by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

took place on 2 May 2024 in the

UK Parliament constituency The Parliament of the United Kingdom currently has 650 parliamentary constituencies across the constituent countries (England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland), each electing a single member of parliament (MP) to the House of Commons by ...

of Blackpool South, the same day as

local elections Local may refer to: Geography and transportation * Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand * Local, Missouri, a community in the United States Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Local'' (comics), a limited series comic book by Bria ...

in England and Wales. The by-election followed the resignation of incumbent MP Scott Benton. Benton had been suspended for 35 days from the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, 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 ...

after being caught in a newspaper

sting operation In law enforcement, a sting operation is a deceptive operation designed to catch a person attempting to commit a crime. A typical sting will have an undercover law enforcement officer, detective, or co-operative member of the public play a rol ...

offering lobbying services for payment. This triggered a

recall petition A recall election (also called a recall referendum, recall petition or representative recall) is a procedure by which voters can remove an elected official from office through a referendum before that official's term of office has ended. Recalls ...

, which had started, but was then terminated by Benton's resignation. The by-election was won by Chris Webb of the Labour Party with a 26% swing, on a turnout of 32.5%. It was the last by-election of the 2019–2024 Parliament, with the general election held on 4 July.

Background

Constituency

Blackpool South had been a Labour-held seat since

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

. Before that election, Conservative Party MPs had won in and represented the constituency since it was first contested in

1945 1945 marked the end of World War II, the fall of Nazi Germany, and the Empire of Japan. It is also the year concentration camps were liberated and the only year in which atomic weapons have been used in combat. Events World War II will be ...

. In the 2019 general election it was won by Conservative candidate Scott Benton, who defeated the incumbent Labour MP

Gordon Marsden Gordon Marsden (born 28 November 1953) is a British Labour Party politician who served as Member of Parliament for Blackpool South from 1997 to 2019. Early life Marsden was educated at Stockport Grammar School, an independent school in Stoc ...

. Some reporters and pollsters describe the constituency as one of the seats that make up the " red wall" and "

sea wall Sea Wall or The Sea Wall may refer to: * Seawall, a constructed coastal defence * Sea Wall, Guyana * ''The Sea Wall'' (novel), 1950 French novel by Marguerite Duras * ''The Sea Wall'' (film), 2008 film based on Duras' novel See also *'' This Ang ...

". It is one of the most deprived constituencies in England, with high levels of unemployment and crime. All 14 of Lancashire's

districts A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...

voted for

Brexit Brexit (, a portmanteau of "Britain" and "Exit") was the Withdrawal from the European Union, withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU). Brexit officially took place at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February ...

in the

2016 European Union membership referendum The 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum, commonly referred to as the EU referendum or the Brexit referendum, was a referendum that took place on 23 June 2016 in the United Kingdom (UK) and Gibraltar under the provisions o ...

, with the

borough of Blackpool The Borough of Blackpool is a unitary authority area with borough status in the ceremonial county of Lancashire, North West England. It is named after the seaside town of Blackpool but covers a wider area which includes Anchorsholme, Bispham, ...

registering a particularly strong leave vote of 67.5%.

Corruption allegations

In April 2023 ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' published an article resulting from a

alleging that Benton was willing to table parliamentary questions, leak documents and lobby ministers on behalf of gambling companies in return for "thousands of pounds per month". He also told the reporters that other MPs would be similarly willing to accept such payments. Benton was subsequently suspended from the Conservative Party, sitting thereafter 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 Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

MP. In December 2023 the House of Commons'

Standards Committee The Commons Select Committee on Standards is appointed by the House of Commons to oversee the work of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards. History The committee was created on 13 December 2012 as one half of the replacements for the Commi ...

found that he had breached the House's rules and recommended a 35-day suspension from the House. This finding was appealed to the

Independent Expert Panel The Independent Expert Panel (IEP) is a body of the British Houses of Parliament. The Panel was established in 2020 in response to a report by Dame Laura Cox, and replaced the Committee on Standards. As recommended in the Cox report, it is entir ...

, but the panel "found no substance" in Benton's arguments and dismissed the appeal. On 27 February 2024 the Commons approved a motion suspending Benton from the House for 35 days.

Recall petition and resignation

As the length of Benton's suspension exceeded the ten-day threshold designated in the

Recall of MPs Act 2015 The Recall of MPs Act 2015 is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that makes provision for constituents to recall their member of Parliament (MP) and trigger a by-election. It received royal assent on 26 March 2015 after being int ...

, a recall procedure was triggered. The signing period began on Tuesday 12 March and was set to run until Monday 22 April 2024. The number of signatures required for the petition to be successful, 10% of the constituency's electorate, was 5,634. The Labour party officially registered as campaigning for the petition's success. Benton resigned as an MP on 25 March 2024, terminating the recall petition thirteen days into the signing period.

Campaign

The

writ of election A writ of election is a writ issued ordering the holding of an election. In Commonwealth countries writs are the usual mechanism by which general elections are called and are issued by the head of state or their representative. In the United S ...

was moved on 26 March 2024. The by-election was held on 2 May 2024, concurrently with

and police and crime commissioner elections. Issues in the by-election included "levelling-up", social deprivation, overstretched

NHS The National Health Service (NHS) is the term for the publicly funded health care, publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom: the National Health Service (England), NHS Scotland, NHS Wales, and Health and Social Care (Northern ...

, homelessness, low investment, crime, anti-social behaviour, and child poverty. On 19 April 2024, a

hustings A husting originally referred to a native Germanic governing assembly, the thing. By metonymy, the term may now refer to any event (such as debates or speeches) during an election campaign where one or more of the candidates are present. Devel ...

was held between the candidates at Blackpool Cricket Club.

Candidates

Labour selected Chris Webb to stand for the constituency in August 2023. Webb is a former assistant to

, who represented Blackpool South as MP from 1997 until 2019. The

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

candidate was David Jones. His background is in the construction industry and charitable fundraising. Ben Thomas stood for the

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as environmentalism and social justice. Green party platforms typically embrace Social democracy, social democratic economic policies and fo ...

. He is secretary of the Blackpool and Fylde Green Party. The Greens have called for the new football regulator to be based in Blackpool. The Liberal Democrats selected Andrew Cregan as their candidate. Cregan was previously a Labour councillor in

Tower Hamlets The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is a borough in London, England. Situated on the north bank of the River Thames and immediately east of the City of London, the borough spans much of the traditional East End of London and includes much of ...

, but defected to the Liberal Democrats in 2017 over Brexit.

Reform UK Reform UK is a right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. Nigel Farage has been Leader of Reform UK and Richard Tice deputy leader since 2024. It has five members of Parliament (MPs) in the House of Commons and one membe ...

selected Mark Butcher to stand as their candidate. He is a former street preacher and local charity worker. During the campaign the

Charity Commission The Charity Commission for England and Wales is a non-ministerial department of His Majesty's Government that regulates registered charities in England and Wales and maintains the Central Register of Charities. Its counterparts in Scotland and ...

confirmed it had not opened a "statutory case" into his soup kitchen amid allegations of misuse of funds but has raised a "compliance case" into issues regarding political bias with the Trustees of the charity. The Alliance for Democracy and Freedom selected Kim Knight. Damon Sharp stood for the label New Open Non-Political Organised Leadership. Stephen Black was an Independent candidate. Perennial candidate

Howling Laud Hope Alan Hope (born 16 June 1942), known politically as Howling Laud Hope, is a British politician and former publican who is the current Leader of the Official Monster Raving Loony Party (OMRLP). On the death of the party's founder Screaming Lor ...

stood for the

Official Monster Raving Loony Party The Official Monster Raving Loony Party (OMRLP) is a political party established in the United Kingdom in 1982 by the musician David Sutch, also known as Screaming Lord Sutch, 3rd Earl of Harrow, or simply Lord Sutch. It is notable for its de ...

Result

The result was considered a strong performance by Labour and a weak one for the Conservatives, with the swing being the third-largest Conservative-to-Labour swing since 1945. Psephologist

John Curtice Sir John Kevin Curtice (born 10 December 1953) is a British political scientist and professor of politics at the University of Strathclyde and senior research fellow at the National Centre for Social Research. He is particularly interested in ...

likened this and other recent results to elections in the years before Labour's landslide win in 1997. Reform UK came a close third behind the Conservative Party, giving it the largest share of the vote in a by-election since its change of name from the Brexit Party.

Previous result

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blackpool South by-election, 2024 2024 elections in the United Kingdom 2024 in England 2020s in Lancashire May 2024 in the United Kingdom By-elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom in Lancashire constituencies 2024 by-election Recall in the United Kingdom