2004 Birmingham Hodge Hill by-election

UK parliamentary by-election April 2021 March 2012 2004 Birmingham Hodge Hill by-election parliamentary 15 July 2004 No x160px Labour Party (UK) Liam Byrne 7,451 36.5% 27.4% LD Liberal Democrats (UK) Nicola Davies 6,991 34.2% 26.1% Stephen-Eyre (cropped).webp Conservative Party (UK) Stephen Eyre 3,543 17.3% 2.7% x160px RESPECT The Unity Coalition John Rees 1,282 6.3% black New MP Liam Byrne Labour Party (UK) Terry Davis United Kingdom 2005 United Kingdom general election 2001 2001 United Kingdom general election 2005 Labour Party (UK) 37.9% ( 10.0%) A by-election for the United Kingdom parliamentary constituency of Birmingham Hodge Hill was held on 15 July 2004, called following the resignation of incumbent Labour Party Member of Parliament (MP) Terry Davis. Liam Byrne held the seat for Labour, albeit with a vastly reduced majority of 460 votes, narrowly holding off the Liberal Democrat candidate Nicola Davies. The by-election was held on the same day as the 2004 Leicester South by-election, which saw Labour lose the seat to the Liberal Democrats on a 21% swing. Background Incumbent MP Terry Davis resigned on 22 June 2004 following his appointment as Secretary General of the Council of Europe.https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200405/cmsid/e.htm Sessional Information Digest: 2003 - 04 19 January 2005 publications.parliament.uk Birmingham Hodge Hill has had a Labour MP since the 1950 general election, the only break being a Conservative Party victory at a 1977 by-election for the Birmingham Stechford constituency, which returned to Labour at the 1979 general election. Campaign The by-election was heavily contested by the Labour Party and the Liberal Democrats, with both parties alleging "dirty tricks" by the other.The Ghost of Enoch Nick Cohen Nick Cohen https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2004/aug/22/politicalcolumnists.guardiancolumnists The Observer 22 August 2004 16 December 2010https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/lib-dems-claim-labour-s-negative-tactics-backfired-553493.html https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220501/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/lib-dems-claim-labour-s-negative-tactics-backfired-553493.html 1 May 2022 subscription Lib Dems claim Labour's negative tactics backfired Morris Nigel 17 July 2004 The Independent 18 December 2021 Liam Byrne's campaign team, led by West Bromwich East MP Tom Watson, produced leaflets with slogans such as "Labour is on your side, the Lib Dems are on the side of failed asylum seekers."https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/opendemocracyuk/what-would-post-xenophobic-politics-look-like/ What would a post-xenophobic politics look like? 20 June 2016 Wearing David openDemocracy 10 January 2022https://tribunemag.co.uk/2020/07/new-labours-islamophobia New Labour's Islamophobia Akbar Aneesa 13 July 2020 Tribune 19 December 2021 Another flier stated: "While Labour were tough the Lib Dems were wimps—they tried to stop us taking away benefits from failed asylum seekers and they voted against plans to speed up deportations."10 July 2004 Labour's politics of the gutter https://swtest.space/news/labour-s-politics-of-the-gutter/ 10 January 2022 Socialist Worker en-GB Meanwhile, the Lib Dems reminded voters of Labour's decision to invade Iraq the previous yearBlair faces Iraq backlash in by-elections https://www.irishtimes.com/news/blair-faces-iraq-backlash-in-by-elections-1.984962 15 July 2004 The Irish Times 1 April 2023 en and, in the constituency's predominantly Muslim Washwood Heath ward, produced a leaflet carrying a picture of Charles Kennedy and Nicola Davies surrounded by South Asian voters.https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2004/jul/02/uk.byelections Mud starts to fly in Hodge Hill byelection battle Maguire Kevin 2 July 2004 The Guardian 19 December 2021 During the campaign, Labour pledged to "smash teen gangs"Seymour Richard https://books.google.com/books?id=zSFaDwAAQBAJ&dq=%22failed+asylum+seekers%22+tom+watson&pg=PA175 Corbyn: The Strange Rebirth of Radical Politics 2017 Verso Books 978-1-78663-299-9 en and create "yob-free zones". Domestic issues such as schools, hospitals and crime also featured prominently. Result At the by-election, the seat was retained by Labour, but with a vastly reduced majority of only 460 votes. The Lib Dems narrowed the gap with a 26.7% swing, which at the time was the eleventh largest in United Kingdom by-election history. 2004 by-election: Birmingham Hodge Hillhttp://www.election.demon.co.uk/by2001.html Results of Byelections in the 2001-2005 Parliament Boothroyd David 2015-10-05 United Kingdom Election Results 1 December 2008 https://web.archive.org/web/20081201183331/http://www.election.demon.co.uk/by2001.html dead Labour Party (UK) Liam Byrne 7,451 36.5 -27.4 Liberal Democrats (UK) Nicola Davies 6,991 34.2 +26.1 Conservative Party (UK) Stephen Eyre 3,543 17.3 -2.7 RESPECT The Unity Coalition John Rees 1,282 6.3 N/A British National Front Jim Starkey 805 3.9 N/A English Democrats Party Mark Wheatley 277 1.4 N/A Operation Christian Vote George Hargreaves 90 0.4 N/A 460 2.3 -41.6 20,439 37.9 -10.0 Labour Party (UK) Previous result 2001 general election: Birmingham Hodge Hill Labour Party (UK) Terry Davis 16,901 63.9 -1.7 Conservative Party (UK) Debbie Lewis 5,283 20.0 -4.0 Liberal Democrats (UK) Charles Dow 2,147 8.1 -0.4 British National Party Lee Windridge 889 3.3 N/A People's Justice Party (UK) Perwaz Hussain 561 2.1 N/A Socialist Labour Party (UK) Dennis Cridge 284 1.1 N/A UK Independence Party Harvey Vivian 275 1.0 -0.9 Muslim Party Ayub Khan 125 0.5 N/A 11,618 43.9 +2.3 26,465 47.9 -13.0 Labour Party (UK) Aftermath Some senior Labour strategists saw the election, as well as the one in Leicester South that took place the same day, as among the worst by-election results ever for Labour. They pointed out that the Lib Dems would very likely have won in Birmingham Hodge Hill were it not for the Respect Party, who secured some of the anti-Iraq War vote.Wintour Patrick Hall Sarah 3 August 2004 Labour membership halved en-GB The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2004/aug/03/uk.labour 1 April 2023 0261-3077 Charles Kennedy agreed, pinpointing anger about the war as a critical factor in his party's success. He said, "The story of the night is of two-party politics in the cities - the Liberal Democrats versus Labour."16 July 2004 Iraq issue wounds Labour in by-election battles http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/iraq-issue-wounds-labour-by-election-2430182 1 April 2023 WalesOnline en The Independents Editorial on 17 July stated: "If the prime minister had hoped for 'closure' on Iraq following the Butler Committee report, the voters of Birmingham and Leicester have told him in no uncertain terms that he won't get it. Of course Iraq and the failure to find WMDs are not the only reasons for the anti-Blair vote so dramatically demonstrated in these two by-elections. The state of public services and local concerns also played a part. Nor should anything detract from the achievement of the Liberal Democrats...The Lib Dem leader, Charles Kennedy, had every right to declare as the results came in that this was 'no flash in the pan' ... The fact is that, in these two votes, as in other recent results, the Lib Dems have shown that they can unseat a ruling Labour majority as much as a Tory one."https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/editorials/the-prime-minister-cannot-accept-responsibility-and-then-do-nothing-550111.html https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220501/https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/editorials/the-prime-minister-cannot-accept-responsibility-and-then-do-nothing-550111.html 1 May 2022 subscription live The Prime Minister cannot accept responsibility and then do nothing Editorial 17 July 2004 The Independent 1 March 2022 The Daily Mirrors Editorial stated: "It isn't often that defeat can leave you smiling, but Tony Blair must have been grinning all over his face [on Friday]. The night before Labour had lost one safe seat to the Lib Dems and only clung on to another by a few hundred votes. Yet what could have been a by-election disaster was not. For it was a catastrophe for [Conservative Party leader] Michael Howard. The Tories crawled in a poor third in both elections ... The voters of Leicester South and Birmingham Hodge Hill confirmed what the polls are saying - the British people have had enough of the Tories."https://theguardian.com/politics/2004/jul/19/conservatives.byelections 'It was a catastrophe for Michael Howard' 19 July 2004 The Guardian 19 December 2021 References 40em External links Birmingham City Council's elections office British Parliamentary By Elections: Campaign literature from the by-election Hodge Hill Category:2004 in England Birmingham Hodge Hill by-election Birmingham Hodge Hill by-election Birmingham Hodge Hill by-election