2006 Blaenau Gwent by-elections

Westminster by-election

Triggered by death of incumbent The writ for the UK Parliament by-election was moved on 6 June so that it would be held on the same date as the Assembly by-election, (29 June 2006). Labour whips had reportedly pressed for the election to be held on 25 May. The movement of the writ was more complicated because Law sat as an Independent, and therefore the convention that the party of the former member moves the writ cannot apply. According to the precedent (when Dennis Canavan resigned his Parliamentary seat at Westminster as an Independent), the whip of the governing party moves the writ.

Candidates

Maggie Jones, the Labour candidate who had been defeated by Law at the 2005 general election, was not able to stand, because she had been elevated to the House of Lords. There had been speculation about an independent candidate running with the backing of the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and Plaid Cymru, but all three parties decided to contest the election.

It had been reported that prior to Law's death that the Labour Party had decided against selecting their candidate for the next general election with an all-women shortlist. It was the use of such a shortlist for the 2005 general election that led to Law standing as an independent. Labour instead left the selection to the local party. The Labour candidate, Owen Smith, was chosen on 8 May. He was a former special adviser and BBC producer who worked for a pharmaceutical company. After losing this by-election, Smith went on to become MP for Pontypridd at the 2010 general election, and in 2016 launched an unsuccessful campaign to lead the Labour party, remaining in Parliament until the 2019 general election.

The Liberal Democrat candidate was Amy Kitcher. The Conservatives stood Margrit Williams, who worked for Sir Malcolm Rifkind. Dai Davies, Peter Law's former agent, stood as an independent with the support of the Blaenau Gwent People's Voice Group.

Despite contesting both the previous Assembly and Parliamentary elections, the United Kingdom Independence Party decided not to stand a candidate, instead calling for a vote for the Blaenau Gwent People's Voice Group - even though the Group does not support withdrawal from the European Union, nor the abolition of the Welsh Assembly, key UKIP policies.

The Conservative fifth place was their worst position in a UK mainland by-election since at least 1945.

Result

|reg. electors = 52,512

Previous result

The 2005 general election result, in the election for the Parliamentary seat, was a gain for Peter Law as an independent candidate. |reg. electors = 53,301

Welsh Assembly by-election

Triggered by death of incumbent The Assembly by-election had to be held within twelve weeks of the vacancy arising. It was announced on 11 May 2006 that the Assembly by-election would be held on 29 June.

Candidates

Labour chose John Hopkins, who had already been selected as their 2007 Assembly election candidate, to contest the seat. John Price stood for Plaid Cymru. The Liberal Democrats fielded Steve Bard, a councillor in Abertillery. The Conservative candidate was Jonathan Burns, a Cardiff councillor. Peter Law's widow, Trish Law, stood as an independent backed by the Blaenau Gwent People's Voice Group.

The Green Party fought the Assembly election but did not stand at Westminster.

Result

|reg. electors = 52,900

Previous result

In 2003, Peter Law was re-elected as the Labour Assembly member for the Blaenau Gwent constituency. By announcing that he would stand as an Independent for the parliamentary constituency he expelled himself from the Labour Party (and the Labour Assembly grouping). |reg. electors = 52,927

Electorate and campaign timetables

The electorate for the constituency was 52,900 as quoted by the Returning Officer's Department of Blaenau Gwent Borough Council on 14 May 2006 (-0.75% on the Westminster election and -0.05% on the Assembly election). The close of nominations for the Assembly constituency was on 2 June and for the Westminster seat 14 June.

Campaigns

On 27 April 2006, BBC News published allegations by Peter Law's widow that Law had believed he would be in line for a peerage should he decide not to stand in the 2005 general election. The Labour Party denied that a peerage was offered.

Welsh Secretary Peter Hain attempted to build bridges with Law's supporters by apologising for imposing an all-women shortlist and suggesting that those expelled from the Labour Party might be able to rejoin. This apology was rejected by Dai Davies, Peter Law's agent and putative successor, as coming too late and being a cynical ploy to try to win the by-elections.

Opinion polls

An opinion poll was conducted by GfK NOP between 24 May and 28 May, which asked 1,000 voters in the constituency how they would vote. The results were:

Westminster

See Template_talk:Election box for details of how to use this template --{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%; clear:both" |- style="background-color:#E9E9E9" ! colspan=4|House of Commons seat poll |- style="background-color:#E9E9E9" ! colspan=2 style="width: 130px"|Party ! style="width: 170px"|Candidate ! style="width: 40px"|% |- See Template_talk:Election box for details of how to use this template

|- ! style="background-color: " | | | Owen Smith |- See Template_talk:Election box for details of how to use this template

|- ! style="background-color: " | | | Dai Davies |- See Template_talk:Election box for details of how to use this template

|- ! style="background-color: " | | | Amy Kitcher |- See Template_talk:Election box for details of how to use this template

|- ! style="background-color: " | | | Steffan Lewis |- See Template_talk:Election box for details of how to use this template

|- ! style="background-color: " | | | Margrit Williams |- See Template_talk:Election box for details of how to use this template

|}

Assembly

See Template_talk:Election box for details of how to use this template --{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%; clear:both" |- style="background-color:#E9E9E9" ! colspan=4|Welsh Assembly seat poll |- style="background-color:#E9E9E9" ! colspan=2 style="width: 130px"|Party ! style="width: 170px"|Candidate ! style="width: 40px"|% |- See Template_talk:Election box for details of how to use this template

|- ! style="background-color: " | | | Trish Law |- See Template_talk:Election box for details of how to use this template

|- ! style="background-color: " | | | John Hopkins |- See Template_talk:Election box for details of how to use this template

|-

! style="background-color: " | | | John Price |- See Template_talk:Election box for details of how to use this template

|- ! style="background-color: " | | | Steve Bard |- See Template_talk:Election box for details of how to use this template

|- ! style="background-color: " | | | Jonathan Burns |- See Template_talk:Election box for details of how to use this template

|- ! style="background-color: " | | | John Matthews |- See Template_talk:Election box for details of how to use this template

|}

References

References

1. (2006-04-26). "Double poll looming in Law seat". [[BBC News]].
2. (2006-05-11). "Blaenau Gwent election date set". [[BBC]].
3. Shipton, Martin. (2006-04-26). "Outrage at bid for early by-election". [[Western Mail (Wales).
4. (2006-04-11). "Losing candidate will become peer". BBC News.
5. (2006-04-25). "Peter Law, rebel who had a cause". [[BBC News]].
6. (2006-04-27). "MP 'offered peerage' not to stand". BBC News.
7. (2006-05-08). "All-women list apology rejected". BBC News.
8. (2006-05-09). "Viagra-firm lobbyist to stand for Labour in Blaenau Gwent". icWales.
9. (2006-05-09). "Parties pick by-election hopefuls". BBC News.
10. (2006-05-16). "Widow gets People's Voice backing". BBC News.
11. (2006-05-17). "UKIP {{as written". United Kingdom Independence Party.
12. Boothroyd, David. "Results of Byelections in the 2005-2010 Parliament".
13. (6 May 2005). "Election 2005, Result: Blaenau Gwent".
14. "By-Elections".
15. (29 June 2006). "By-Election 2006, Result: Blaenau Gwent".
16. (6 May 2005). "Election 2003, Result: Blaenau Gwent".