2011 Feltham and Heston by-election

On 15 December 2011, a by-election was held for the UK House of Commons constituency of Feltham and Heston in the London Borough of Hounslow.^[1][2] The by-election was caused by the death of its Member of Parliament Alan Keen.^[3] The Labour Party candidate, Seema Malhotra, held the seat.

2011 Feltham and Heston by-election

← 2010 15 December 2011 2015 →
Feltham and Heston constituency
Turnout	28.8%
First party Second party   Candidate Seema Malhotra Mark Bowen Party Labour Conservative Popular vote 12,639 6,436 Percentage 54.4% 27.7% Swing 10.8% 6.3%   Third party Fourth party   Candidate Roger Crouch Andrew Charalambous Party Liberal Democrats UKIP Popular vote 1,364 1,276 Percentage 5.9% 5.5% Swing 7.8% 3.5%
MP before election Alan Keen Labour Subsequent MP Seema Malhotra Labour

Boundaries

Feltham and Heston covers the western end of the London Borough of Hounslow. Feltham lies in the western half of the constituency, Heston in the north. At the south of the constituency lies Hanworth, with Bedfont in the west. Across the parliamentary and borough boundary to the south-east lies Twickenham. Feltham & Heston shares the London Borough of Hounslow with the Brentford and Isleworth parliamentary constituency.

The constituency comprises ten electoral wards of the Borough of Hounslow: Bedfont, Cranford, Feltham North, Feltham West, Hanworth, Hanworth Park, Heston Central, Heston East, Heston West, and Hounslow West.

Constituency profile

Most parts of the Feltham and Heston constituency are lower on the socio-economic scale than those in neighbouring Brentford and Isleworth. There is a higher proportion of social housing, though unemployment is low by London standards. The seat also includes parts of Hounslow itself.

To the North and West, just over the border in the London Borough of Hillingdon, is London Heathrow Airport where many local constituents are employed, while there is considerable small industry in the Heston area.^{[citation needed]} The constituency includes a Young Offenders Institution and a motorway service station.

Candidates

The candidature deadline was 30 November 2011.^[4][5]

On 24 November 2011, the UK Independence Party chose Andrew Charalambous,^[6] a former nightclub owner and Conservative Party electoral candidate.^{[citation needed]} The Conservative candidate was named as Hounslow Councillor Mark Bowen on the same day.^[7][8]

Labour chose Seema Malhotra^[9] as their candidate on 27 November 2011 after a quickfire selection^[10] from four other candidates. Malhotra is the Director of Fabian's Women Network and was a Chair of the Fabian Society.^[11][12] Dave Furness was selected by the British National Party on 29 November 2011,^[13] the same day as Roger Crouch was confirmed as the Liberal Democrats nominee.^[14] Crouch is a supporter of the Liberal Democrats' Chinese branch.^[15]

Roger Cooper is the English Democrat Party chairman for their London region.^[16] David Bishop stood in the 2011 Oldham East and Saddleworth by-election in addition to being one of the 26 candidates at the 2008 Haltemprice and Howden by-election. His website explains that his party was created in protest at the capitalist system which turned Elvis Presley "into a fat media joke." George Hallam stood on a socialist platform against austerity cuts and in favour of high rates of income tax for the highest earners. He was a candidate at the 2010 general election in the Lewisham East seat under the ballot paper description "Community Need Before Private Greed".^[17] The Green Party candidate, Daniel Goldsmith, is an IT consultant from Chiswick.^[18]

Result

The result was marked by a particularly low turnout of 28.8%, the lowest since Tottenham, April 2000 (25.4%) and West Bromwich West, November 2000 (27.3%). Whilst a low turnout is generally expected at by-elections, such a low turnout surprised many experts who attributed it to a couple of main factors: the relatively short space of time between the death of the sitting MP (Alan Keen) and the by-election, only 35 days in this case when the average since 1979 is 73;^[19] and the time of year, as it was held close to Christmas and during the long and cold winter nights. The electorate was 80,813.^[20]

2011 Feltham and Heston by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Seema Malhotra	12,639	54.4	+10.8
	Conservative	Mark Bowen	6,436	27.7	–6.3
	Liberal Democrats	Roger Crouch	1,364	5.9	−7.8
	UKIP	Andrew Charalambous	1,276	5.5	+3.5
	BNP	Dave Furness	540	2.3	−1.2
	Green	Daniel Goldsmith	426	1.8	+0.7
	English Democrat	Roger Cooper	322	1.4	N/A
	London People Before Profit	George Hallam	128	0.6	N/A
	Bus-Pass Elvis	David Bishop	93	0.4	N/A
Majority			6,203	26.7	+17.1
Rejected ballots			75
Turnout			23,299	28.8	−31.1
Registered electors			80,813
	Labour hold		Swing	+8.6

Previous result

General election 2010: Feltham and Heston^[21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Alan Keen	21,174	43.6	−4.5
	Conservative	Mark Bowen	16,516	34.0	+5.2
	Liberal Democrats	Munira Wilson	6,669	13.7	−2.9
	BNP	John Donnelly	1,714	3.5	N/A
	UKIP	Jerry Shadbolt	992	2.0	+0.5
	Green	Elizabeth Anstis	530	1.1	−1.2
	Independent	Dharmendra Tripathi	505	1.0	N/A
	Independent	Asa Khaira	180	0.4	N/A
	Independent	Roger Williams	168	0.3	N/A
	Workers Revolutionary	Matthew Linley	78	0.2	N/A
Majority			4,658	9.6	–8.7
Turnout			48,526	59.9	+12.0
Registered electors			81,058
	Labour Co-op hold		Swing	−4.8

See also

• List of United Kingdom by-elections
• Opinion polling for the 2015 United Kingdom general election

References

1. "Labour announces byelection date". Press Association. 24 November 2011. Retrieved 24 November 2011.^{[dead link‍]}
2. Waugh, Paul. "Winter by-election". Politics Home. Archived from the original on 28 November 2011. Retrieved 23 November 2011.
3. Langdon, Julia (14 November 2011). "Alan Keen obituary". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 23 November 2011.
4. Feltham and Heston by-election Archived 2012-05-01 at the Wayback Machine London Borough of Hounslow
5. ^{[permanent dead link‍]}
6. "UKIP chooses by-election candidate". UK Independence Party. Archived from the original on 26 November 2011. Retrieved 24 November 2011.
7. Bowen's Blog Mark Bowen personal blog
8. ToryHQ Twitter feed
9. LabourList
10. LabourList
11. Seema Malhotra Profile Archived 2011-12-04 at the Wayback Machine Fabian Society
12. LabourList
13. Vote Dave Furness for Feltham and Heston Archived 2011-11-30 at the Wayback Machine British National Party
14. Roger Crouch to be LibDem candidate Liberal England blog
15. Chinese Liberal Democrats Archived 2012-04-26 at the Wayback Machine Profile Page
16. Party Structure VoteEnglish - English Democrats
17. Home Archived 2011-08-21 at the Wayback Machine George Hallam
18. Daniel Goldsmith to stand for the Green Party in Feltham and Heston By-Election Archived 2012-04-29 at the Wayback Machine Green Party
19. "What lessons from Feltham and Heston by-election?". BBC News. 16 December 2011.
20. Brentworth and Isleworth Chronicle
21. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.

External links

• London Borough of Hounslow: Feltham and Heston constituency by-election 2011: Results
• London Borough of Hounslow: Feltham and Heston constituency by-election 2011: Declaration of Result of Poll
• BBC News Report: Results