2022 Southend West by-election
| Date | 3 February 2022 |
|---|
A by-election was held on 3 February 2022 in the parliamentary constituency of Southend West following the killing of Conservative Party MP David Amess on 15 October 2021. Amess had been the MP for the constituency since 1997, in addition to having previously represented the seat of Basildon from 1983 to 1997. Similar to the 2016 Batley and Spen by-election—held after Labour MP Jo Cox was murdered by a neo-Nazi terrorist—the by-election was mainly contested by minor far-right parties after the major opposition parties declined to stand out of respect for Amess.
Contents
Result
The Conservative candidate Anna Firth won the by-election with 86% of the vote, on a turnout of 24%.[1] No other candidate reached the 5% threshold to save their election deposit.
Votes
- Anna Firth (Conservative Party) - 12,792 (86.10% of vote)
- Jason Pilley (Psychedelic Movement) - 512 (3.45%)
- Steve Laws (UKIP) - 400 (2.69%)
- Catherine Blaiklock (English Democrats) - 320 (2.15%)
- Jayda Fransen (Independent) - 299 (2.01%)
- Ben Downton (Heritage Party) - 236 (1.59%)
- Christopher Anderson (Freedom Alliance) - 161 (1.08%)
- Graham Moore (English Constitution Party) - 86 (0.58%)
- Olga Childs (Independent) - 52 (0.35%)
Turnout: 14,858 (24% of the electorate of 66,462, if spoilt ballot papers are added)[2]
Spoilt ballots
The number of spoilt ballot papers was high at 1,084 and greater than the number of votes for any of the losing candidates. Many bore remarks critical of the Prime Minister Boris Johnson. The 24% turnout was just below that in the 2016 Batley and Spen by-election and the third lowest since 1945.[3]
References
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