By-election Brecon and Radnorshire – 01 Aug 2019
A by-election was held in Brecon and Radnorshire on 01 Aug 2019, following the conviction for a false expenses claim by the Conservative MP Chris Davies. Under the Recall of MPs Act 2015, the conviction triggered a recall petition, which was successful and caused the by-election.
The election was contested by Conservative Christopher Davies (the deposed MP), Liberal Democrat Jane Dodds, Brexit Party Des Parkinson, Labour Tom Davies and representatives from the UKIP and Monster Raving Loony parties.
In order to achieve maximum support for a candidate who supported a 2nd referendum on Brexit, the candidate for the Liberal Democrat party, Jane Dodds, was supported by the Green and Plaid Cymru parties who decided not to field their own candidates. In addition, Dodds was also supported by Change UK and the Renew Party.
The previous result for this constituency, from the General Election held in 2017, elected Christopher Davies as MP, representing the Conservative Party, with a majority of 8,038 votes. The turnout was 76.9% (41,334 voters from an electorate of 56,010)
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Christopher Davies | Conservative | 20,081 | 48.6 | |
| James Gibson-Watt | Liberal Democrat | 12,043 | 29.1 | |
| Dan Lodge | Labour | 7,335 | 17.7 | |
| Kate Heneghan | Plaid Cymru | 1,299 | 3.1 | |
| Peter Gilbert | UKIP | 576 | 1.4 |
The candidate Jane Dodds, representing the Liberal Democrat Party, won the by-election held in Aug 2019, with a majority of 1,425 votes. Turnout was 59.72% (31,814 voters)
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jane Dodds | Liberal Democrat | 13,826 | 43.46 |
| Christopher Davies | Conservative | 12,401 | 38.98 |
| Des Parkinson | Brexit Party | 3,331 | 10.47 |
| Tom Davies | Labour | 1,680 | 5.28 |
| Lady Lily the Pink | Monster Raving Loony | 334 | 1.05 |
| Liz Phillips | UKIP | 242 | 0.76 |
Other interesting comments –
The total votes for candidates representing the Conservative and Brexit parties was 15,732 (49.45%) vs the total for candidates representing the Liberal Democrats and Labour was 15,506 (48.74%) Perhaps Boris and Nigel should take note.
The total votes cast for Jane Dodds (13,826) is almost identical to number of votes cast for the Liberal Democrat candidate and the Plaid Cymru candidate combined (13,342) in the previous General Election 2017.
The number of votes cast for Tom Davies, representing the Labour Party (1,680) 4th place, is fewer than that achieved by the Brexit Party (3,331) which finished in 3rd place.
