1996 South East Staffordshire by-election
A by-election was held for the British House of Commons constituency of South East Staffordshire on 11 April 1996 following the death of sitting Conservative MP Sir David Lincoln Lightbown.
The result was a Labour gain from the Conservatives.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Brian Jenkins | 26,155 | 60.1 | +22.0 | |
| Conservative | T. James | 12,393 | 28.5 | –22.2 | |
| Liberal Democrats | J. Davy | 2,042 | 4.7 | –4.9 | |
| UKIP | A. Smith | 1,272 | 2.9 | ||
| Monster Raving Loony | David Sutch | 506 | 1.2 | ||
| National Democrats | Sharron Edwards | 358 | 0.8 | ||
| Liberal | S. Mountford | 332 | 0.8 | ||
| Independent Conservative | L. Tucker | 123 | 0.3 | ||
| L!VE TV | News Bunny | 85 | 0.2 | ||
| Independent | N. Samuelson | 80 | 0.2 | ||
| Natural Law | D. Lucas | 53 | 0.1 | ||
| Independent | F. Sandy | 53 | 0.1 | ||
| Independent | A. Wood | 45 | 0.1 | ||
| Majority | 13,762 | 31.6 | |||
| Turnout | 62.0 | ||||
| Labour gain from Conservative | Swing | –22.06 | |||
Notes on candidates
- News Bunny was a character on the cable channel Live TV. The candidate was an employee of the channel who changed his name for the purposes of the election.
- The ballot paper description of the candidate N Samuelson was "Daily Loonylugs Earing Up the World"[1]
- News Bunny was arrested during the campaign for obstructing the highway. He was filmed by BBC Midlands Today handing carrots out to motorists as part of his electioneering. The BBC captured the memorable line, spoken a female police officer to a male police officer, "Get that rabbit".
See also
References
- ^ a b Boothroyd, David. "Results of Byelections in the 1992-97 Parliament". United Kingdom Election Results. Retrieved 2015-10-01.