Is a byelection happening in your area? (Picture: Ian Forsyth/Getty Images)
Scandals, resignations, the threat of recall by their constituents, and even death – Members of Parliament can trigger byelections for many reasons.
This parliamentary term (beginning with the general election in 2019) has seen more than a few notable byelections so far, including the dramatic resignation of former PM Boris Johnson, the tragic murder of Sir David Amess, and the controversial attempts by the government to keep Owen Paterson in place, despite breaking lobbying rules.
Now, three more Members of Parliament are set to step down, triggering byelections in their constituencies.
But where are they, and why are they happening?
Read on to find out.
Where are the upcoming byelections?
Currently, three upcoming byelections are set to take place – Mid Bedfordshire, Rutherglen and Hamilton West, and Tamworth.
Electoralcalculus.co.uk can help you find your constituency if you need more clarification.
Two of those seats (Mid Beds and Tamworth) chose Conservative MPs at the last election, while an SNP Member of Parliament represented Rutherglen and Hamilton West.
Thee byelections are set to take place in the coming months. (Picture: JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP via Getty Images)
When are the upcoming byelections?
Currently, two of the upcoming byelections have dates arranged.
Mid Bedfordshire – October 19, 2023
Rutherglen and Hamilton West – October 5, 2023
The byelection in Tamworth is yet to be scheduled, as Chris Pincher has only just ‘made arrangements’ to leave parliament.
It is unclear if this means that the Conservative chief whip has asked to move the Writ – the beginning of the process for a byelection.
Generally, if multiple byelections are to occur, they are scheduled around the same time where possible.
While having multiple byelections at the same time is generally rare in modern times, this will be the second time this parliament that three byelections will be taking place in rapid succession.
Earlier in the summer, Somerton and Frome, Selby and Ainsty, and Uxbridge and South Ruislip (Former PM Boris Johnson’s old constituency) all saw a byelection on Thursday, July 20.
Labour MP Keir Mather, with Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer at Selby football club, North Yorkshire, after winning the Selby and Ainsty by-election. (Picture: Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire)
Why are the byelections happening?
Former Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries (Former MP for Mid Bedfordshire) announced she would be stepping down ‘with immediate effect’ on June 9, 2023. Just 75 days later, she was formerly appointed to ‘Steward and Bailiff of the Three Hundreds of Chiltern’, the mechanism by which an MP formerly resigns.
It was reported at the time that Ms Dorries was refusing to formally resign as an MP until she had found more information on why she (along with another prominent Johnson supporter, Nigel Adams) was denied a peerage in Boris Johnson’s resignation honours.
In her resignation letter published in the Daily Mail (though reportedly not sent to the Prime Minister), Ms Dorries launched a searing attack on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, accusing him of abandoning ‘the fundamental principles of Conservatism’.
Further in the letter, she said her resignation timing would allow the PM to hold the byelection he was ‘so desperately seeking to take place’.
Margaret Ferrier (Former MP for Rutherglen and Hamilton West) saw a byelection called after she saw a successful recall petition close against her on July 31 2023.
The former SNP MP was judged to have broken Covid rules and was given 270 hours of community service in August 2022, after travelling to London and speaking in the Commons while awaiting the result of a Covid test, then getting a train home after testing positive.
Around 12,000 of her constituents signed a recall petition, and she will not seek re-election in the upcoming byelection.
Chris Pincher (MP for Tamworth) has announced he is ‘making arrangements’ to quit as an MP after losing an appeal against an eight-week suspension from the Commons following groping allegations at a private members club in London.
The Commons Standards Committee investigated the claims and found that the Conservative Party deputy chief whip had caused ‘significant damage to the reputation of the House’, which amounted to a breach of the code of conduct for MPs.
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