2011 Inverclyde by-election

2011 Inverclyde by-election

30 June 2011
Inverclyde constituency
First party Second party Third party   Candidate Iain McKenzie Anne McLaughlin David Wilson Party Labour SNP Conservative Popular vote 15,118 9,280 2,784 Percentage 53.8% 33.0% 9.9% Swing 2.2% 15.5% 2.1%
MP before election David Cairns Labour Subsequent MP Iain McKenzie Labour

The 2011 Inverclyde by-election was held for the UK House of Commons constituency of Inverclyde on 30 June 2011. It was triggered by the death of the incumbent Labour MP, David Cairns on 9 May 2011 of acute pancreatitis.^[1]

Cairns had won the constituency in 2010 with a majority of 38.4%, making it a safe Labour seat. The by-election was won by Iain McKenzie MP, the Labour candidate.

Background

The by-election was caused by the death of the incumbent, David Cairns. Cairns, a Labour Party MP, was first elected to the seat at the 2001 general election.^[2] He was suffering from acute pancreatitis and had been receiving hospital treatment since March, dying on 9 May at the Royal Free Hospital.^[2] Previously working as the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Scotland Office, Cairns became Minister of State for Scotland in 2007 but resigned in 2008 in opposition to then-Prime Minister Gordon Brown.^[3]

Cairns was re-elected at the 2010 general election with 56.0% of the popular vote in his constituency. The Scottish National Party (SNP) came second, and would require a swing of 19.25% to take the seat, and the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives held third and fourth place respectively with 12-14% of the vote share between them.

Candidates

Nominations closed on 16 June 2011, with five candidates. The Labour Party selected Ian McKenzie a local Councillor since 2003, who has led Inverclyde Council since February 2011 and the only candidate not to have run for any other constituency in the Scottish Election 2011. The Scottish National Party selected Anne McLaughlin, who was an MSP for the Glasgow regional list from 2009–2011. The Conservative Party selected David Wilson, a local councillor and deputy provost of Inverclyde. UKIP candidate Mitch Sorbie contested West Dunbartonshire in the 2010 general election. The Liberal Democrats selected Sophie Bridger, the president of Liberal Youth Scotland.^[4][5]

Result of by-election and previous election

Election	Political result		Candidate		Party	Votes	%	±%
By-election, 2011 Turnout: 28,097 (45.4%) −18.0		Labour hold Majority: 5,838 (20.8%) −17.6 Swing: −8.9% from Lab to SNP		Iain McKenzie	Labour	15,118	53.8	−2.2
				Anne McLaughlin	SNP	9,280	33.0	+15.5
				David Wilson	Conservative	2,784	9.9	−2.1
				Sophie Bridger	Liberal Democrats	627	2.2	−11.1
				Mitch Sorbie	UKIP	288	1.0	−0.2
General Election 2010 Turnout: 37,512 (63.4%) +2.5		Labour hold Majority: 14,416 (38.4%) +7.2 Swing: +2.5% from SNP to Lab		David Cairns	Labour	20,993	56.0	+5.2
				Innes Nelson	SNP	6,577	17.5	−2.0
				Simon Hutton	Liberal Democrats	5,007	13.3	−3.6
				David Wilson	Conservative	4,502	12.0	+1.8
				Peter Campbell	UKIP	433	1.2	New

See also

• List of United Kingdom by-elections
• Opinion polling for the 2015 United Kingdom general election

References

1. "Inverclyde Westminster by-election date set", BBC News, 8 June 2011
2. "Scottish Labour MP David Cairns dies". BBC News. 10 May 2011. Retrieved 10 May 2011.
3. "Labour MP David Cairns passes away". politics.co.uk. 10 May 2011. Retrieved 10 May 2011.
4. "Inverclyde by-election candidates". BBC News. 17 June 2011. Retrieved 8 July 2011.
5. "Inverclyde UK Parliament by-election campaign steps up". BBC News. 14 June 2011. Retrieved 8 July 2011.