2004 Leicester South by-election

A by-election was held for the United Kingdom Parliament seat of Leicester South on 15 July 2004. It was triggered by the death of Labour Party Member of Parliament (MP) Jim Marshall, who died on 27 May 2004, shortly before the local and European elections in June. The by-election was won by Parmjit Singh Gill of the Liberal Democrats, over-turning a Labour majority of 13,243 votes at the 2001 general election.

Leicester South by-election
15 July 2004
Leicester South parliamentary seat
Turnout41.6%
  First party Second party
 
Candidate Parmjit Singh Gill Peter Soulsby
Party Liberal Democrats Labour
Popular vote 10,274 8,620
Percentage 34.9% 29.3%
Swing Increase17.7% Decrease25.2%
  Third party Fourth party
 
Candidate Chris Heaton-Harris Yvonne Ridley
Party Conservative Respect
Popular vote 5,796 3,724
Percentage 19.7% 12.7%
Swing Decrease3.4% New party
MP before election

Jim Marshall
Labour

 Subsequent MP

Parmjit Singh Gill
Liberal Democrats

This by-election was held on the same day as the Birmingham Hodge Hill by-election,[1] which Labour won with a highly reduced majority of just 460 votes (2.3%).[2]

Background

Leicester South was first won by Jim Marshall in 1974. He lost the seat to the Conservative Party candidate, Derek Spencer, in the 1983 general election by a mere 7 votes, but won it back at the 1987 election. Marshall won the constituency with a majority of 13,243 (31.4%) at the 2001 election.

The constituency is diverse, covering leafy suburbs such as Stoneygate and Knighton along with inner city areas with a strong South Asian community, one of the largest such populations in the UK. The by-election was considered a referendum on Blair's policies, especially the ongoing Iraq War, for which Labour had received heavy backlash from Asian and Muslim voters.[3][4] The war had also been blamed for the party's major losses in the local elections of both 2003 and 2004.[5][6]

Candidates

The Labour Party chose Peter Soulsby to fight the by-election. Soulsby had previously been head of Leicester City Council for 18 years and also acted as the election agent for Jim Marshall at the 2001 general election.[7]

The Liberal Democrats selected Parmjit Singh Gill, who was a councillor on Leicester City Council's Stoneygate Ward and had also been the Leicester South candidate at the 2001 general election. He claimed his central issues would be "Iraq, top-up fees, health and schools" and that he would "be a local MP who will work hard for everyone in our area."[8]

Chris Heaton-Harris was announced as the Conservative candidate, despite having only recently been elected as an Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the East Midlands. Soulsby criticised this, telling The Guardian: "Leicester South needs a full-time local champion, not a two-jobs who doesn't even live here and who can't make up his mind whether he wants to be in Brussels or Westminster."[9]

Yvonne Ridley, a former journalist who was held in captivity in Afghanistan by the Taliban and later converted to Islam, stood for the Respect Party.[10] "I'm not just fighting this seat to compete," she said. "I'm fighting it to win, and I believe we can win."[11]

Bob Ball was chosen to stand for the Green Party, but later withdrew. The Greens said that they were short of money after the European Parliament elections and wanted to concentrate resources on the next general election.[12]

Results
Liberal Democrat posters on London Road.
2004 Leicester South by-election[13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Parmjit Singh Gill 10,274 34.9 +17.7
Labour Peter Soulsby 8,620 29.3 –25.2
Conservative Chris Heaton-Harris 5,796 19.7 –3.4
Respect Yvonne Ridley 3,724 12.7 New
Socialist Labour Dave Roberts 263 0.9 –0.7
Monster Raving Loony R. U. Seerius 225 0.8 New
Independent Pat Kennedy 204 0.7 New
Independent Paul Lord 186 0.6 New
Independent Mark Benson 55 0.2 New
Independent Jitendra Bardwaj 36 0.1 New
Independent Alan Barrett 25 0.1 New
Majority 1,654 5.6 N/A
Turnout 29,438 41.6 –16.4
Liberal Democrats gain from Labour Swing +21.5

In his victory speech, Gill said, "Yesterday, Lord Butler gave his views on Tony Blair's reasoning for backing the invasion of Iraq. Today, people in Leicester have given theirs."[14] He then went on to say, "The justification which Tony Blair gave for backing George Bush was wrong. The people of Leicester South have spoken for the people of Britain. Their message is that the prime minister has abused and lost their trust. He should apologise and he should apologise now."[15]

Labour MP and cabinet minister Patricia Hewitt, who represented neighbouring constituency Leicester West, stated that Iraq was clearly an issue, with the inner city Asian vote swinging decisively to the Lib Dems.[16]

At the 2005 general election, the Liberal Democrats lost the seat to Labour and Peter Soulsby became the new MP for Leicester South.

Previous result
General election 2001: Leicester South
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Jim Marshall 22,958 54.5 –3.5
Conservative Richard Hoile 9,715 23.1 –0.7
Liberal Democrats Parmjit Singh Gill 7,243 17.2 +3.4
Green Margaret Layton 1,217 2.9 New
Socialist Labour Arnie Gardner 676 1.6 New
UKIP Kirti Ladwa 330 0.8 New
Majority 13,243 31.4
Turnout 42,139 58.0
Labour hold Swing

References
  1. Hall, Sarah (9 July 2004). "Feuding parties fight dirty war on doorsteps". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 December 2021.
  2. Morris, Nigel (17 July 2004). "Lib Dems claim Labour's negative tactics backfired". The Independent. Archived from the original on 1 May 2022. Retrieved 19 December 2021.
  3. Carrell, Severin (21 September 2003). "Labour faces 'Muslim backlash'". The Independent. Archived from the original on 1 May 2022. Retrieved 18 December 2021.
  4. Travis, Alan (15 March 2004). "Muslims abandon Labour over Iraq war". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 December 2021.
  5. Rozenberg, Gabriel (3 May 2003). "Muslim backlash bounces Labour out of Birmingham". The Times. Retrieved 18 December 2021.
  6. Graff, Peter (13 June 2004). "Blair faces backlash over poll defeat". independent.ie. Retrieved 18 December 2021.
  7. Hurst, Greg (19 June 2004). "Candidate selected". The Times. Retrieved 18 December 2021.
  8. "Lib Dems choose Parmjit Singh Gill". Leicester Liberal Democrats. 9 June 2004. Retrieved 18 December 2021.
  9. Hall, Sarah (22 June 2004). "Tories' new MEP selected". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 December 2021.
  10. "Former hostage to run in election". BBC News. 26 June 2004. Retrieved 18 December 2021.
  11. Bushby, Roger (1 July 2004). "Ridley launches bid to become MP". Press Gazette. Retrieved 18 December 2021.
  12. "Greens withdraw from by-election". BBC News. 23 June 2004. Retrieved 18 December 2021.
  13. Boothroyd, David. "Results of Byelections in the 2001-2005 Parliament". United Kingdom Election Results. Archived from the original on 1 December 2008. Retrieved 5 October 2015.
  14. "By-election disaster for Blair". Al Jazeera. 16 July 2004. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
  15. "Blair's party loses parliament by-election in Leicester". People's Daily. 16 July 2004. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
  16. Walker, Brian (16 July 2004). "Iraq protest vote hits Labour". Belfast Telegraph. London. Retrieved 1 April 2023.
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