Misplaced Pages

Revision as of 15:58, 14 June 2022

2022 Tiverton and Honiton by-election

← 2019 23 June 2022 Next →
Tiverton and Honiton constituency
Boundary of the Tiverton and Honiton constituency in Devon
Incumbent MP Neil Parish Independent

A by-election for the United Kingdom parliamentary constituency of Tiverton and Honiton is due to be held on 23 June 2022. The vacancy was caused by the resignation on 4 May 2022 of the incumbent Member of Parliament (MP), Neil Parish, following his admission to accusations that he viewed pornography on his mobile phone in the House of Commons chamber.

The election will be held the same day as the Wakefield by-election in West Yorkshire.

Background

Constituency

Tiverton and Honiton lies in Devon and the constituency is primarily rural, with major settlements being the towns of Tiverton and Honiton. Other towns include Axminster, Seaton and Cullompton. In the 2016 EU referendum, 57.8% of the voters who turned out voted to leave the European Union.

The by-election will be the ninth of the 2019 Parliament. The seat is said by the Guardian to be, on paper at least, one of the safest in the country for the Conservatives, with the party having held it constituency since its creation in 1997 by increasing margins, with its inaugural election in 1997 representing the closest result in the seat, with just 1,653 votes or three percentage points separating the winning Conservative candidate and the Liberal Democrat opponent.

Trigger

Parish was first elected as a Conservative MP in the 2010 general election. A female Conservative MP complained on 25 April 2022 to the party's Chief Whip about a male colleague having watched pornography on his mobile phone in the Commons chamber, without identifying the individual. This was later identified to be Parish. He was alleged to have watched pornography on two occasions in the House of Commons. Parish said the first occasion was accidental, as he discovered a pornographic website during a search related to tractors, but admitted that the second occasion had been intentional, and announced his intention to resign as an MP on 30 April 2022.

On 4 May, Parish was appointed to the position of Steward and Bailiff of the Manor of Northstead, disqualifying him from being an MP, which is a mechanism by which an MP's resignation is put into effect.

On 17 May, the writ was moved by the Chief Whip, Chris Heaton-Harris, formally triggering the by-election.

On 19 May, the acting returning officer published the notice of the election confirming the timetable with the poll taking place on Thursday 23 June 2022, the same day as the Wakefield by-election.

Campaign

Labour frontbench sources confirmed that senior Labour figures had told them the party would be "soft-pedalling" the campaign in the by-election in order to allow the Liberal Democrats an easier shot at winning. A Labour spokesperson did not deny this, but confirmed they would be standing a candidate.

The Times reported a focus group for Times Radio had found that voters in the Devon constituency who supported the Tories in the last election were swinging towards the Lib Dems as they lost faith in the prime minister.

Cllr Paul Arnott, the leader of East Devon District Council, and of the East Devon Alliance Independents group on the council, announced he had joined the national Liberal Democrats party and supported them in the by-election.

Candidates

Parish said he may run in the by-election as an independent, stating that he has been pledged financial support. However he ultimately did not appear on the list of candidates.

On 20 May, the Liberal Democrats announced that their candidate would be Richard Foord, a retired Army Major who currently works in a university.

The Conservative Party produced an all-female shortlist for the seat, and selected Helen Hurford, the Deputy Mayor of Honiton, as their candidate on 22 May.

The Labour Party selected Liz Pole, businesswoman and chair of the constituency Labour Party, on 22 May. Pole previously stood for Labour in the same seat at the 2019 general election, and came second.

List of candidates and parties

Previous result

References

1. Doherty, Caitlin (17 May 2022). "Wakefield by-election: Writ laid in Parliament for vote in West Yorkshire constituency". The Yorkshire Post. Archived from the original on 17 May 2022. Retrieved 17 May 2022.
2. Lynch, David (4 May 2022). "Neil Parish formally resigns after admitting watching pornography in the Commons". The Independent. Archived from the original on 4 May 2022. Retrieved 4 May 2022.
3. ^ Ambrose, Tom (30 April 2022). "Tory Neil Parish to resign as MP after porn 'moment of madness'". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 30 April 2022. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
4. "Manor of Northstead". GOV.uk. 4 May 2022. Archived from the original on 4 May 2022. Retrieved 4 May 2022.
5. Ford Rojas, John-Paul (17 May 2022). "Boris Johnson faces test as Wakefield and Tiverton and Honiton by-elections triggered". Sky News. Archived from the original on 17 May 2022. Retrieved 17 May 2022.
6. ^ Ford Rojas, John-Paul (17 May 2022). "Boris Johnson faces test as Wakefield and Tiverton and Honiton by-elections triggered". Sky News. Archived from the original on 17 May 2022. Retrieved 17 May 2022.
7. Hughes, Pascale; Ashdown, Harry (12 May 2017). "Every Leave constituency where the MP voted Remain". i. Archived from the original on 30 April 2022. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
8. Clarke, Lewis (14 October 2019). "The Brexit Party announce Parliamentary Candidate for Tiverton & Honiton". DevonLive. Archived from the original on 30 April 2022. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
9. Woodcock, Andrew (30 April 2022). "Lib Dems 'going for it' in hope of repeat by-election upset in Neil Parish's seat". The Independent. Archived from the original on 30 April 2022. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
10. Guyoncourt, Sally (30 April 2022). "When will the Tiverton and Honiton by-election be? Parliamentary rules for replacing Neil Parish explained". The Independent. Archived from the original on 30 April 2022. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
11. Mason, Rowena (27 April 2022). "Chief whip investigates reports Tory MP watched porn in House of Commons". TheGuardian.com. Archived from the original on 6 May 2022. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
12. Duffy, Nick (1 May 2022). "'Porn MP' Neil Parish may have been looking for a Claas Dominator tractor, allies suggest". inews.co.uk. Archived from the original on 4 May 2022. Retrieved 5 May 2022.
13. "MP Neil Parish who watched porn in Commons resigns". BBC News. 4 May 2022. Archived from the original on 5 May 2022. Retrieved 5 May 2022.
14. "Tory Neil Parish formally quits as MP for Tiverton and Honiton". East Devon News. 5 May 2022. Archived from the original on 5 May 2022. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
15. "Notice of Election - Tiverton and Honiton Constituency - MIDDEVON.GOV.UK". www.middevon.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 19 May 2022. Retrieved 22 May 2022.
16. "Wakefield Constituency Parliamentary by Election – Thursday, 23 June 2022". www.wakefield.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 19 May 2022. Retrieved 22 May 2022.
17. Tolhurst, Alain; Rodgers, Sienna (17 May 2022). "Senior Labour MPs Told To Step Back From Tiverton By-Election Campaign To Make Way For Lib Dems". Politics Home. Archived from the original on 18 May 2022. Retrieved 18 May 2022.
18. Smyth, Chris (13 May 2022). "Tiverton & Honiton: Voters in porn MP by-election desert Johnson's Tories". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Archived from the original on 17 May 2022. Retrieved 22 May 2022.
19. "East Devon District Council leader joins national Lib Dems ahead of by-election". 7 June 2022. Archived from the original on 7 June 2022. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
20. Hope, Christopher; Boycott-Owen, Mason (12 May 2022). "'Porn MP' Neil Parish could stand against Conservatives in by-election". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 12 May 2022. Retrieved 13 May 2022.
21. "STATEMENT OF PERSONS NOMINATED AND NOTICE OF POLL". Mid Devon District Council. 25 May 2022. Archived from the original on 25 May 2022. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
22. Diver, Tony (20 May 2022). "Lib Dems 'planting our tanks on the Tories' lawn' by selecting ex-Army Major for 'blue wall' seat". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 20 May 2022. Retrieved 20 May 2022.
23. "Meet Richard". Richard Foord. Archived from the original on 20 May 2022. Retrieved 20 May 2022.
24. Malnick, Edward; Penna, Dominic (21 May 2022). "All-female Tory shortlist for Tiverton and Honiton by-election after porn scandal". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 21 May 2022. Retrieved 22 May 2022.
25. "Tiverton and Honiton by-election: Former head teacher in for Conservatives". BBC News. 23 May 2022. Archived from the original on 23 May 2022. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
26. "Tiverton and Honiton by-election: Businesswoman in for Labour". BBC News. 23 May 2022. Archived from the original on 23 May 2022. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
27. "STATEMENT OF PERSONS NOMINATED AND NOTICE OF POLL". Mid Devon District Council. 25 May 2022. Archived from the original on 25 May 2022. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
28. "2019 general election results: Tiverton and Honiton". Parliament of the United Kingdom. Archived from the original on 30 April 2022. Retrieved 30 April 2022.

• 2022 elections in the United Kingdom
• 2022 in England
• 2020s in Devon
• By-elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom in Devon constituencies
• Elections in Devon
• Future elections in the United Kingdom
• June 2022 events in the United Kingdom