2016 Ogmore by-election

On 5 May 2016, a by-election was held in the UK Parliamentary constituency of Ogmore. It was triggered by the resignation of the incumbent Huw Irranca-Davies following his decision to contest the coterminous Ogmore constituency in the 2016 Welsh Assembly election.

2016 Ogmore by-election
5 May 2016
Ogmore constituency
Turnout43%
  First party Second party
  Blank
Candidate Chris Elmore Glenda Davies
Party Labour UKIP
Popular vote 12,383 3,808
Percentage 52.6 16.2
Swing Decrease0.3% Increase1.2%
  Third party Fourth party
  Blank Blank
Candidate Abi Thomas Alex Williams
Party Plaid Cymru Conservative
Popular vote 3,683 2,956
Percentage 15.7 12.6
Swing Increase5.6% Decrease3.3%
MP before election

Huw Irranca-Davies
Labour

 Elected MP

Chris Elmore
Labour

Chris Elmore of the Labour Party won the by-election with 52.6 per cent of the vote.[1]

The by-election was held on the same day as the Welsh Assembly election, as well as elections for the Scottish Parliament, the Northern Ireland Assembly, for the Mayor and Assembly of London and in numerous local authorities in England. A by-election for Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough was also held on the same day.

Background

The seat fell vacant after the incumbent MP, Huw Irranca-Davies of the Labour Party, chose to resign following his selection to contest the coterminous Ogmore constituency in the Welsh Assembly election.[2][3] On 23 March 2016, Irranca-Davies was appointed Crown Steward and Bailiff of the Manor of Northstead the process by which resignations from the House of Commons are permitted.[4] Irranca-Davies had been the MP for the seat since a previous by-election in 2002. Irranca-Davies has originally announced that he would seek Labour's nomination for the Welsh Assembley's Ogmore in October 2015, stating that if he was selected he would resign his Westminster seat.[5] Irranca-Davies successfully contested his Assembly election. Irranca-Davies was not obliged to resign upon his nomination, though following the Wales Act 2014, which came into effect during the 2016 Assembly election, he would have had to resign his Westminster seat following his Assembly victory. Given that in both the Assembly and Westminster Ogmore was considered a safe seat for Labour his early resignation allowed the by-election to be held on the same day rather than forcing voters to go to the polls again a few weeks later.

Candidates

Bridgend County Borough Council published the statement of persons nominated on 8 April 2016. This showed that five candidates that contested the election.[6]

Councillor Chris Elmore, currently Cabinet Member for Children's Services and Schools in the Vale of Glamorgan Council, represented Labour.[7] Elmore contested the Vale of Glamorgan constituency in 2015 general election, where he lost to the Conservatives.

The Conservatives selected Alex Williams, a town councillor in Ogmore. Glenda Davies was the candidate for UKIP, she also stood for the seat at the 2015 general election. She was the UKIP's candidate for the Aberavon constituency in the Welsh Assembly election held on the same day.[8]

Abi Thomas stood for Plaid Cymru. The Liberal Democrats selected Janet Ellard, a former teacher and now volunteer manager for a youth homeless charity.[9]

The incumbent party (Labour) selected Chris Elmore as their candidate; Elmore prevailed in the election, winning the seat.[10]

Electoral history
General election 2015: Ogmore[11][12][13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Huw Irranca-Davies 18,663 52.9 −0.9
Conservative Jane March 5,620 15.9 +0.3
UKIP Glenda Davies 5,420 15.4 +13.1
Plaid Cymru Tim Thomas 3,556 10.1 +0.5
Liberal Democrats Gerald Francis[14] 1,072 3.0 −12.1
Green Laurie Brophy 754 2.1 N/A
TUSC Emma Saunders 165 0.5 N/A
Majority 13,043 37.0 −1.2
Turnout 35,250 63.7 +1.3
Registered electors 55,572
Labour hold Swing −0.6

Result
2016 Ogmore by-election[15][16][17]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Chris Elmore[18] 12,383 52.6 -0.3
UKIP Glenda Davies 3,808 16.2 +1.2
Plaid Cymru Abi Thomas 3,683 15.7 +5.6
Conservative Alex Williams 2,956 12.6 −3.3
Liberal Democrats Janet Ellard 702 3.0 ±0.0
Majority 8,575 36.4 −0.6
Turnout 23,532 43.0 −20.7
Registered electors 55,027
Labour hold Swing −0.8

See also

References
  1. "Ogmore By-Election Result – Oggy Bloggy Ogwr". Retrieved 23 December 2019.
  2. "Labour MP Huw Irranca-Davies selected to fight assembly seat". 6 December 2015. Retrieved 14 February 2016.
  3. Casalicchio, Emilio (24 March 2016). "Two by-elections set for same day as UK-wide polls". PoliticsHome. Dod's Parliamentary Communications. Archived from the original on 7 April 2016. Retrieved 28 March 2016.
  4. "Huw Irranca-Davies resigns as MP for Ogmore". parliament.uk. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
  5. "MP Huw Irranca-Davies in Welsh assembly seat bid". BBC. 12 October 2015. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
  6. "Statement of Persons Nominated". Bridgend CBC. Archived from the original on 22 April 2016. Retrieved 9 April 2016.
  7. "Elmore selected as Labour candidate in Ogmore by-election | Wales - ITV News". Itv.com. 13 February 2016. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
  8. "2016 Candidates - UKIP Wales | Cymru". Archived from the original on 20 April 2016. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
  9. "OGMORE BY-ELECTION: Welsh Liberal Democrats announce candidate – Freedom Central". Freedomcentral.org.uk. 24 March 2016. Archived from the original on 3 May 2016. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
  10. "Elmore selected as Labour candidate in Ogmore by-election". ITV News. Retrieved 15 February 2016.
  11. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  12. "Bridgend and Ogmore results". Elections. Bridgend County Borough Council. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
  13. "Ogmore parliamentary constituency - Election 2017". Retrieved 27 April 2015.
  14. "General Election Candidates". Archived from the original on 19 February 2015. Retrieved 19 February 2015. West
  15. "Labour MP quits Commons to run for seat in Cardiff Bay". BBC News Online. 23 March 2016. Retrieved 28 March 2016.
  16. Casalicchio, Emilio (24 March 2016). "Two by-elections set for same day as UK-wide polls". PoliticsHome. Dod's Parliamentary Communications. Archived from the original on 7 April 2016. Retrieved 28 March 2016.
  17. "By-election results since the 2015 General Election" (PDF). House of Commons Library. Retrieved 14 February 2020.
  18. "Elmore selected as Labour candidate in Ogmore by-election".
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