The Ogmore by-election was a

UK Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative supremac ...

ary

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 ...

in the constituency of Ogmore in

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

, on 5 May 2016 following the resignation of the incumbent

Huw Irranca-Davies Ifor Huw Irranca-Davies (né Davies; born 22 January 1963) is a Welsh Labour and Co-operative politician, who has been the Member of the Senedd (MS) for Ogmore since 2016. He was previously the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ogmore from 2002 ...

following his decision to contest the coterminous Ogmore constituency in the Welsh Assembly election. Chris Elmore of the Labour Party won the by-election with 52.6 percent of the vote. The by-election was held on the same day as the 2016 Welsh Assembly election as well as elections for the

Scottish Parliament The Scottish Parliament ( gd, Pàrlamaid na h-Alba ; sco, Scots Pairlament) is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. Located in the Holyrood area of the capital city, Edinburgh, it is frequently referred to by the metonym Holyro ...

, the

Northern Ireland Assembly sco-ulster, Norlin Airlan Assemblie , legislature = 7th Northern Ireland Assembly, Seventh Assembly , coa_pic = File:NI_Assembly.svg , coa_res = 250px , house_type = Unicameralism, Unicameral , hou ...

, for the Mayor and Assembly of London and in numerous

local authorities in England Local government in England broadly consists of three layers: regional authorities, local authorities and parish councils. Legislation concerning English local government is passed by Parliament, as England does not have a devolved parliament. T ...

. A by-election for Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough was also held on the same day.

Background

The seat fell vacant after the incumbent MP,

of the Labour Party, chose to resign following his selection to contest the coterminous Ogmore constituency in the Welsh Assembly election. On 23 March 2016, Irranca-Davies was appointed

Crown Steward and Bailiff of the Manor of Northstead Northstead is an area on the North Bay of Scarborough in North Yorkshire, England. The area near Newlands and Barrowcliff includes Peasholm Park and Scarborough Open Air Theatre. In 2011, the namesake ward had a population of 4,038, since 201 ...

the process by which resignations from the House of Commons are permitted. Irranca-Davies had been the MP for the seat since a previous

in 2002. Irranca-Davies has originally announced that he would seek Labour's nomination for the Welsh Assembley's Ogmore in October 2015, stating that if he was selected he would resign his Westminster seat. Irranca-Davies successfully contested his Assembly election. Irranca-Davies was not obliged to resign upon his nomination, though following the

Wales Act 2014 The Wales Act 2014legislation.gov.uk
Wales Act 2014 is an

, which came into effect during the 2016 Assembly election, he would have had to resign his Westminster seat following his Assembly victory. Given that in both the Assembly and Westminster Ogmore was considered a safe seat for Labour his early resignation allowed the by-election to be held on the same day rather than forcing voters to go to the polls again a few weeks later.

Candidates

Bridgend County Borough Council Bridgend County Borough Council ( cy, Cyngor Bwrdeistref Sirol Pen-y-bont ar Ogwr) is the governing body for Bridgend County Borough, one of the Principal Areas of Wales. History Bridgend County Borough and Bridgend County Borough Council came ...

published the statement of persons nominated on 8 April 2016. This showed that five candidates that contested the election. Councillor Chris Elmore, currently Cabinet Member for Children's Services and Schools in the

Vale of Glamorgan Council The Vale of Glamorgan Council is the governing body for the Vale of Glamorgan, one of the Principal Areas of Wales. It was run by the Conservative Party after the 2008 United Kingdom local elections, taking over the council from no overall contr ...

, represented Labour. Elmore contested the

Vale of Glamorgan The Vale of Glamorgan ( cy, Bro Morgannwg ), often referred to as The Vale, is a county borough in the south-east of Wales. It borders Bridgend County Borough to the west, Cardiff to the east, Rhondda Cynon Taf to the north, and the Bristol C ...

constituency in 2015 general election, where he lost to the

Conservatives 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 ...

. The

selected Alex Williams, a town councillor in Ogmore. Glenda Davies was the candidate for

UKIP 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 pa ...

, she also stood for the seat at the 2015 general election. She was the

's candidate for the

Aberavon Aberavon ( cy, Aberafan) is a town and community in Neath Port Talbot county borough, Wales. The town derived its name from being near the mouth of the river Afan, which also gave its name to a medieval lordship. Today it is essentially a distri ...

constituency in the Welsh Assembly election held on the same day. Abi Thomas stood for

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 Liberal Democrats selected Janet Ellard, a former teacher and now volunteer manager for a youth homeless charity. The incumbent party (Labour) selected Chris Elmore as their candidate; Elmore prevailed in the election, winning the seat.

Electoral history

Result

References

{{Westminster by-elections in Wales 1950–present 2016 elections in the United Kingdom By-elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom in Welsh constituencies May 2016 events in the United Kingdom Ogmore 2010s elections in Wales

Background

Candidates

Electoral history

Result

See also

References