Following the

resignation Resignation is the formal act of leaving or quitting one's office or position. A resignation can occur when a person holding a position gained by election or appointment steps down, but leaving a position upon the expiration of a term, or choos ...

of the sitting MP Alun Michael on 22 October 2012, 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 ...

for the Cardiff South and Penarth Westminster constituency was held on 15 November 2012.

Stephen Doughty Stephen John Doughty (born 15 April 1980) is a Welsh Labour and Co-operative Party politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Cardiff South and Penarth since 2012. He has been the Shadow Minister for Africa and a Shadow M ...

of the Labour Party won the election with 47.3% of the vote. The by-election was held on the same day as the Manchester Central and

Corby Corby is a town in North Northamptonshire, England, located north-east of Northampton. From 1974 to 2021, the town served as the administrative headquarters of the Borough of Corby. At the 2011 Census, the built-up area had a population of 5 ...

by-elections, and the inaugural Police and Crime Commissioner elections.

Background

The seat has been held by

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 ...

since its creation in 1983. Full background details of the constituency are on

Cardiff South and Penarth (UK Parliament constituency) Cardiff South and Penarth ( cy, De Caerdydd a Phenarth) is a constituency created in 1983 represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2012 by Stephen Doughty, a Labour Co-op MP. It is the largest such entity in Wales, w ...

This was the first by-election to be held in Cardiff since the Cardiff East by-election of 1942. Michael resigned after being selected as the Labour Party candidate in the

Police and Crime Commissioner Elections The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and th ...

for South Wales Police the election for which was also held on 15 November 2012. Michael successfully won the PCC election. PCC election candidates did not have to resign their seats in Parliament upon becoming a nominee. However, in the event of their victory in the election they would have been obliged to do so. Knowing that his likelihood of victory in a traditionally pro-Labour region was high, Michael chose to resign early in order for the Westminster by-election to be able to be held at the same time as the PCC election rather than forcing voters to go to the polls again a few weeks later. The decision to resign upon nomination rather than victory was similarly made by

Tony Lloyd Sir Anthony Joseph Lloyd (born 25 February 1950) is a British Labour Party politician who has discontinuously served as a Member of Parliament (MP) since 1983, currently as the MP for Rochdale since 2017. He was MP for Stretford from 1983 to 1 ...

, who had been nominated as a PCC candidate for the Greater Manchester Police area and resulted in the 2012 Manchester Central by-election being held on the same day. On 22 October 2012, Alun Michael was appointed Steward and Bailiff of the Three Hundreds of Chiltern,"Alun Michael stands down as Cardiff South and Penarth MP today"
''

Wales Online Media Wales Ltd. is a publishing company based in Cardiff, Wales. As of 2009 it was owned by Reach plc (formerly known as the Trinity Mirror Group). It was previously known as the Western Mail & Echo Ltd. History The ''Western Mail'' was fo ...

'', 21 October 2012. the manner in which resignations from the House of Commons are permitted. The writ for the by-election in Cardiff South and Penarth was moved on 23 October 2012 and the deadline for nominations was 4 pm on 31 October 2012.

Candidates

Cardiff City Council released the Statement of Persons Nominated on 1 November 2012. The Labour and Co-operative Party selected the head of

Oxfam Oxfam is a British-founded confederation of 21 independent charitable organizations focusing on the alleviation of global poverty, founded in 1942 and led by Oxfam International. History Founded at 17 Broad Street, Oxford, as the Oxford Co ...

Cymru Stephen Doughty as its candidate in July 2012 in controversial circumstances. Although initially excluded from the shortlist, Doughty was actively endorsed by the then incumbent Labour MP Alun Michael (a long-time family friend)Martin Shipton (13 July 2012
"Alun Michael at the centre of selection row over next Cardiff South MP"
''Wales Online''. Retrieved 2013-12-19. who insisted on his inclusion and advocated his selection. Some Labour activists considered Michael's involvement was improper saying "It’s no business at all of an outgoing MP to interfere in the selection of a candidate to succeed him in such a way". The ballot paper description for Stephen Doughty was "Welsh Labour". Cardiff City councillor Craig Williams was confirmed as the Conservative candidate on 13 September. Cllr Williams represents Cardiff on the Local Government Association. Dr Bablin Molik was chosen by the Liberal Democrats as their candidate. Dr Molik is a medical researcher with a PhD. Luke Nicholas was chosen by

Plaid Cymru Plaid Cymru ( ; ; officially Plaid Cymru – the Party of Wales, often referred to simply as Plaid) is a centre-left to left-wing, Welsh nationalist political party in Wales, committed to Welsh independence from the United Kingdom. Plaid wa ...

. The party described him as a trade unionist employed as a researcher at the National Assembly who specialises in finance, transport and local government. Andrew Jordan, 24, the president of the

Socialist Labour Party (UK) The Socialist Labour Party (SLP) is a socialist political party in the United Kingdom. The party was established in 1996 and is led by Arthur Scargill, a former Labour Party member and the former leader of the National Union of Mineworkers. T ...

and a former resident of Cardiff South and Penarth, represented the party. Jordan previously headed the SLP list of candidates for

South Wales Central South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz ...

in the 2011 Welsh Assembly Elections. The general secretary of the

Communist Party of Britain The Communist Party of Britain (CPB) is a communist party in Great Britain which emerged from a dispute between Eurocommunists and Marxist-Leninists in the Communist Party of Great Britain in 1988. It follows Marxist-Leninist theory and s ...

(CPB), Robert Griffiths, who stood in the 2010 general election, was the candidate of the Welsh Communist Party, the local part of the CPB. The

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation f ...

candidate was Anthony Slaughter, chair of the local environmental group Gwyrddio Penarth Greening. Slaughter is a garden designer who has worked in Penarth since 2004. Simon Zeigler became 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. He was a parole office worker who stood for them in the 2010 general election.UKIP Website: UKIP picks its man for Cardiff South
/ref> Cardiff South and Penarth was viewed as one of the safest Labour seats in Britain but ever since 1997 Alun Michael had seen his majority being progressively eroded. However, in the by-election held on 15 November 2012, Labour's decline was reversed - although on a basis of very low turn-out (down 38.2% on the 2010 general election). Labour's Stephen Doughty succeeded Alun Michael with 9,193 votes, comprising 47.3% of the overall vote. This was an increase of 8.4% on Michael's 2010 performance. Doughty thus became the third MP in the constituency's history. In this by-election, Conservatives saw their support slide by the identical percentage by which Labour's rose (8.4%) and achieved only 19.9% of the vote (3,859 votes). The Liberal Democrats' support declined by even more than that of their UK Coalition partners (down 11.5%). Plaid Cymru's share of the vote rose to 9.5% (1,854 votes, up 5.4%); however these percentages may mask reality because Plaid Cymru only gained a mere 3 votes more than the total they polled in 2010. Also performing well in percentage terms was UKIP with their support rising by 3.1% (to 6.1% of the total). Greens also increased their share of the vote to 4.1% (a rise of 2.9%). The veteran Communist campaigner Robert Griffiths saw his support rise slightly to a 1.1% share of the vote.

By-election result

Of the 135 rejected ballots: *63 were either unmarked or it was uncertain who the vote was for. *69 voted for more than one candidate. *3 had writing or a mark by which the voter could be identified.

Previous result

References

{{Westminster by-elections in Wales 1950–present By-elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom in Welsh constituencies Cardiff South and Penarth by-election Cardiff South and Penarth by-election 2010s elections in Wales Cardiff South and Penarth by-election 2010s in Cardiff Elections in Cardiff

Background

Candidates

By-election result

Previous result

See also

References