2023 Tamworth by-election

The 2023 Tamworth by-election was held on 19 October 2023 for the UK parliamentary constituency of Tamworth, due to the resignation of former Conservative MP Chris Pincher. Pincher had announced his resignation following a sexual misconduct scandal, and his recommended suspension from the House of Commons for eight weeks. The Tamworth by-election was held on the same day as the 2023 Mid Bedfordshire by-election.

Sarah Edwards, the Labour candidate, won the Tamworth seat with a 23.9% swing, the second-biggest from Conservative to Labour since the 1945 national election. The turnout of the by-election was 35.9%.

Chris Pincher resignation
Chris Pincher, a former Deputy Chief Whip, was involved in a controversy following allegations of sexual misconduct. Pincher resigned as Deputy Chief Whip on 30 June 2022, and was suspended as a Conservative MP following allegations that he had sexually assaulted two men. Further allegations were made in July, which antedated his appointment by former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who originally denied knowledge of the allegations. It was later revealed Johnson had been aware, and many cited this scandal as the final straw that led to Johnson's resignation.

The Standards Committee upheld the allegations of sexual assault in July and recommended an eight-week suspension from the Commons. Pincher appealed the decision, but lost the appeal. The eight-week suspension would have been enough to trigger a recall petition, but Pincher resigned before the House could vote on the recommended suspension.

Constituency
The Tamworth constituency consists of the southeastern corner of Staffordshire, including the towns of Fazeley and Tamworth. It was previously considered to be a bellwether constituency, but had become a Conservative safe seat in recent years, with a majority of nearly 20,000 in the 2019 election. During the New Labour years of 1997 to 2010, Brian Jenkins served as the constituency's MP. The constituency voted 66% for leave in the 2016 EU membership referendum. The constituency last had a by-election in 1996, when it was known as South East Staffordshire. Jenkins, the Labour candidate, took the seat from the Conservatives.

Candidates
On 18 June 2023, prior to Pincher's resignation, Conservative MP Eddie Hughes had been selected as the candidate for Tamworth at the 2024 general election. Hughes is currently the MP for the nearby Walsall North constituency, which will be abolished at the 2024 general election under the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies. Had Hughes stood and won the by-election, this would have triggered another by-election by means of his vacating the seat for Walsall North. However, Hughes ruled out contesting the by-election on 7 September.

The Conservatives selected Andrew Cooper, a councillor in Tamworth since 2021, as their candidate. Cooper was raised on a council estate in Tamworth and served in the Army. Before the election it was reported that he had shared an offensive tweet about families in poverty. At the count he left the stage hurriedly during the winning candidate's speech.

On 23 July, Labour selected Sarah Edwards to be their candidate. She is a Unite union official from Moseley, Birmingham, who has worked for the charity Oxfam.

Sunny Virk, a local barrister and mediator, was the Liberal Democrat candidate. He would later contest the 2024 West Midlands mayoral election, coming last. Ian Cooper is the Reform UK candidate. Former university lecturer Dr. Sue Howarth stood for the Green Party. Robert Bilcliff stood for the UK Independence Party. He was a member of Tamworth Borough Council for Stonydelph from 2016 to 2021. Ashlea Simon, the chair of Britain First, stood for that party.

Local teacher Richard Kingstone, a former Mayor of Tamworth, announced his intention to stand as an independent, but later made a statement announcing he would no longer be standing due to personal circumstances.

Result


A similar substantial swing, resulting in a Labour gain from the Conservatives, was seen in the concurrent Mid Bedfordshire by-election. Psephologist John Curtice determined these results to be "one of worst nights any government has endured".

Parties to the right of the Conservatives (Reform UK, Britain First and UKIP) received a total combined vote of 9.4%, although Politics.co.uk suggested that this was due to the low turnout.