2007 Ealing Southall by-election

UK parliamentary by-election October 2020 2007 Ealing Southall by-election parliamentary United Kingdom Constituency of Ealing Southall no 2005 United Kingdom general election 2005 2010 United Kingdom general election 2010 19 July 2007 Virendra Sharma x160px Labour Party (UK) 15,188 41.5% 7.3% Nigel Bakhai LD Liberal Democrats (UK) 10,118 27.7% 3.3% Tony Lit Tony Lit.jpg 900 120 160 415 435 Conservative Party (UK) 8,230 22.5% 0.9% MP Piara Khabra Labour Party (UK) Virendra Sharma Labour Party (UK) 42.9%A by-election for the United Kingdom parliamentary constituency of Ealing Southall was held on 19 July 2007, triggered by the death of incumbent Labour Party member of Parliament (MP) Piara Khabra. It was won by Virendra Sharma, who held the seat for Labour. It took place on the same day as the 2007 Sedgefield by-election which was initiated by the resignation of recently-departed Prime Minister Tony Blair; they were the first by-elections to be held during the premiership of the new Prime Minister, Gordon Brown. Background and candidates Incumbent Labour MP Piara Khabra died on 19 June 2007; he had served as MP since 1992. The writ to trigger a by-election was moved on 28 June, the day after the Khabra's funeral. Labour had held the seat since its creation in 1983, and the predecessor seat of Southall since it was created before 1945. Labour selected local councillor Virendra SharmaSouthall Labour Party website https://web.archive.org/web/20070928083301/http://www.laboursouthall.com/?PageId=251350a8-da3a-9744-d1c1-58e58a8e9d8c 28 September 2007 from a shortlist of two – with Jo Sidhu the other shortlisted candidate."Woman frontrunner ditched for Southall by-election", Associated Press of Pakistan As Khabra had previously announced his intention to stand down at the next UK general election, Labour had already decided on its selection rules and had chosen to have an all-women shortlist for the constituency at the next UK general election,Natasha Brown, "https://archive.today/20120711093032/http://icealing.icnetwork.co.uk/ealinggazette/headlines/tm_headline=mp-shortlist-put-on-hold&method=full&objectid=19244007&siteid=67372-name_page.html MP shortlist put on hold", icEaling but following Khabra's death, the Labour National Executive Committee decided the by-election selection would not be from an all-women shortlist. Following the selection, five Labour councillors defected to the Conservative Party."Five Southall councillors defect", BBC News The Liberal Democrats selected Nigel Bakhai as their candidate; he contested the constituency in 2005 and came second.Lib Dems name by-election choice The party fared worse than expected nationally at the 2007 United Kingdom local elections, and several newspapers claimed the Ealing Southall by-election would be a major test of Menzies Campbell's leadership, with a poor result potentially leading to a leadership challenge. The Independent also claimed the party regarded the Ealing Southall election as winnable, and were focussing resources on the seat, in preference to the Sedgefield by-election, to be held the same day.George Jones, " By-elections 'hold Campbell's fate'July 2021 medicmedic" The Daily TelegraphColin Brown and Nigel Morris, "Campbell challenges 'whisperers' to face him https://web.archive.org/web/20070706231249/http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article2733247.ece 6 July 2007 ", The Independent The Conservative Party selected Surinderpal Singh Lit – commonly known as Tony Lit – as its candidate. He is the former Managing Director of Sunrise Radio and son of Avtar Lit who contested the constituency as an independent candidate in the 2001 election and came third."Tony Lit resigns from Sunrise to join Conservative party", Asians in Media magazine The deputy chair of the local Conservatives, Brij Mohan Gupta, resigned from the party in protest at Lit's selection and endorsed Quentin Davies' criticisms of David Cameron's policies, joining instead the Liberal Democrats. Senior Tory defects in protest at Cameron 'spin' https://web.archive.org/web/20070707210719/http://www.politics.co.uk/news/zopinion-former-index/legal-and-constitutional/senior-tory-defects-in-protest-at-cameron-spin-$475621.htm 7 July 2007 , politics.co.uk Newspapers reported that Tony Lit attended a Labour Party fundraising event and Sunrise donated £4,800 to Labour in June 2007, before he switched allegiance to the Conservatives later that month.July 2021 medicmedic On the ballot paper, Lit was described as "David Cameron's Conservative" while the Sedgefield candidate was simply "Conservative". Several other candidates stood. The Respect party selected local teacher Salvinder Dhillon as its candidate;Local teacher to fight parliamentary seat he previously contested the seat as an independent in 2001.UKPollingReport: Ealing Southall The UK Independence Party announced Indian-born Dr K. T. Rajan as its candidate.UKIP website – Candidates selected for Sedgefield and Ealing https://web.archive.org/web/20070704091735/http://www.ukip.org/ukip_news/gen12.php?t=1&id=3089 4 July 2007 He had previously stood for the party in various Welsh Assembly seats. The Green Party selected their 2005 candidate, Sarah Edwards. John Cartwright ran for the Official Monster Raving Loony Party, having stood repeatedly in Croydon Central and also at the 2006 Bromley and Chislehurst by-election. The English Democrats chose Sati Chagger as their candidate. Meanwhile, Yaqub Masih, General Secretary of UK Asian Christian Fellowship and a presenter on Sunrise Radio is stood for the Christian Party. Local GP Gulbash Singh, Director of the Sikh Human Rights Group Jasdev Singh Rai and Kuldeep Singh Grewal all stood as independents. The BBC report that independent candidates Kuldeep Singh Grewal urged his supporters to vote Labour, while Golbash Singh called on his supporters to vote Conservative, on 19 July. Due to electoral law the two men are not permitted to remove themselves from the ballot paper and still attracted votes. Controversy On 18 July 2007, the Metropolitan Police launched an investigation after receiving a complaint in writing from Labour's election agent Ken Clarke. It related to a The Daily Telegraph website blog entry, posted on 17 July, which claimed to show the results of the postal voting ahead of the ballot. The article on the Daily Telegraph website quoted "a source inside the Tory campaign". In response, a spokesman for the Conservative Party said: "Our agent in Ealing Southall hasn't published any such information or spoken to the Daily Telegraph." The Telegraph Media Group said the blog entry was removed as soon as they were told it could breach electoral law. The Metropolitan Police said the complaint would be "thoroughly investigated" and "appropriate action taken"."Police begin Southall vote probe" – BBC News Website, 18 July 2007 The Director of Public Prosecutions has also been asked by Labour to probe claims that the Liberal Democrats misrepresented Labour candidate Virendra Sharma in their election leaflets by listing his age as 72, when at the time of the election he was 60. "Labour holds on in by-elections" – BBC News Website, 20 July 2007]"Election is hit by probes" – Daily Mirror, 20 July 2007, p4 Result 2007 Ealing Southall by-electionhttp://www.election.demon.co.uk/by2005.html Results of Byelections in the 2005–2010 Parliament Boothroyd David 5 October 2015 United Kingdom Election Results 27 December 2015 https://web.archive.org/web/20151227081306/http://www.election.demon.co.uk/by2005.html dead Labour Party (UK) Virendra Sharma 15,188 41.5 –7.3 Liberal Democrats (UK) Nigel Bakhai 10,118 27.7 +3.3 Conservative Party (UK) Tony Lit 8,230 22.5 +0.9 Green Party of England and Wales Sarah Edwards 1,135 3.1 –1.5 Respect Party Salvinder Dhillon 588 1.6 New UK Independence Party K. T. Rajan 285 0.8 New Operation Christian Vote Yaqub Masih 280 0.8 New Independent politician Jasdev Rai 275 0.8 New Official Monster Raving Loony Party John Cartwright 188 0.5 New English Democrats Party Sati Chaggar 152 0.4 New Independent politician Gulbash Singh 92 0.3 New Independent politician Kuldeep Grewal 87 0.2 New 5,070 13.8 –10.5 36,618 42.9 –13.3 85,262 Labour Party (UK) –5.4 According to the Elections Office of Ealing Council, the electorate was 85,423 which represented an increase of 1,685 (2%) on the 2005 general election. Previous result General election 2005: Ealing SouthallElection Data 2005 http://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/electdata_2005ob.txt Electoral Calculus 18 October 2015 https://web.archive.org/web/20111015054249/http://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/electdata_2005ob.txt 15 October 2011 Labour Party (UK) Piara Khabra 22,937 48.8 +1.3 Liberal Democrats (UK) Nigel Bakhai 11,497 24.4 +14.4 Conservative Party (UK) Mark D.Y. Nicholson 10,147 21.6 +3.3 Green Party of England and Wales Sarah J. Edwards 2,175 4.6 +0.1 Workers Revolutionary Party (UK) Malkiat Bilku 289 0.6 New 11,440 24.3 –4.9 47,045 56.2 –0.6 83,246 Labour Party (UK) –6.6 References 2 External links Ealing Council website; – latest By-Election news BBC News Labour Party's Ealing Southall website Ealing Liberal Democrats Ealing Southall Conservatives Ealing loony candidate https://web.archive.org/web/20071017061747/http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/croydonloony/bromley.html#twelve 17 October 2007 By-elections blog Ealing UK Independence Party https://web.archive.org/web/20201026164541/http://ukipealing.org/ 26 October 2020 Election leaflets from the by-election campaign Ealing Southall by-election Ealing Southall by-election Category:21st century in the London Borough of Ealing Category:By-elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom in London constituencies Category:Elections in the London Borough of Ealing Ealing Southall by-election