Romsey by-election, 2000

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Conservative Member of Parliament Michael Colvin was killed in a house fire at his home on February 24, 2000. This created a by-election in his constituency of Romsey in Hampshire.

The Conservative Party decided to delay the polling day until May 4, so that it would come simultaneously with local elections. They selected Tim Palmer, a farmer and Dorset County Councillor, to defend the seat. The Liberal Democrats considered this byelection their best chance of gaining a seat since 1997 and selected a local Pharmacist Sandra Gidley (who had been Mayor of Romsey) as their candidate.

Labour carried out minimal campaigning in a constituency in which they had come third. This led many observers to assume that the party was expecting, or hoping, that its vote would largely go to the Liberal Democrats in order to help defeat the Conservatives. In the event, the Labour vote collapsed while the Liberal Democrats surged, and they made this the only mainland by-election to result in a change of party control in the entire Parliament.

Results

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General Election result, 1997

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