1997 Wirral South by-election

1997 Wirral South by-election
Turnout	71.5%
MP before election; Barry Porter; Conservative	Elected MP ; Ben Chapman; Labour

A by-election was held for the United Kingdom parliament constituency of Wirral South, in Merseyside, England, on 27 February 1997. The seat became vacant on the death of Conservative Party Member of Parliament Barry Porter, and was won by Labour's Ben Chapman.

The Conservative loss in this seat, which came close to the last possible date for a general election, meant that they no longer had a majority in the House of Commons.^[1] Wirral South was the last in a run of significant Conservative losses, following a period of dissatisfaction with the Major years. This was the last Conservative loss to Labour in a by-election until the 2012 Corby by-election. Labour has held this seat since the by-election.

Result

Wirral South by-election, 1997^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ben Chapman	22,767	52.6	+18.0
	Conservative	Leslie Byrom	14,879	34.4	−16.5
	Liberal Democrats	Flo Clucas	4,357	10.1	−3.0
	UKIP	Richard North	410	0.9	New
	Independent	Harold Bence	184	0.4	New
	Socialist Labour	Michael Cullen	156	0.4	New
	Disillusioned Conservative	Phillip Gott	148	0.3	New
	Independent	Roger Taylor	132	0.3	New
	Independent - anti tobacco donation	Anthony Samuelson	124	0.3	New
	Natural Law	Geoffery Mead	52	0.1	−0.2
	21st Century Foresters	Colin Palmer	44	0.1	New
	Independent - Thalidomide Action Group	Frederick Astbury	40	0.1	New
Majority			7,888	18.2	N/A
Turnout			43,293	71.5	−10.8
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+17.25

Previous result

General election 1992: Wirral South^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Barry Porter	25,590	50.8	+0.6
	Labour	Helen Southworth	17,407	34.6	+6.6
	Liberal Democrats	Edward T. Cunniffe	6,581	13.1	−8.7
	Green	Nigel Birchenough	584	1.2	New
	Natural Law	George Griffiths	182	0.4	New
Majority			8,183	16.2	−5.8
Turnout			50,344	82.3	+2.9
	Conservative hold		Swing	−3.0

Notes

^ "How the Government's Majority Disappeared". Retrieved 26 September 2007.
^ Boothroyd, David. "Results of Byelections in the 1992-97 Parliament". United Kingdom Election Results. Archived from the original on 20 July 2017. Retrieved 1 October 2015.
^ "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 6 December 2010.

External links

British Parliamentary By Elections: Campaign literature from the by-election

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1997 Wirral South by-election

Result

Previous result

Notes

External links

See also