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Post by heslingtonian on Aug 2, 2023 17:35:10 GMT
I have just skimmed through this thread again and I'm a bit surprised that Richard Hickmet (Conservative, Eastbourne 1990) isn't mentioned. Some in the Conservative campaign seemed to be assuming that the voters had a duty to vote Conservative, because voting Lib Dem would mean that the IRA had chosen the party-political orientation of the MP. (I don't remember specifically if, or how explicitly, the candidate himself made the point - but some did to some extent). In the by-election in Staffordshire Mid (also in 1990) the main campaign issue was the Poll Tax. I remember one voter complaining to the Conservative candidate about the Poll Tax, and he dismissively pompously said that it was noting to do with the Conservative government - saying that the voter should complain to the local council if it was too high. i.e. He was pretending to misunderstand that the voter was complaining about the principle rather than the issue. Hickmet is somewhat unusual in that unlike the vast majority of names mentioned in this thread, he had actually previously served as an MP (albeit not for Eastbourne) prior to standing in the by-election. I suppose if we are going down this route, Gerry Malone in Winchester in 1997 was the worst by-election candidate of all time based on his result. |
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Post by heslingtonian on Aug 2, 2023 17:41:10 GMT
How do we define "worst"? The Conservative candidate for the Romsey by election in 2000 was unbelievably hopeless. One Tim Palmer, I believe and I'll leave Harry Enfield fans with that thought... He was definitely among the worst candidates for a major Party in living memory at a by-election. He came across as pompous, aloof, complacent and old-fashioned. No wonder he didn't stand again. |
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Post by batman on Aug 2, 2023 18:44:22 GMT
I have just skimmed through this thread again and I'm a bit surprised that Richard Hickmet (Conservative, Eastbourne 1990) isn't mentioned. Some in the Conservative campaign seemed to be assuming that the voters had a duty to vote Conservative, because voting Lib Dem would mean that the IRA had chosen the party-political orientation of the MP. (I don't remember specifically if, or how explicitly, the candidate himself made the point - but some did to some extent). In the by-election in Staffordshire Mid (also in 1990) the main campaign issue was the Poll Tax. I remember one voter complaining to the Conservative candidate about the Poll Tax, and he dismissively pompously said that it was noting to do with the Conservative government - saying that the voter should complain to the local council if it was too high. i.e. He was pretending to misunderstand that the voter was complaining about the principle rather than the issue. the Tory candidate you are referring to was Charles Prior who I think is related to Jim Prior in some way. He was not re-adopted for the general election with the local Conservative Association instead picking a much higher-quality candidate in...........Michael Fabricant |
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Post by greenhert on Aug 2, 2023 18:55:00 GMT
I have just skimmed through this thread again and I'm a bit surprised that Richard Hickmet (Conservative, Eastbourne 1990) isn't mentioned. Some in the Conservative campaign seemed to be assuming that the voters had a duty to vote Conservative, because voting Lib Dem would mean that the IRA had chosen the party-political orientation of the MP. (I don't remember specifically if, or how explicitly, the candidate himself made the point - but some did to some extent). In the by-election in Staffordshire Mid (also in 1990) the main campaign issue was the Poll Tax. I remember one voter complaining to the Conservative candidate about the Poll Tax, and he dismissively pompously said that it was noting to do with the Conservative government - saying that the voter should complain to the local council if it was too high. i.e. He was pretending to misunderstand that the voter was complaining about the principle rather than the issue. the Tory candidate you are referring to was Charles Prior who I think is related to Jim Prior in some way. He was not re-adopted for the general election with the local Conservative Association instead picking a much higher-quality candidate in...........Michael Fabricant Charles (Campbell Leathes) Prior was Jim Prior's nephew-they both had Leathes as one of their middle names. |
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andrewp
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Post by andrewp on Aug 2, 2023 19:07:42 GMT
Given the profile, do parties who have a chance of winning a by election seek to select a candidate of a higher quality than general election candidates need to be? For the party that is going to win, and it’s probably obvious in at least two thirds of by elections who is going to win from the start, is it important that the candidate is a higher quality than average? . Or doesnt it matter because candidates don’t make that much difference. I would argue that at least 2 by election winners in this parliament are not particularly high quality. Of course, if a party already has a candidate in place for a general election, then they don’t tend to swap candidate if a by election arises so do all candidates selected just need to be by election capable?
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sirbenjamin
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Post by sirbenjamin on Aug 6, 2023 22:39:02 GMT
Suella Braverman's mum stood in Brent East.
I actually quite liked her, but I was probably the only person who did.
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Post by Arthur Figgis on Aug 6, 2023 23:03:57 GMT
Suella Braverman's mum stood in Brent East. I actually quite liked her, but I was probably the only person who did. Did she look like she got slapped round the face with a wet fish as she fell from the ugly tree in the forest of morons? Or did that look come from the paternal side? |
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Post by batman on Aug 7, 2023 1:28:17 GMT
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sirbenjamin
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Post by sirbenjamin on Aug 7, 2023 15:51:08 GMT
Suella Braverman's mum stood in Brent East. I actually quite liked her, but I was probably the only person who did. Did she look like she got slapped round the face with a wet fish as she fell from the ugly tree in the forest of morons? Or did that look come from the paternal side?
Probably both, hence the aggregate effect.
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sirbenjamin
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Post by sirbenjamin on Aug 7, 2023 15:54:32 GMT
Uma Fernandes was (is?) almost completely mad, but in quite an entertaining way. She did a whacky impression oF Tony Blair that was a bit like the preacher character Kenny Everett used to do. One of a kind.
I'd have been interested to see what sort of MP she turned out to be, but there was probably no hope of her ever getting anywhere near a winnable seat.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 15, 2023 6:35:07 GMT
Approaching this from a different angle, if no one has nominated him yet (the search result says not) I would put forward a winning candidate for this accolade.
Eric Joyce.
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Post by johnloony on Aug 15, 2023 8:00:39 GMT
The entire DUP and UUP who resigned their seats over the Anglo-Irish agreement are also not how I understand the question. Though I guess in terms of not achieving what he set out to do, Wesley Robert Williamson who stood in 4 of those by-elections, is a contender. He was a unionist who changed his name to "Peter Barry" (same as the Irish foreign minister) and ran as "For the Anglo-Irish Agreement" in order to ensure a by-election took place so that the overall unionist vote could be maximised. Despite doing no campaigning, he saved his deposit in 3 of the 4 seats. Have there been any other candidates who ran deliberately hoping to get as low a vote as possible? The Representation of the People Act 1985 (which lowered the threshold for holding a deposit from 12.5% to 5%) got Royal Assent in July 1985, but I have a strange feeling (only from my own memory) that it didn’t come into effect until some time in 1986 - in which case he might not have held any of the deposits (he got about 6% of the votes in those three by-elections). I tried to find a date on which it came into operation but I couldn’t find it. I guess Davıd Boothroyd will know. |
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Post by Davıd Boothroyd on Aug 15, 2023 8:12:11 GMT
The raising of the deposit and lowering of the threshold came into effect for any election where the notice of election was published after 1 September 1985 - see Commencement Order. Section 13 of the Act is the relevant provision. |
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Post by johnloony on Aug 15, 2023 8:26:30 GMT
The raising of the deposit and lowering of the threshold came into effect for any election where the notice of election was published after 1 September 1985 - see Commencement Order. Section 13 of the Act is the relevant provision. Diolch! I managed to find S.13 but (on the digital version I found) I couldn’t find the commencement date. |
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The Bishop
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Post by The Bishop on Aug 15, 2023 10:11:55 GMT
Approaching this from a different angle, if no one has nominated him yet (the search result says not) I would put forward a winning candidate for this accolade. Eric Joyce. Well if we are doing "byelection winners who subsequently turned out awfully" then yes he has to be up there. Though there must be a few other candidates for that accolade down the years. |
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Post by uthacalthing on Aug 15, 2023 11:09:30 GMT
Yes, I think Eric Joyce was probably a pretty good candidate but an awful MP by anyone's standards.
Tasmin Dunwoody was the candidate in an awful campaign but I dont know if it is fair to give her the blame
Bob Gillespie was an awful candidate
But they only matter because they won or ought to have won, there will be many worse by-election candidates who held or lost their deposits.
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stb12
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Post by stb12 on Aug 15, 2023 11:41:32 GMT
John Mason was a by-election winner and while he never had that long in Westminster has gone on to have a long Scottish Parliament career while seeming to be quite unpopular on all sides
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Post by jimboo2017 on Aug 15, 2023 12:51:06 GMT
Glenrothes 2008 Labour Lindsay Roy SNP Peter Grant Conservative Maurice Golden Senior Citizens Jim Parker Scottish Socialist Morag Balfour UKIP Kris Seunarine Solidarity Louise McLeary All shite apart for the Tory and LibDem Seunarine was that bad even I (SSP) got more votes than UKIP in the council election The Tory guy was helluva nice the bastard
Lindsay Roy was parachuted to stop Alex Rowley being candidate
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Post by batman on Aug 15, 2023 13:48:53 GMT
Hmm, I remember Lindsay Roy as a perfectly respectable candidate. Certainly better than his namesake in Motherwell & Wishaw - sorry carlton43 MOTHERWELL
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Post by jimboo2017 on Aug 15, 2023 13:50:26 GMT
Hmm, I remember Lindsay Roy as a perfectly respectable candidate. Certainly better than his namesake in Motherwell & Wishaw - sorry carlton43 MOTHERWELL He did not really want to be there and his membership of the party was questionable i was informed |
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