2016 Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough by-election

53°24′40″N 1°27′07″W / 53.411°N 1.452°W / 53.411; -1.452

2016 Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough by-election
← 2015 5 May 2016 2017 →
Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough constituency
Turnout33.2%
  First party Second party
 
Candidate Gill Furniss Steven Winstone
Party Labour UKIP
Popular vote 14,087 4,497
Percentage 62.4% 19.9%
Swing Increase5.9% Decrease2.2%
  Third party Fourth party
  Blank
Candidate Shaffaq Mohammed Spencer Pitfield
Party Liberal Democrats Conservative
Popular vote 1,385 1,267
Percentage 6.1% 5.6%
Swing Increase1.6% Decrease5.4%
MP before election

Harry Harpham
Labour

Elected MP

Gill Furniss
Labour

On 5 May 2016, a by-election was held in the UK Parliamentary constituency of Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough in South Yorkshire. It was caused by the death of the sitting Member of Parliament (MP) Harry Harpham on 4 February 2016.[1] Harpham had been the Labour Party MP for the seat since the 2015 general election. The by-election took place on the same day as local elections in the United Kingdom.

Candidates

Sheffield City Council published the statement of persons nominated on 8 April 2016. This showed that seven candidates would contest the by-election.[2]

The Labour candidate was Gill Furniss, a Sheffield city councillor and the widow of Harry Harpham. She had stood for the party at the constituency level in Sheffield Hallam in the 2001 general election, where she came third.[3]

UKIP's candidate was Steven Winstone, a local metal trader and businessman. He focused his campaign on protecting jobs in the local steel industry. He had stood for the party in Sheffield South East in the 2015 general election, where he came second.[4]

The Conservatives selected Spencer Pitfield.

The Liberal Democrats selected Shaffaq Mohammed, a city councillor.[5]

The Green Party reselected Christine Gilligan Kubo, a lecturer at Sheffield Business School, and their candidate from the 2015 general election.[6]

Bobby Smith of the New Fathers 4 Justice campaign announced that he would stand in the by-election. He stood under the label "Give Me Back Elmo". He had contested the 2015 general election under the same description in Prime Minister David Cameron's Witney constituency, but took only 37 votes.[7] Smith, of Stevenage, also contested the borough council election in his home town on the same day as the by-election.[8]

Yorkshire First selected Stevie Manion.[9]

Result

By-election 2016: Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Gill Furniss 14,087 62.4 +5.9
UKIP Steven Winstone 4,497 19.9 –2.2
Liberal Democrats Shaffaq Mohammed 1,385 6.1 +1.6
Conservative Spencer Pitfield 1,267 5.6 –5.4
Green Christine Gilligan Kubo 938 4.2 –0.1
Yorkshire First Stevie Manion 349 1.5 New
Give Me Back Elmo Bobby Smith 58 0.2 New
Majority 9,590 42.5 +8.8
Turnout 22,581 33.2 –21.6
Labour hold Swing +4.1

Previous election

General election 2015: Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough[11][12]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Harry Harpham 22,663 56.6 +1.6
UKIP John Booker 8,856 22.1 +18.0
Conservative Elise Dünweber 4,407 11.0 –0.5
Liberal Democrats Jonathan Harston 1,802 4.5 –15.5
Green Christine Gilligan Kubo 1,712 4.3 New
TUSC Maxine Bowler 442 1.1 –0.6
English Democrat Justin Saxton 171 0.4 New
Majority 13,807 34.6 –0.4
Turnout 40,053 54.8 –2.3
Labour hold Swing –8.2

See also

Notes and references

Notes
References
  1. ^ Johnston, Chris (5 February 2016). "Labour MP Harry Harpham dies of cancer aged 61". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
  2. ^ "Statement of Persons Nominated" (PDF). Sheffield City Council. Retrieved 15 May 2016.[permanent dead link‍]
  3. ^ "Harry Harpham's widow Gill Furniss chosen for Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough". LabourList. 4 March 2016. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
  4. ^ "UKIP announce Steve Winstone as the party candidate in Sheffield Brightside & Hillsborough". UKIP. Archived from the original on 23 May 2016. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
  5. ^ Moore, Alex (2 March 2016). "Lib Dems select Shaffaq Mohammed to fight for Brightside and Hillsborough seat". Sheffield Star. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
  6. ^ Moore, Alex (3 March 2016). "Christine Gilligan Kubo chosen as Green Party candidate for Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough". Sheffield Star. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
  7. ^ Reed, James (23 February 2016). "Man dressed as Elmo bids to be a Sheffield MP". Yorkshire Post. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
  8. ^ "Chells Nomination Statement" (PDF). Stevenage Borough Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 April 2016. Retrieved 9 April 2016.
  9. ^ "Yorkshire First announces candidate for Sheffield by-election". Yorkshire First. Archived from the original on 11 March 2016. Retrieved 11 March 2016.
  10. ^ "Brightside and Hillsborough by-election result 2016". Sheffield City Council. Archived from the original on 4 June 2016. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
  11. ^ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  12. ^ "Sheffield Brightside & Hillsborough". BBC News. Retrieved 14 May 2015.