2007 Sedgefield by-election

Map of Sedgefield

The Sedgefield by-election, 2007 is an upcoming by-election scheduled to be held on 19 July 2007 for the British House of Commons constituency of Sedgefield in County Durham. The Ealing Southall by-election is also scheduled to be held on 19 July.

The by-election was triggered when Tony Blair, the Labour Party Member of Parliament (MP) for Sedgefield and former Prime Minister, "resigned" to become envoy for the international diplomatic Quartet on the Middle East. To resign as a MP, Blair accepted the office of Steward and Bailiff of the Three Hundreds of Chiltern, thereby deliberately disqualifying himself from Parliament and causing the by-election. Blair had held the constituency since its creation in 1983, and Labour had held its predecessor constituencies since 1935.

According to Sedgefield Borough Council, the electorate for the by-election is 67,339 which represents an increase of 673 (1%) on the 2005 general election.

Candidates

The Labour Party selected Phil Wilson, a long term local party member and one of the "Famous Five" who had promoted Tony Blair's first candidacy in 1983. He was chosen from a shortlist of five candidates, including former Minister Melanie Johnson. The Liberal Democrats chose Greg Stone, a councillor in Newcastle-upon-Tyne and former candidate in the Vale of York in 2001 and Newcastle-upon-Tyne Central in 2005. The Conservatives stood Graham Robb, a public relations consultant and former radio presenter, who stood for the party in 1992 in Hartlepool.

Several other candidates are contesting the election. The United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) selected Toby Horton, who formerly contested the seat for the Conservatives in 1983, and in 1992 stood in Rother Valley. The Green Party of England and Wales chose Chris Haine, and the British National Party is standing Andrew Spence, who was involved in the 2000 UK fuel protests and stood for UKIP in the seat in 2001. The leader of the Official Monster Raving Loony Party, Alan Hope, is also standing, having previously contested a long list of seats in both general and by-elections. The English Democrats chose Stephen Gash, and the Christian Party are standing barrister Tim Grainger. Norman Scarth is standing as an independent "anti crime" candidate, having previously contested Chesterfield in 1997 as an "independent old age pensioner". Local independent councillor Paul Gittins stood on a platform calling for the regeneration of the centre of Newton Aycliffe.

Sedgefield by-election, 2007

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	English Democrat	Stephen Gash			N/A
	Independent	Paul Gittins			N/A
	Christian	Tim Grainger			N/A
	Green	Chris Haine			N/A
	Monster Raving Loony	Alan Hope
	UKIP	Toby Horton
	Conservative	Graham Robb
	Anti Crime	Norman Scarth			N/A
	BNP	Andrew Spence			N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Greg Stone
	Labour	Phil Wilson
Majority
Turnout

General Election 2005 result

General Election 2005: Sedgefield

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Tony Blair	24,421	58.9	-6.0
	Conservative	Gp Capt Al Lockwood	5,972	14.4	-6.5
	Liberal Democrats	Robert Browne	4,935	11.9	+2.9
	Independent	Reg Keys	4,252	10.3	N/A
	UKIP	William Brown	646	1.6	-0.8
	National Front	Mark Farrell	253	0.6	N/A
	Veritas	Fiona Luckhurst-Matthews	218	0.5	N/A
	Independent	Berony Abraham	205	0.5	N/A
	Monster Raving Loony	Melodie Staniforth	157	0.4	N/A
	Blair Must Go Party	Jonathan Cockburn	103	0.2	N/A
	Senior Citizens Party	Terry Pattinson	97	0.2	N/A
	UK Pensioners Party	Cherri Gilham	82	0.2	N/A
	Independent	Helen John	68	0.2	-0.4
	Independent	John Barker	45	0.1	N/A
	Independent	Julian Brennan	17	0.0	N/A
Majority			18,449	44.5
Turnout			41,475	62.2	+0.2
	Labour hold		Swing	0.2

External links

• BBC News
• Labour's Sedgefield By-Election Website
• Liberal Democrats Sedgefield By-Election Website
• Conservative Sedgefield By-Election Website
• By-Election blog
• Sedgefield UK Independence Party