The 1997 Winchester by-election was a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

to the

UK House of Commons The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 mem ...

in the constituency of Winchester,

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

. Winchester was initially declared to have been won by

Mark Oaten Mark Oaten (born 8 March 1964) is a British politician who was a senior member of the Liberal Democrats. He served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Winchester from 1997 to 2010. Born in Watford, Hertfordshire, Oaten became a councillor ...

(

Liberal Democrat Several political party, political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties usually follow a liberal democracy, liberal democratic ideology. Active parties Former parties ...

) with a majority of two votes at the

general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

on 1 May 1997, but following a legal challenge, a new election was allowed by the High Court. The by-election, held on 20 November, was won by Oaten with a majority of 21,556.

History

At the general election on 1 May 1997, Mark Oaten was originally declared the winner, with a majority of two votes over

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

Gerry Malone Peter Gerald "Gerry" Malone (born 21 July 1950) is a British Conservative Party politician who served as a member of Parliament (MP) from 1983 to 1987 and again from 1992 to 1997. Early life Born in Glasgow, Malone was educated at St Aloysius ...

, 20 hours after starting to count votes, with many recounts and haggling over spoilt ballots. Oaten was unseated on an electoral petition on 6 October 1997. The High Court held that 54 votes declared void for want of the official mark would have changed the result if counted. The court could not be sure they were not the product of a mistake, therefore deemed that the result was uncertain. They allowed the petition and declared the election void. The

writ In common law, a writ (Anglo-Saxon ''gewrit'', Latin ''breve'') is a formal written order issued by a body with administrative or judicial jurisdiction; in modern usage, this body is generally a court. Warrants, prerogative writs, subpoenas, a ...

for the new election was moved on 28 October 1997. The by-election on 20 November resulted in a clear win by Oaten – his majority was 21,556 over second placed Malone. Campaigning had focused on Oaten's speaking record in the House of Commons after the general election, while the nature of the controversial 1 May election result was also an issue for some Liberal Democrat voters. ''The Independent'' wrote, "Although careful not to articulate it themselves, their unofficial campaign slogan is: 'When the

umpire An umpire is an official in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The term derives from the Old French nonper, ''non'', "not" and ''per'', ...

gives you out, you should walk'", alluding to the unseated Malone. The Labour Party obtained their worst ever results in a parliamentary election at the time, in part because they hardly campaigned at all and instead focused their priorities on the by-election in Beckenham held on the same day, which they also failed to win. The Winchester by-election remained Labour's worst-ever result until 2021, when they polled 1.6 percent of the vote in the Chesham and Amersham by-election, again won by the Lib Dems. Both the original and rerun election involved an incidence of a candidate using an attempted confusing description.

Richard Huggett Richard John Huggett (born January 1944) is a British former teacher who has been a candidate in a number of elections, using descriptions which were similar to those of established political parties, leading to this practice being outlawed under ...

described himself in the

as ''Liberal Democrat Top Choice For Parliament'' (leading to Oaten, the official Lib Dem candidate, to use the ballot paper description ''Liberal Democrat Leader Paddy Ashdown'') and in the by election as ''Literal Democrat Mark Here to Win''. The

Registration of Political Parties Act 1998 The Registration of Political Parties Act 1998 (c. 48), is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which made legal provision to set up a register of political parties in the United Kingdom. Previously there had been no such register, and ...

put an end to this practice. This was also the last election in which

Screaming Lord Sutch Screaming Lord Sutch (10 November 1940 – 16 June 1999), who had his name legally changed from David Edward Sutch, was an English musician and perennial parliamentary candidate. He was the founder of the Official Monster Raving Loony Party an ...

, founder of the

Official Monster Raving Loony Party The Official Monster Raving Loony Party (OMRLP) is a political party established in the United Kingdom in 1982 by the musician David Sutch, also known as "Screaming Lord Sutch, 3rd Earl of Harrow", or simply "Lord Sutch". It is notable for its ...

, ran for a parliamentary seat. He died by suicide in June 1999.

Results

General election result

References

External links

"Winchester set for bitter election re-run"
''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', 7 Oct 1997
"Major boosts Malone's circus act"
''

'', 19 Nov 1997
"Tories in turmoil as 'No Home Malone' fails"
''

'', 22 Nov 1997 {{DEFAULTSORT:Winchester By-Election, 1997 1997 in England 1997 elections in the United Kingdom By-elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom in Hampshire constituencies By-election, 1997 1990s in Hampshire May 1997 events in the United Kingdom November 1997 events in the United Kingdom