Nowhere at all

[innocentabroad]

I could have put this on the South Shields thread, where someone - for the moment I forget who, so ask them to accept my apologies: no offence intended - noted that there had been three by-elections in the seat before.

So:- how many seats have never had a by-election? Which one of them has been in existence longest?

[Deleted]

Mar 27, 2013 10:19:53 GMT innocentabroad said:

I could have put this on the South Shields thread, where someone - for the moment I forget who, so ask them to accept my apologies: no offence intended - noted that there had been three by-elections in the seat before.

So:- how many seats have never had a by-election? Which one of them has been in existence longest?

That was me, no offence taken.

That's quite a challenging question. Plenty of the newer constituencies haven't had by-elections under their present form. Obviously the picture is complicated by boundary changes over the centuries - that is true of South Shields also.

[johnloony]

Of the constituencies which have not undergone boundary changes, Western Isles has existed since 1918 and has never had a by-election. Isle of Wight last had a by-election in 1904.

[Deleted]

Neither South Ribble, nor its predecessor Preston South.

[No Offence Alan]

There was a by-election in Evesham in 1895, but no more until it was replaced by South Worcestershire in 1950.
South Worcestershire had no by-election until 1997, when it was replaced by Mid Worcs. and West Worcs., which have had no by-elections to date.
There was due to be a by-election in 1974 after the death of Sir Gerald Nabarro, but Heath called a general election.

[Khunanup]

The Hastings part of Hastings and Rye constituency hasn't had a by-election for 105 years, the Rye part for 110.

[The Bishop]

Barrow last had a by-election in 1890.

[innocentabroad]

I knew I could rely on you guys...

[stepney]

If I'm reading the sainted Wikipedia right, there has never been a by-election in any seat named Loughborough, of which there has been one since counties were divided in 1885 (this is the point, I'm sure, at which someone tells me of a ministerial by-election there - I don't have access to FWS Craig here)

I think, therefore, that the last time the town of Loughborough had to put with by-electioneering was the 1883 by-election for the Northern Division of Leicestershire.

[stepney]

Even better - it would appear there has been no by-election in the Tynemouth seat since its creation in 1885, and that the previous by-election in its predecessor (Tynemouth and North Shields) was in 1861.

Again, this is Wikipedia talking, please insert your own pinch of salt.

[Tony Otim]

There has been no by-election in the constituency of Reigate since it was re-established in 1885, although there were 3 between 1858 and 1863 before it was disenfranchised for corruption in 1868. That sounds an interesting story - anyone know the details?

[Davıd Boothroyd]

Mar 30, 2013 20:47:21 GMT Tony Otim said:

There has been no by-election in the constituency of Reigate since it was re-established in 1885, although there were 3 between 1858 and 1863 before it was disenfranchised for corruption in 1868. That sounds an interesting story - anyone know the details?

You want the Minutes of evidence taken before the Select Committee on the Reigate Election Petition; with the proceedings of the committee, House of Commons Paper 191 of 1866 session. Then read Command Paper 3774, the Report of the Royal Commission appointed to inquire into the existence of corrupt practices at the last election for the Borough of Reigate. (The report, together with the Minutes of Evidence, is over 900 pages)

[Davıd Boothroyd]

Reigate is described by Cornelius O'Leary as being a rare borough in which there was no tradition of landlord influence and intimidation. It managed to avoid having any election petitions until the 1863 byelection, at which Granville Leveson Gower narrowly beat William Wilkinson (both candidates were Liberals). This petition was submitted by James Searle and Thomas North, but was withdrawn on 16 March 1863 (the day before it was due to be heard in the General Committee of Elections).

The 1865 election was then the subject of another petition. The Committee found seven voters who had been bribed by four different agents of Granville Leveson Gower, and that a system of treating was in place, but that Leveson Gower was not aware of it. However the finding "That corrupt practices have extensively prevailed at the last Election" was made, which was the usual signal that a Royal Commission should be established to see how deep-rooted the bribery went.

The commission heard evidence from 500 witnesses and took 36 days of hearings from August to the end of October. It found that the corruption had begun with the February 1858 byelection, when men were sent round to buy up the balloting tickets issued to determine which of three putative candidates should oppose Sir Henry Rawlinson and William Monson. The ballot was won by a Mr Doulton who one witness recalled saying that he meant "to buy the borough, whether or no", and that he "had money, and meant to use it". He then employed as many voters as he could on election work, and paid them every week during the campaign. At the October byelection and at the 1859 general election, William Monson adopted the same scheme. William Wilkinson did likewise in the byelection, but was nominated without his knowledge in the general election.

Evidence given to the Commissioners established that there was far more bribery and treating at the 1863 byelection than at the subsequent general election. Gower had spent £2,500 and Wilkinson £3,100. The petition had been withdrawn because of a deal between Gower and Wilkinson's agents. At the 1865 general election, there were a total of 346 voters bribed out of a total of 760 who voted. Gower had paid nearly £2,000 in election expenses but returned only £1,356 19/1. £500 of the money had been knowingly paid to repay Gower's agent for bribery. Monson had given his agent £1,376 5/4 in advance of the election, and also given £1,730 to someone else to pay for bribes and treating; his return of expenses was £1,232 17/9.

[Deleted]

Bumping this tread.

[Devil Wincarnate]

Using Wikipedia, which is of course infallible even when speaking ex-cathedra, I believe that the old northern part of Stockport/Stockport North/Denton & Reddish has never had a by-election, but Stockport South as was did have a single by-election.

[john07]

Dec 2, 2014 9:51:10 GMT Devil Wincarnate said:

Using Wikipedia, which is of course infallible even when speaking ex-cathedra, I believe that the old northern part of Stockport/Stockport North/Denton & Reddish has never had a by-election, but Stockport South as was did have a single by-election.

Yes the old two member Stockport Constituency. Even after it was split it continued to return two Conservative MPs until 1964. The two Stockport MPs (Norman Hulbert and Harold Steward) had earlier been pilloried on That Was The Week That Was after both appeared on a list of MPs who had not spoken in the Commons since the previous General Election.

"Lucky old Stockport" said David Frost after reading the second name out. He did then apologise and conceded that one had indeed spoken when he asked the direction to the Gents toilet!

Steward, at the time was double hatting as an Alderman on Liverpool City Council and went on to lead the Council in 1967 after losing his constituency to Maurice Orbach.

[Andrew_S]

Has there ever been a by-election in the Loughborough constituency?

[finsobruce]

Dec 2, 2014 22:40:50 GMT Andrew_S said:

Has there ever been a by-election in the Loughborough constituency?

Nope, but just before it was created in 1885, there was a by election (1883) in the preceding North Leicestershire constituency (Conservative hold). 

note: I've just tracked back in the thread and this question was asked and answered in 2013....

[Deleted]

I added a poll to this thread last night. A few of you have already noticed.

[Devil Wincarnate]

I voted in only one, but it was reasonably significant for the Greens- the Carfax (Oxford CC) by-election in 2004 after the passing away of Mike Woodin.

Although when you live in Oxford, it appears that by-elections are an occupational hazard.  In the only other ward that has had a by-election when I was living there (in Trafford), I was three months too young to vote, annoyingly.

Checking back the dates, I notice that Trafford has had 24 by-elections since its creation in 1974.  Does anyone know which local authorities have had the most or fewest by-elections?