2016 Witney by-election

2016 Witney by-election

20 October 2016
Witney constituency
Turnout	46.8%
First party Second party Third party   x160px x160px Lab Candidate Robert Courts Liz Leffman Duncan Enright Party Conservative Liberal Democrat Labour Popular vote 17,313 11,611 5,765 Percentage 45.0% 30.2% 15.0% Swing 15.2% 23.4% 2.2%
MP before election David Cameron Conservative Elected MP Robert Courts Conservative

On 20 October 2016, a by-election was held in the UK parliamentary constituency of Witney. It took place on the same day as the Batley and Spen by-election. They were the fifth and sixth by-elections of the 56th UK Parliament.

The by-election was triggered by the resignation of the sitting Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) David Cameron, the former prime minister, on 12 September 2016. The election was won by the Conservative Robert Courts with a reduced vote share, and the Liberal Democrats came in second with an increase in vote share of 23.4 percentage points.

Background

David Cameron had been the Conservative Party MP for the seat since the 2001 general election, becoming leader of the Conservative Party in 2005 and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in 2010. Following the Leave result in the referendum on the United Kingdom's membership of the European Union that Cameron had campaigned against, he resigned as Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party, being replaced by Theresa May. In September 2016 he announced his resignation as an MP, saying he did not want to be a distraction to May's premiership.

Candidates

The Conservatives picked Robert Courts, a barrister and West Oxfordshire District Councillor since 2014, from a shortlist of three candidates; he defeated Natasha Whitmill, a former aide to Cameron, and John Cotton, the leader of South Oxfordshire District Council. Though Witney voted in favour of remain in the EU referendum on 23 June 2016, Courts is a "Brexiter", which means that he supports Brexit.

The Labour Party selected Duncan Enright as their candidate. He serves as a West Oxfordshire District Councillor and stood in Witney at the 2015 general election, finishing second behind Cameron.

The Liberal Democrats selected Liz Leffman, a West Oxfordshire District Councillor (for Charlbury and Finstock) and local businesswoman, as the party's candidate. She stood in Witney in the 2005 general election, finishing second to Cameron.

The UK Independence Party named Kenrick "Dickie" Bird. He served in the army in Oxfordshire's local Regiment, The Royal Green Jackets, before becoming Head Porter at Oriel College, Oxford, and stood in Banbury in 2015, coming third.

The Green Party named Larry Sanders, a former Oxfordshire County Councillor and brother of US Senator Bernie Sanders. He came fifth in the 2015 general election in the neighbouring constituency of Oxford West and Abingdon.

The National Health Action Party (NHA) selected Dr Helen Salisbury, a GP and lecturer at Oxford University Medical School. Salisbury was their candidate in Oxford West and Abingdon at the 2015 general election.

Winston McKenzie, a former professional boxer and a perennial candidate, was named as the candidate of the English Democrats. He came third in Croydon North at the previous general election.

Independent candidate Adam Knight endorsed the Liberal Democrat candidate, Leffman, during the campaign.

Overall, fourteen candidates stood in the by-election.

Result

By-election 2016: Witney

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Robert Courts	17,313	45.0	–15.2
	Liberal Democrat	Liz Leffman	11,611	30.2	+23.4
	Labour	Duncan Enright	5,765	15.0	–2.2
	Green	Larry Sanders	1,363	3.5	–1.6
	UKIP	Dickie Bird	1,354	3.5	–5.7
	National Health Action	Helen Salisbury	433	1.1	0.0
	Independent	Daniel Skidmore	151	0.4	New
	Monster Raving Loony	Mad Hatter	129	0.3	New
	Independent	Nicholas Ward	93	0.2	New
	Bus-Pass Elvis Party	David Bishop	61	0.2	New
	Eccentric Party	Lord Toby Jug	59	0.2	New
	English Democrats	Winston McKenzie	52	0.1	New
	One Love	Emilia Arno	44	0.1	New
	Independent	Adam Knight	27	0.1	New
Majority			5,702	14.8	–28.2
Turnout			38,455	46.8	–26.5
	Conservative hold		Swing	–19.3

The Liberal Democrats recorded their highest share of the vote in Witney since 1983.

Previous results in constituency

2015 election results

General election 2015: Witney

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Cameron	35,201	60.2	+1.4
	Labour	Duncan Enright	10,046	17.2	+4.2
	UKIP	Simon Strutt	5,352	9.2	+5.7
	Liberal Democrat	Andy Graham	3,953	6.8	–12.7
	Green	Stuart MacDonald	2,970	5.1	+0.9
	National Health Action	Clive Peedell	616	1.1	New
	Wessex Regionalist	Colin Bex	110	0.2	+0.1
	Independent	Christopher Tompson	94	0.2	New
	Reduce VAT in Sport	Vivien Saunders	56	0.1	New
	Give Me Back Elmo	Bobby Smith	37	0.1	New
	Land Party	Deek Jackson	35	0.1	New
	Independent	Nathan Handley	12	0.02	New
Majority			25,155	43.0	+3.6
Turnout			58,482	73.3	0.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	–1.4

2016 EU referendum result

The constituency is co-terminous with the district of West Oxfordshire which, in the EU referendum on 23 June 2016, voted in favour of remain.

	Turnout	Remain votes	Leave votes	Remain %	Leave %
West Oxfordshire	79.72%	35,236	30,435	53.6%	46.4%

See also

• List of United Kingdom by-elections (2010–present)
• 2007 Sedgefield by-election