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 ...

was held in 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 Stretford and Urmston on 15 December 2022, following the appointment of sitting

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 ...

Kate Green Katherine Anne Green OBE (born 2 May 1960) is a British politician, serving as Greater Manchester's Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime from January 2023. She was Member of Parliament (MP) for Stretford and Urmston between 2010 and 2022. A me ...

Deputy Mayor The deputy mayor (also known as vice mayor, assistant mayor, or mayor ''pro tem'') is an elective or appointive office of the second-ranking official that is present in many, but not all, local governments. Duties and functions Many elected dep ...

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 ...

. Green was appointed as

Steward and Bailiff of the Manor of Northstead The office of Crown Steward and Bailiff of the Manor of Northstead functions as a procedural device to allow a member of Parliament (MP) to resign from the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. As members of the House of Commons are forbidden ...

on 10 November, giving effect to her resignation as a member of Parliament. The by-election was won by

Andrew Western Andrew Howard Western (born 18 March 1985) is a British Labour Party politician who was elected as Member of Parliament (MP) for Stretford and Urmston at the 2022 by-election. He had been the leader of Trafford Council since 2018, a post he v ...

, retaining the seat for Labour with an increased share of the vote. The turnout was 25.8%. This was the second 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 took place two weeks after a by-election in the City of Chester in nearby

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 ...

. It was also the first by-election in Greater Manchester since the 2015 Oldham West and Royton by-election.

Background

The Stretford and Urmston constituency covers a suburban industrial area in the Borough of Trafford in southern

. The constituency stretches from Manchester United's

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after Wemb ...

football ground and the cricket ground of the same name just outside

Manchester city centre Manchester City Centre is the central business district of Manchester in Greater Manchester, England situated within the confines of Great Ancoats Street, A6042 Trinity Way, and A57(M) Mancunian Way which collectively form an inner ring road. ...

, to the south-west town of

Partington Partington is a town and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south-west of Manchester city centre. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Cheshire, it lies on the southern bank of the M ...

. The

Manchester Ship Canal The Manchester Ship Canal is a inland waterway in the North West of England linking Manchester to the Irish Sea. Starting at the Mersey Estuary at Eastham, near Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, it generally follows the original routes of the river ...

forms the entire northern boundary of the seat. The population of the constituency is based around the seat's namesakes, the towns of

Stretford Stretford is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England. It is situated on flat ground between the River Mersey and the Manchester Ship Canal, south of Manchester city centre, south of Salford and north-east of Altrincham. Str ...

and

Urmston Urmston is a town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, which had a population of 41,825 at the 2011 Census. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, it is southwest of Manchester city centre. The southern boundary is the ...

. Other areas include

Davyhulme Davyhulme is an area of Greater Manchester, England, historically in Lancashire. The population at the 2011 census was 19,634. Davyhulme Sewage Works The area is notable for Davyhulme Sewage Works, one of the largest wastewater treatment p ...

Dumplington Dumplington is an area of Urmston, Greater Manchester, England, which is dominated by the Trafford Centre shopping complex. Dumplington was one of several hamlets in the township of Barton-upon-Irwell, in the ancient ecclesiastical parish of Ec ...

, Flixton,

Gorse Hill Gorse Hill is an area of Stretford, Greater Manchester, England. The population at the 2011 census was 11,894. It is a residential area with two minor industrial estates on either side of the main A56 Chester Road, which divides the two halves o ...

and Wharfside. Major employers include the Shell works at Carrington and the

Trafford Park Trafford Park is an area of the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, opposite Salford Quays on the southern side of the Manchester Ship Canal, southwest of Manchester city centre and north of Stretford. Until the l ...

industrial estate. Also in the constituency is the

Trafford Centre The Trafford Centre is a large indoor shopping centre and entertainment complex in Greater Manchester, England. It opened in 1998 and is third largest in the United Kingdom by retail space. Originally developed by the Peel Group, the Trafford C ...

shopping complex. Stretford and Urmston was first fought at the 1997 general election, and has been represented by the Labour Party since its creation. The constituency was formed from large parts of the former constituency of

, whose last member was 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 i ...

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...

. Its first MP was

Beverley Hughes Beverley June Hughes, Baroness Hughes of Stretford (born 30 March 1950) is a British politician serving as Deputy Mayor of Greater Manchester since 2017. A member of the Labour Party, Hughes was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Stretford an ...

, who stood down at the 2010 general election and

was then elected. On 6 May 2017, Hughes was appointed as

Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime The current Deputy Mayor of London for Policing and Crime is Sophie Linden. The office holder is head of the Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime. Outside of powers to issue a Police and Crime Plan, and to appoint and remove senior Met officers, ...

by Greater Manchester Combined Authority Mayor

Andy Burnham Andrew Murray Burnham (born 7 January 1970) is a British politician who has served as Mayor of Greater Manchester since 2017. He served in Gordon Brown's Cabinet as Chief Secretary to the Treasury from 2007 to 2008, Culture Secretary from 2008 ...

. Hughes resigned from the role in November 2022, with Green chosen to replace her, leading to the by-election.

Candidates

The successful Labour Party candidate for the by-election was

, who had been leader of

Trafford Council Trafford Council is the local authority of the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford in Greater Manchester, England. It is a metropolitan district council, one of ten in Greater Manchester and one of 36 in the metropolitan counties of England, and pr ...

since 2018. The

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

candidate was political consultant Emily Carter-Kandola. The Liberal Democrats candidate was Anna Fryer, a senior mental health doctor at

Trafford General Hospital Trafford General Hospital is a district general hospital in Davyhulme, Greater Manchester, England, managed by Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust. History Early history Work began on what was originally named Davyhulme Park Hospital, ...

. The Green Party candidate was Dan Jerrome, a local Green councillor for

Altrincham Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester city centre, southwest of Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2011 Census, it had a population o ...

. The Reform UK candidate was Paul Swansborough, who previously stood as

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 p ...

candidate in the 2017 general election in

Redditch Redditch is a town, and local government district, in north-east Worcestershire, England, approximately south of Birmingham. The district has a population of 85,000 as of 2019. In the 19th century, it became the international centre for the ...

Result

Previous result

Reaction

Labour achieved their highest vote share in the seat's history. The election turnout was reportedly affected by below freezing weather conditions and postal workers strikes. After the result, political scientist

John Curtice Sir John Kevin Curtice (born 10 December 1953) is a British political scientist who is currently professor of politics at the University of Strathclyde and senior research fellow at the National Centre for Social Research. He is particularly in ...

said "Labour are now in a stronger position than they have been at any point since.....2010".

References

External links

The Trafford Council website's page on the by-election

Stretford and Urmston by-election – what, who, when, where, why?
The Messenger. Published 17 November 2022. {{By-elections to the 58th UK Parliament By-elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom in Greater Manchester constituencies Elections in Trafford Stretford and Urmston Politics of Greater Manchester 2022 elections in the United Kingdom 2022 in England 2020s in Greater Manchester