2000 Romsey by-election

2000 Romsey by-election

4 May 2000
Romsey parliamentary seat
Turnout	55.4%
First party Second party   Con Candidate Sandra Gidley Tim Palmer Party Liberal Democrats Conservative Popular vote 19,571 16,260 Percentage 50.56% 42.01%
MP before election Michael Colvin Conservative Subsequent MP Sandra Gidley Liberal Democrats

Conservative Member of Parliament Michael Colvin and his wife died in a fire at their home on 24 February 2000. This created a by-election in his constituency of Romsey in Hampshire, England.

The Conservative Party decided to delay the polling day until 4 May, so that it would come simultaneously with local elections. They selected Tim Palmer, a farmer and Dorset County Councillor, to defend the seat. The Liberal Democrats considered this byelection their best chance of gaining a seat since 1997 and selected a local pharmacist Sandra Gidley (who had been Mayor of Romsey) as their candidate.

Labour carried out minimal campaigning in a constituency in which they had come third for years. This led many observers to assume that the party was expecting, or hoping, that its vote would largely go to the Liberal Democrats in order to help defeat the Conservatives. In the event, the Labour vote collapsed while the Liberal Democrats surged, and they made this the only mainland by-election to result in a change of party control in the entire Parliament. This was the first time the Conservatives had lost a seat in a by-election while in Opposition since the 1965 Roxburgh, Selkirk and Peebles by-election, and would be the last time the Liberal Democrats gained a constituency from the Conservatives at a by-election until the 2016 Richmond Park by-election.

Results

By-election 2000: Romsey

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Sandra Gidley	19,571	50.6	+21.2
	Conservative	Tim Palmer	16,260	42.0	−4.0
	Labour	Andy Howard	1,451	3.7	−14.9
	UKIP	Garry Rankin-Moore	901	2.3	−1.2
	Legalise Cannabis	Derrick Large	417	1.1	New
	Independent	Thomas Lamont	109	0.3	New
Majority			3,311	8.6	–8.0
Turnout			38,709	55.4	–19.0
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing	+8.6

1997 general election result

General election 1997: Romsey

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Michael Colvin	23,834	46.0
	Liberal Democrats	Mark Cooper	15,249	29.4
	Labour	Joanne Ford	9,623	18.6
	UKIP	Alan Sked	1,824	3.5
	Referendum	Michael Wigley	1,291	2.5
Majority			8,585	16.57
Turnout			51,821	76.36
	Conservative hold		Swing

External links

• Campaign literature from the by-election