The 2008 Crewe and Nantwich by-election was a parliamentary by-election held on 22 May 2008, for the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

constituency of

Crewe and Nantwich Crewe and Nantwich was, from 1974 to 2009, a local government district with borough status in Cheshire, England. It had a population (2001 census) of 111,007. It contained 69 civil parishes and one unparished area: the town of Crewe. It now fo ...

, in Cheshire, England. The election was won by the

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 in ...

party candidate

Edward Timpson Anthony Edward Timpson, (born 26 December 1973) is a British Conservative Party politician who was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Eddisbury in Cheshire at the 2019 general election. He was previously MP for neighbouring Crew ...

, who defeated the

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

party candidate

Tamsin Dunwoody Moyra Tamsin Dunwoody (born 3 September 1958), sometimes known as Tamsin Dunwoody-Kneafsey, is a British Labour politician who served as the Member of the National Assembly for Wales for Preseli Pembrokeshire from 2003 to 2007. She served in t ...

, on a swing from Labour to Conservative of 17.6%, a swing that in a general election would have seen nine Labour

cabinet ministers A cabinet is a body of high-ranking state officials, typically consisting of the executive branch's top leaders. Members of a cabinet are usually called cabinet ministers or secretaries. The function of a cabinet varies: in some countrie ...

lose their seats. At the time of the by-election, a swing of 7% in a general election would have seen the Conservatives gain an overall majority over Labour. This was the first seat gained by the Conservatives in a by-election since the

1982 Mitcham and Morden by-election The Mitcham and Morden by-election was held on 3 June 1982. It was a rare example of a governing party (the British Conservatives) gaining a seat in a by-election. Overview The by-election was caused by the resignation of Bruce Douglas-Mann, the ...

and the first seat they had taken from Labour in a by-election since the

1978 Ilford North by-election The Ilford North by-election of 2 March 1978 was held after the death of Labour Member of Parliament (MP) Millie Miller on 29 October 1977. The seat was gained by the Conservatives in a defeat for James Callaghan's government. Results ...

thirty years earlier.

Overview

The by-election was called following the death on 17 April 2008 of the sitting MP

Gwyneth Dunwoody Gwyneth Patricia Dunwoody (née Phillips; 12 December 1930 – 17 April 2008) was a British Labour Party politician, who was a Member of Parliament (MP) for Exeter from 1966 to 1970, and then for Crewe (later Crewe and Nantwich) from February ...

. The timing of the election caused controversy as, by convention, by-elections are not moved until after the funeral of the deceased Member of Parliament, which drew protests from Conservative and

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

members in the House of Commons. However the writ was moved with the approval of the Dunwoody family. The election had attracted high media and public interest following heavy defeats for the incumbent Labour party in the local elections held earlier that same month, and the fact it followed the controversial removal by the Labour government of the 10 pence national income tax band, which had seen a backbench rebellion against Prime Minister

Gordon Brown James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in Tony B ...

, causing an announcement in the same month of a recovery package to help the people left worse off by the move. Immediately following the announcement of the result following the speeches, the defeated Tamsin Dunwoody speaking live to the BBC blamed the swing on a higher turn-out than usual due to the high interest in the election, despite both the turnout and winning vote being lower than the 2005 general election result for this seat. Telling the BBC the Labour vote "held up" in a "democratic decision", defeated Labour candidate Tamsin Dunwoody called herself a "fighter". New MP Edward Timpson said in his victory speech that he would "not let you down", whilst Brown attributed the defeat to rising petrol prices, and the recent increases in the cost of living.

Result

Opinion polling

An ICM poll from mid-May gave the Conservative candidate 43% to Labour's 39% and the Lib Dems' 16%; a second ICM poll from a week after gave the Conservatives 45% to Labour's 37%.

Candidates

On 3 May 2008, incumbent

's daughter Tamsin, a former member of the

National Assembly for Wales The Senedd (; ), officially known as the Welsh Parliament in English and () in Welsh, is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Wales. A democratically elected body, it makes laws for Wales, agrees certain taxes and scrutinises the Welsh Go ...

, was selected as the Labour candidate. Prior to Dunwoody's death, the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats had already selected candidates to contest the seat at the general election. The Conservative Party candidate

was a barrister practising in Chester. Since 2006, he had been the Conservative Party's campaigns co-ordinator for the Eddisbury constituency. The Liberal Democrat candidate Elizabeth Shenton had worked as a senior manager for the

RBS RBS may refer to: Organisations Banking * The Royal Bank of Scotland, a retail banking subsidiary of NatWest Group ** RBS International, the offshore banking arm of NatWest Group Education * Regent's Business School * Rotterdam Business School ...

and NatWest, where she was an active member of the trade union. At the time of the election she was also a councillor in Newcastle-under-Lyme. The

UK Independence Party The UK Independence Party (UKIP; ) is a Eurosceptic, right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. The party reached its greatest level of success in the mid-2010s, when it gained two members of Parliament and was the largest par ...

candidate was Mike Nattrass, MEP for the nearby

West Midlands West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

and a former deputy party leader. Robert Smith, a 23-year-old

town planner An urban planner (also known as town planner) is a professional who practices in the field of town planning, urban planning or city planning. An urban planner may focus on a specific area of practice and have a title such as city planner, town ...

(and

transport planning Transportation planning is the process of defining future policies, goals, investments, and spatial planning designs to prepare for future needs to move people and goods to destinations. As practiced today, it is a collaborative process that i ...

specialist) educated at the

University of Liverpool , mottoeng = These days of peace foster learning , established = 1881 – University College Liverpool1884 – affiliated to the federal Victoria Universityhttp://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/2004/4 University of Manchester Act 200 ...

stood for the

Green Party of England and Wales The Green Party of England and Wales (GPEW; cy, Plaid Werdd Cymru a Lloegr, kw, Party Gwer Pow an Sowson ha Kembra, often simply the Green Party or Greens) is a green, left-wing political party in England and Wales. Since October 2021, Carla ...

and particularly campaigned to reverse the

privatisation of British Rail The privatisation of British Rail was the process by which ownership and operation of the railways of Great Britain passed from government control into private hands. Begun in 1994, it had been completed by 1997. The deregulation of the indust ...

(and associated fare increases). 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 ...

stood "The Flying Brick" (his legal name, although he was formerly known as Nick Delves), the party's treasurer and Shadow Minister for the Abolition of Gravity (see Official Monster Raving Loony Party#Crewe and Nantwich By-Election). Independent candidate Mark Walklate is a locally educated salesperson (with a business degree) who stood for the Conservatives in the 2006 and 2007 council elections. Paul Thorogood's party, Cut Tax on Petrol and Diesel, was registered with the Electoral Commission on 23 March 2008, with Thorogood as its Leader, Nominating Officer and Treasurer, although his party is listed on the nomination paper as "Cut Tax on Diesel and Petrol" (the fourth and sixth words reversed). The newly formed Beauties for Britain Party fielded

Gemma Garrett Gemma Dawn Garrett (born 25 September 1981, Belfast, Northern Ireland) is a former holder of the titles Miss Great Britain and Miss Ulster. She is the official face of the Formula One British Grand Prix at Silverstone. She appeared with Dolph ...

, the then-

Miss Great Britain Miss Great Britain is Britain's longest running beauty contest held annually in Britain since 1945. Owner and CEO John Singh made history crowning his first winner and to this date only the first black Miss Great Britain 1996. Singer and dancer A ...

, as a candidate in what was their first election campaign, announcing that they wanted to "help make Westminster as glamorous a place as its fellow European legislatures, where beautiful women abound in the higher echelons of government". The party was not, however, registered with the

Electoral Commission An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...

, so she had to stand as an independent. Garrett and fellow independent Mark Walklate are recorded as having no party name or description at all on the official record of candidates as opposed to having the word, 'Independent' by their names on the ballot paper.

Campaign

The Labour Party ran a personal class-based campaign against the Conservative candidate, calling him "the

Tarporley Tarporley is a large village and civil parish in Cheshire, England. The civil parish also contains the village of Rhuddall Heath. Tarporley is bypassed by the A49 and A51 roads. At the 2011 census, the population was 2,614. History Tarporle ...

Toff", "

Lord Snooty Lord Snooty is a fictional character who stars in the British comic strip ''Lord Snooty and his Pals'' from the British comic anthology ''The Beano''. The strip debuted in issue 1, illustrated by DC Thomson artist Dudley D. Watkins, who designed ...

", "

Tory A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. The ...

Boy Timpson". Labour supporters donned

top hat A top hat (also called a high hat, a cylinder hat, or, informally, a topper) is a tall, flat-crowned hat for men traditionally associated with formal wear in Western dress codes, meaning white tie, morning dress, or frock coat. Traditional ...

s to mock Timpson, whose family own Timpson, a national shoe repair and key-cutting business. This has been viewed by some social commentators as a form of

reverse snobbery ''Snob'' is a pejorative term for a person who believes there is a correlation between social status (including physical appearance) and human worth.De Botton, A. (2004), ''Status Anxiety''. London: Hamish Hamilton ''Snob'' also refers to a per ...

. Dunwoody, who arrived for the campaign from her holding in Wales, was termed "One of us", as she was daughter of the deceased Labour MP. The campaign was criticised by a number of national newspapers, including the left-leaning '' Guardian'' as well as ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'', while Dunwoody herself was confronted by

Jeremy Paxman Jeremy Dickson Paxman (born 11 May 1950) is an English broadcaster, journalist, author, and television presenter. Born in Leeds, Paxman was educated at Malvern College and St Catharine's College, Cambridge, where he edited the undergraduate new ...

Newsnight ''Newsnight'' (or ''BBC Newsnight'') is BBC Two's news and current affairs programme, providing in-depth investigation and analysis of the stories behind the day's headlines. The programme is broadcast on weekdays at 22:30. and is also availa ...

over the fact that she has an entry in ''

Burke's Peerage and Baronetage Burke's Peerage Limited is a British genealogical publisher founded in 1826, when the Irish genealogist John Burke began releasing books devoted to the ancestry and heraldry of the peerage, baronetage, knightage and landed gentry of Great Bri ...

''. On the last day of the campaign, the accidental communication by a Conservative party worker of voting intention data of 8,000 people to a radio station sparked an investigation by the Information Commissioner into possible breaches of

data protection Information privacy is the relationship between the collection and dissemination of data, technology, the public expectation of privacy, contextual information norms, and the legal and political issues surrounding them. It is also known as data pr ...

laws.

History

The constituency had been held by Gwyneth Dunwoody for Labour since its creation in 1983. Just three parties contested the seat at the 2005 UK general election. Dunwoody held the seat with a reduced majority, while both the Conservative Party and Liberal Democrats enjoyed an increase in their vote share.2005 Result: Crewe & Nantwich

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...