Future Batley and Spen By-election

Following the death of Jo Cox MP, the seat of Batley and Spen has become vacant. There will therefore be a by-election, although no date has yet been confirmed.

Labour will be fielding a candidate, but they have not yet named one. The Conservatives, UKIP, the Liberal Democrats and the Green Party have all declared that they will not be fielding candidates. However, this does not necessarily mean that the Labour candidate will be returned unopposed. I think it highly likely that some independent candidates or candidates from smaller parties will stand.

EDIT: Jack Buckby from Liberty GB will be standing so the Labour candidate will not be returned unopposed.

EDIT 2: The English Democrats are also fielding a candidate.

Batley and Spen Electoral History

The seat was created in 1983 following the boundary review that took place around that time. It was first won by Elizabeth Peacock in 1983 for the Conservatives. She held it in 1987 and again in 1992 with majorities around the 1,000 mark. It was gained by Labour in their 1997 landslide on a rather modest 7.7% swing. Peacock tried to win it back in 2001 but failed. In 2005 both the Labour and Conservative vote fell back to the benefit of the Liberal Democrats and the BNP. In both 2010 and 2015 the Conservatives failed to win it, despite it being within reach.