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

United Kingdom parliamentary constituency The Parliament of the United Kingdom currently has 650 parliamentary constituencies across the constituent countries (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland), each electing a single member of parliament (MP) to the House of Commons by th ...

of the City of Chester was held on 1 December 2022, following the resignation of incumbent member of Parliament Chris Matheson on 21 October 2022 after accusations of sexual misconduct and a recommendation from the

Independent Expert Panel The Independent Expert Panel (IEP) is a body of the British Houses of Parliament which determines the appropriate sanction for Members of Parliament in cases involving bullying, harassment or sexual misconduct referred to it by the Parliamentary C ...

that he be suspended from the House of Commons for four weeks. This was the first by-election to be held during both the reign of King

Charles III Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to ...

and the premiership of

Rishi Sunak Rishi Sunak (; born 12 May 1980) is a British politician who has served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party since October 2022. He previously held two Cabinet of ...

. It was also the first by-election in

North West England North West England is one of nine official regions of England and consists of the ceremonial counties of England, administrative counties of Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside. The North West had a population of ...

since the

2017 Copeland by-election There was a by-election in the British parliamentary constituency of Copeland on 23 February 2017 (the same day as the Stoke-on-Trent Central by-election), following the resignation of Labour Member of Parliament (MP) Jamie Reed. Conservativ ...

, and the first in a

parliamentary constituency An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other poli ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

since the

2008 Crewe and Nantwich by-election The 2008 Crewe and Nantwich by-election was a parliamentary by-election held on 22 May 2008, for the House of Commons constituency of Crewe and Nantwich, in Cheshire, England. The election was won by the Conservative party candidate Edward Timp ...

. The by-election was won by

Samantha Dixon Samantha Kate Dixon is a British politician of the Labour Party who serves as Member of Parliament (MP) for the City of Chester, winning the seat in the 2022 City of Chester by-election. Between 2015 and 2019, Dixon was the leader of Cheshi ...

of the Labour Party. The 14-point swing was Labour's best-ever result in the seat, and the worst result for the Conservative Party in Chester since 1832 (as its precursor, the

Tories 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. Th ...

). The by-election was held two weeks before a by-election in Stretford and Urmston in nearby

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority, combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: City of Manchester, Manchester, City of Salford, Salford ...

Background

The City of Chester constituency is one of the country's oldest, having elected members of parliament since 1545. The constituency is in western

, alongside

Flintshire , settlement_type = County , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = , image_flag = , image_shield = Arms of Flint ...

on the

England–Wales border The England–Wales border ( cy, Y ffin rhwng Cymru a Lloegr; shortened: Ffin Cymru a Lloegr), sometimes referred to as the Wales–England border or the Anglo-Welsh border, runs for from the Dee estuary, in the north, to the Severn estuary i ...

. The constituency covers the cathedral city of the same name and the surrounding rural areas. The constituency varies by social class, including middle-class areas such as

Upton-by-Chester Upton-by-Chester is a civil parish and a large suburb on the outskirts of Chester, in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It includes the villages of Upton and Upton Heath. History ...

and the large rural former

council estate Public housing in the United Kingdom, also known as council estates, council housing, or social housing, provided the majority of rented accommodation until 2011 when the number of households in private rental housing surpassed the number in so ...

Blacon Blacon is a council estate on the outskirts of Chester, England. It was once one of the largest council housing estates in Europe. Geography Blacon is next to the Welsh border, on a hill one mile north-west of and overlooking Chester. The vill ...

. A

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 ...

safe seat A safe seat is an electoral district (constituency) in a legislative body (e.g. Congress, Parliament, City Council) which is regarded as fully secure, for either a certain political party, or the incumbent representative personally or a combinat ...

for most of the 20th century, Chester elected its first

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 ...

MP in the 1997 general election, when it was taken by librarian

Christine Russell Christine Margaret Russell (''née'' Carr, born 25 March 1945) is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for the City of Chester from 1997 to 2010. She lost her seat to the Conservative Stephen Mosley at the ...

, who defeated TV personality and writer

Gyles Brandreth Gyles Daubeney Brandreth (born 8 March 1948) is an English broadcaster, writer and former politician. He has worked as a television presenter, theatre producer, journalist, author and publisher. He was a presenter for TV-am's '' Good Morning ...

. In

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

, she was unseated by Conservative

Stephen Mosley Stephen James Mosley (born 22 June 1972) is a British Conservative Party politician and former Member of Parliament. He represented the City of Chester from 2010 to 2015. Education Stephen Mosley was educated at King Edward's School in Bir ...

, who served one term. Chris Matheson gained the seat from Mosley with a majority of 93 votes, having the third smallest majority of a parliamentary constituency in the UK in the 2015 general election. At the 2017 election, Matheson increased his majority from 93 to 9,176, turning Chester from a super-

marginal seat A marginal seat or swing seat is a constituency held with a small majority in a legislative election, generally one conducted under a single-winner voting system. In Canada, they may be known as target ridings. The opposite is a safe seat. The ...

into a relatively

. Chester voted Remain by 54% to 46% in the

2016 EU referendum The United Kingdom European Union membership referendum, commonly referred to as the EU referendum or the Brexit referendum, took place on 23 June 2016 in the United Kingdom (UK) and Gibraltar to ask the electorate whether the country shoul ...

. Matheson resigned on 21 October 2022, in response to the

's recommendation that he be suspended from the House of Commons for four weeks over allegations of "serious sexual misconduct" towards a junior member of staff. Following the findings, the Labour Party suspended his membership and withdrew the

parliamentary whip A whip is an official of a political party whose task is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. This means ensuring that members of the party vote according to the party platform, rather than according to their own individual ideology o ...

. Matheson would have faced a recall from Parliament under the

Recall of MPs Act 2015 The Recall of MPs Act 2015 (c. 25) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that makes provision for constituents to be able to recall their Member of Parliament (MP) and call a by-election. It received royal assent on 26 March 2015 a ...

, but he announced his resignation shortly after news of the findings was made public. Matheson continued to deny any sexual misconduct, but said he felt obliged to resign for health and family reasons. 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 ...

was moved for holding the by-election in the House of Commons on 25 October 2022. Libraries were made available as drop-off points for postal votes for the by-election until 30 November 2022.

Candidates

On 29 October, the Conservatives confirmed that Liz Wardlaw, a councillor for

Cheshire East Council Cheshire East Council is the local authority of the Borough of Cheshire East, Cheshire, England. It is a unitary authority, having the powers of a non-metropolitan county and district council combined. It provides a full range of local government ...

's Odd Rode ward, would stand as their candidate in the by-election. On 30 October, the Labour Party confirmed that former

Cheshire West and Chester Council Cheshire West and Chester Council is the local authority of Cheshire West and Chester. It is a unitary authority, having the powers of a non-metropolitan county and district council combined. It provides a full range of local government services ...

leader and current councillor

would represent them, following a vote by local party members. On 31 October, the Liberal Democrats announced Rob Herd, a Chester school teacher and parish councillor, as their candidate in the by-election.

Result

Previous result

Reaction

Leader of the Labour Party

Keir Starmer Sir Keir Rodney Starmer (; born 2 September 1962) is a British politician and barrister who has served as Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party since 2020. He has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Holborn and St Pancras ...

called the result "a clear message to

". Deputy Leader

Angela Rayner Angela Rayner (' Bowen; born 28 March 1980) is a British politician serving as Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office and Shadow Secretary of State for the Future of Work since 2021. She has been Shad ...

spoke to reporters in Chester with Dixon after the result. She said the "historic result" was due to the cost of living crisis. The Conservatives saw their lowest vote share in Chester since the 1832 general election, while Labour saw a 14 point swing towards them from the Conservatives, which, if projected nationally, would see Labour win a general election with a

majority government A majority government is a government by one or more governing parties that hold an absolute majority of seats in a legislature. This is as opposed to a minority government, where the largest party in a legislature only has a plurality of seats. ...

. It was the Labour Party's best-ever result in the seat.

References

External links

Candidates announced in City of Chester by-election to replace Christian Matheson

ITV News ITV News is the branding of news programmes on the British television network ITV. ITV has a long tradition of television news. Independent Television News (ITN) was founded to provide news bulletins for the network in 1955, and has since conti ...

. Published 30 November 2022.
Chester by-election candidates' 'minute manifestos'

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 broadca ...

. Published 26 November 2022. {{DEFAULTSORT:City of Chester by-election 2022 elections in the United Kingdom 2022 in England 2020s in Cheshire By-elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom in Cheshire constituencies December 2022 events in the United Kingdom Politics of Chester