Glenrothes by-election, 2008

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The 2008 Glenrothes by-election was a by-election for the United Kingdom Parliament's House of Commons constituency of Glenrothes in Fife, Scotland. The seat fell vacant after the death of previous member, John MacDougall (Labour), of mesothelioma, on 13 August 2008, aged 60.^[1] The by-election was held on 6 November 2008. ^[2]

The by-election was won by Lindsay Roy of the Labour Party. ^[3]

Contents 1 Result 2 Background 2.1 Polling date 3 Candidates 4 2005 Election Result 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Result

Glenrothes by-election, 2008[3][4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Lindsay Roy	19,946	55.1	+3.2
	Scottish National	Peter Grant	13,209	36.5	+13.1
	Conservative	Maurice Golden	1,381	3.8	-3.3
	Liberal Democrats	Harry Wills	947	2.6	-10.1
	Scottish Senior Citizens	Jim Parker	296	0.8	N/A
	Scottish Socialist	Morag Balfour	212	0.6	-1.3
	UK Independence	Kris Seunarine	117	0.3	-0.9
	Solidarity	Louise McLeary	87	0.2	N/A
Majority			6,737	18.61	-9.89
Turnout			36,195	52.37	-3.7
	Labour hold		Swing	-4.96

[edit] Background

Fife is traditionally a stronghold for the Labour Party. McDougall had held Glenrothes and its forerunner, Central Fife, since 2001, when he succeeded Henry McLeish. Willie Hamilton had previously represented the area, which has elected Labour MPs since Hamilton won West Fife from the Communist Party of Great Britain in 1950.

The poll followed a run of poor by-election results for the Labour Party, which included a loss to the Scottish National Party (SNP) in Glasgow East, formerly the party's twenty-fifth safest seat in Britain. Glenrothes has a considerably smaller Labour majority than Glasgow East had.^[5]

According to the Financial Times, Labour privately admitted that they expected to lose Glenrothes to the SNP.^[6] The Guardian described the constituency's main town, Glenrothes, as a "core area" for the SNP.^[7] The SNP were in second place in the seat in the 2005 General Election^[8] and won the nearest equivalent seat in the 2007 Scottish Parliament election.^[7]

The SNP also ran Fife Council, which covers the constituency, in coalition with the Scottish Liberal Democrats. The Scottish Liberal Democrats won the last by-election to be held in Fife from Labour on a swing of 16%.^[7][8]

[edit] Polling date

By tradition, the polling date was decided by Labour, as MacDougall's party, and set for Thursday, 6 November 2008. ^[2].

Had the writ been moved immediately the by-election could have been held as early as mid-September, although this coincided with the Trades Union Congress annual conference and the following weeks were filled with various party conferences. A Labour loss during this period could have provided a particular boost for their opponents, or for dissident elements within the party.^[9] The SNP may have favoured a quick by-election, noting that Labour called the Glasgow East by-election rapidly, when commentators believed it was to Labour's advantage.^[5]

[edit] Candidates

The Labour party candidate was Kirkcaldy High School rector Lindsay Roy.^[10][11] The SNP selected the leader of Fife Council, Peter Grant.^[12] The Conservative Party selected Maurice Golden^[13] while the Liberal Democrats chose Harry Wills.^[14] The Scottish Socialist Party stood Morag Balfour, their national co-chair, who lived in Glenrothes and had been a candidate in the constituency before.^[15] Solidarity stood Louise McLeary, a community activist who lived in the part of Kirkcaldy which lies inside the constituency. The UKIP candidate was Dr. Kris Seunarine a specialist in the science of biophotonics at Dundee university, and chairman of the Fife branch of UKIP.

Two of the minor party candidates had disabilities: Balfour was a wheelchair user and McLeary was visually impaired.

An inquiry was called for on the 3rd of February by Tricia Marwick SNP MSP for Glenrothes who had asked to see the register on the 19th of November 2008. Ten weeks later the Scottish Courts Service admitted the marked register was lost.[1]

[edit] 2005 Election Result

Glenrothes, 5 May 2005
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John MacDougall	19,395	51.9	N/A
	Scottish National	John Beare	8,731	23.4	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Elizabeth Riches	4,728	12.7	N/A
	Conservative	Belinda Don	2,651	7.1	N/A
	Scottish Pensioners Party	George Rodger	716	1.9	N/A
	Scottish Socialist	Morag Balfour	705	1.9	N/A
	UK Independence	Paul Smith	440	1.2	N/A
Majority			10,664	28.5	N/A
Turnout			37,366	56.1	N/A

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Scottish Election Results 1997 - present

v • d • e « 53rd Parliament «   By-elections to the 54th Parliament of the United Kingdom   » — » 2005 July: Cheadle • September: Livingston 2006 February: Dunfermline and West Fife • June: Blaenau Gwent • Bromley and Chislehurst 2007 July: Ealing Southall • Sedgefield 2008 May: Crewe and Nantwich • June: Henley • July: Haltemprice and Howden • Glasgow East • November: Glenrothes 2009 July: Norwich North • TBD: Glasgow North East Lists of UK by-elections: 1885–1900 • 1900–1918 • 1918–1931 • 1931–1950 • 1950–1979 • 1979–present