Old Bexley and Sidcup by-election: Why is it important and what were the results?
- Ryan Whitehead
- Dec 12, 2021
- 3 min read
On Thursday 2nd December residents of Old Bexley and Sidcup (Greater London) turned out to vote for their next MP in a by-election triggered by the death of former Secretary of State for Northern Ireland James Brokenshire, who passed away on the 7th of October from lung cancer.
Why is it important?
Any by-election is important as it gives the government the chance to gauge how their policies are being received by the population, and for opposing parties to understand what the public think of their ability to hold the government accountable for the decisions and actions. However, this by-election came with the added layer of importance that it would test how the last few weeks of Tory scandal would fair with voters in the short term and give an indication about the long-term effects.
The last few weeks haven’t been easy on Boris Johnson with the fallout from trying to change the Parliamentary standards system and the second jobs controversy to the migrant crisis and the emergence of Johnson’s party last November whilst the rest of the UK was in lockdown. Labour and the Liberal Democrats had a lot of ammunition going into the by-election and the Conservatives would need a large shield and a strong strategy to maintain this ‘True Blue’ seat.
Who were the candidates?
In total 11 candidates stood in the by-election, with all major political parties putting forward a candidate. The Conservatives chose Louie French, a portfolio manager for Mayfair investment firm Tinley and a local councillor on the Bexley London Borough Council, he previously contested the Eltham seat in the 2019 general election and lost to incumber Labour MP, Clive Efford. French promised to quit his job if elected and not to have a second job, he said he would focus on ensuring that Bexley got more police officers, more investment in schools and hospitals, and protecting green spaces. The Labour candidate, Daniel Francis, is also a local councillor and previous leader of the Labour group on Bexley council. He pledged to reduce speed limits on main roads, tackle anti-social behaviour, put more police officers on the street, and increase investment for Bexley at every level of government. Other candidates included Simone Reynolds (Liberal Democrats), Richard Tice (Reform UK), Jonathan Rooks (Green Party) as well as others.
What were the results?
The results were a win for the Conservative Party with a substantially reduced majority from 19,000 votes in the 2019 general election to 4,478 votes more than Labour.
The results are as followed:
Labour had a 7.4% swing, which may boost Labours confidence that Keir Starmer is finally turning the party’s electoral performance around, especially considering that this is an election in a ‘true blue’ seat. Despite the 13 percent drop in the Conservatives vote share this election is still a victory, it proves that the real damage from the scandals may be a lot less than initially predicted. However, the low turnout of 33.5% may mean that only loyal voters voted which might explain the reduced tory majority, as many news outlets reported that even traditional conservatives weren’t sure if or why they should vote blue. A surprise in the by-election was the electoral success of Richard Tice, leader of Reform UK, who managed to gain 6.6% of the vote and came in 3rd place, beating the Lib dem and Green party candidates. So, whilst the Conservative party kept hold of Old Bexley and Sidcup in this election they face the reality of campaigning for a potential marginal seat next time.
