heathrow expansion (21%) as the main issues. Goldsmith supporters were more focused on his record and Heathrow, while Olney supporters focused on Brexit and the Conservative government's record. Labour supporters also identified Brexit as their main consideration. Overall, the poll found 60% opposition to the third runway at Heathrow, 25% support with 14% undecided.

Nick Clegg Sir Nicholas William Peter Clegg (born 7 January 1967) is a British media executive and former Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom who has been president for global affairs at Meta Platforms since 2022, having previously been vicep ...

, the former Liberal Democrat leader and Deputy Prime Minister, launched Olney's campaign on 31 October/1 November, stressing the party's opposition to Heathrow. He also argued that the Brexit decision, that Goldsmith supported, led to the decision to support Heathrow expansion. Labour candidate

Christian Wolmar Christian Tage Forter Wolmar (born 3 August 1949) is a British journalist, author, railway historian and Labour Party politician.King's Fund revealed that the south-west London

National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...

sustainability and transformation plan In England, a sustainability and transformation plan (STP) is a non-statutory requirement which promotes integrated provision of healthcare, including purchasing and commissioning, within each geographical area of the National Health Service. The ...

(STP) is considering cutting acute services at one of five hospitals, including

Kingston Hospital Kingston Hospital is an acute hospital in Kingston upon Thames, England. It is managed by the Kingston Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. It has an Accident & Emergency Unit, a popular midwife-led Maternity unit, and an sexually transmitted infecti ...

, local to the constituency. The Liberal Democrats used this in campaigning to criticise the Conservative government. Olney was also endorsed by the More United campaign group. In the final weekend of the campaign, the Liberal Democrats released internal polling putting Goldsmith on 46.7%, the Liberal Democrats on 43.3% and Labour on 9.5%. These figures were disputed: one Conservative MP,

Kit Malthouse Christopher Laurie "Kit" Malthouse (born 27 October 1966) is a British politician and businessman who served as Secretary of State for Education from 6 September to 25 October 2022. A member of the Conservative Party, he previously served as C ...

, a former deputy mayor of London, agreed the election was very close, but the Conservative leader of Richmond Council and Goldsmith ally,

, predicted Goldsmith would do much better. In the final week of the campaign, Green Party co-leader Caroline Lucas campaigned for Olney, while some other local Green Party members were backing Wolmar instead. Musician and poverty campaigner Bob Geldof also came to the constituency to campaign for Olney. On 30 November, both Olney's and Goldsmith's campaign described the election as close, with the Liberal Democrats' internal polling putting them on 47.2% to Goldsmith's 45.8%. During the 2017 general election campaign, it emerged that the Greens had been offered £250,000 to not stand in the by-election, although the party did not take up the offer and denied it had influenced their decision.

Opinion polling

Before close of nominations

This poll was conducted before nominations for the by-election closed and therefore includes two parties that opted not to stand: the Greens, who supported Sarah Olney, the Liberal Democrat candidate, and UKIP, who supported Zac Goldsmith.

Following close of nominations

After the close of nominations, the only opinion polls released publicly were internal polls commissioned by the Liberal Democrats and shared with ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

''.

Result

This was the first time the Liberal Democrats had gained a seat in a House of Commons by-election since the

2006 Dunfermline and West Fife by-election The Dunfermline and West Fife (UK Parliament constituency), Dunfermline and West Fife by-election was held on 9 February 2006, following the death of the sitting Labour Party (UK), Labour Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), MP Rachel Squire, ...

, and their first gain from the Conservatives since the 2000 Romsey by-election. It was also the largest increase in vote share they had obtained in a by-election since the

1993 Christchurch by-election A by-election was held in the British House of Commons constituency of Christchurch on 29 July 1993 following the death of sitting Conservative MP Robert Adley. The result was a gain for the Liberal Democrats, notable for the swing necessary ...

. Six months later, Zac Goldsmith regained the seat in the 2017 general election.

Previous polls

2015 general election

2016 EU referendum result

The results in the EU referendum on 23 June 2016 were reported by local authority, and, as the constituency consists of parts of two local authorities, the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames and the

Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames The Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames is a borough in southwest London. The main town is Kingston upon Thames and it includes Surbiton, Chessington, Malden Rushett, New Malden and Tolworth. It is the oldest of the four royal boroughs in Eng ...

, the exact referendum vote in Richmond Park is not known. However, Chris Hanretty, a Reader in Politics at the

University of East Anglia The University of East Anglia (UEA) is a public research university in Norwich, England. Established in 1963 on a campus west of the city centre, the university has four faculties and 26 schools of study. The annual income of the institution f ...

, estimated through a demographic model that Richmond Park had one of the dozen lowest 'Leave' votes in the entire country. His latest estimates suggest that 27.7% of Richmond Park voters voted 'Leave', and thus that 72.3% voted 'Remain'.

Footnotes

References

External links

Zac Goldsmith's campaign

Richmond Park Liberal Democrats
{{By-elections to the 56th UK Parliament Richmond Park by-election Richmond Park by-election Richmond Park,2016 Richmond Park by-election History of Heathrow Airport