Vauxhall by-election, 1989
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A by-election for the United Kingdom House of Commons was held in the constituency of Vauxhall on the 15th June 1989, following the resignation of sitting member Stuart Holland.
The winner, Kate Hoey, was Minister for Sport in Tony Blair's Labour government from 1999-2001 but has now returned to the backbenches.
The 1989 by-election was caused by Stuart Holland's resignation to take up an academic job in preference to remaining in the Labour Party. Kate Hoey was shortlisted for the seat against the wishes of many left-wing local Labour activists who wanted Nigerian-born Martha Osamor.
[edit] Fringe candidates
The by-election was contested by 14 candidates: one of the longest lists of "serious" candidates at any by-election in the 1980s. Rev. H. Andrew stood as "The People's Candidate", out of protest at the Labour Party's selection process for their candidate. There were two "Green" candidates: H. Bewley (who represented the Green Party officially, and D. Allen (sponsored by a religious cult) who used the title "The Greens". There were two National Front candidates, from their warring "Third Way" and "Flag" factions; E. Budden was the official National Front candidate.
[edit] Result
| UK Parliament by-election, Vauxhall | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Labour | Kate Hoey | 15,191 | 52.7 | 2.5 | |
| Conservative | Michael Keegan | 5,425 | 18.8 | -10.2 | |
| Social and Liberal Democrats | Mike Tuffrey | 5,043 | 17.5 | -0.7 | |
| Green | Henry Bewley | 1,767 | 6.1 | +4.3 | |
| The People's Candidate | Rev. Hewie Andrew | 302 | 1.1 | ||
| The Greens | Dominic Allen | 264 | 0.9 | ||
| Independent | Rudy Narayan | 179 | 0.6 | ||
| Revolutionary Communist | Don Milligan | 177 | 0.6 | ||
| Independent National Front | Patrick Harrington | 127 | 0.4 | ||
| Monster Raving Loony | "Lord" David Sutch | 106 | 0.4 | ||
| Christian Alliance | David Black | 86 | 0.3 | ||
| National Front | Edward Budden | 83 | 0.3 | ||
| Fellowship Party | Rev. Geoffrey Rolph | 24 | 0.1 | ||
| Leveller Party | William Scola | 21 | 0.1 | ||
| Majority | 9,766 | 33.9 | |||
| Turnout | 28,795 | 44.4 | -19.6 | ||
| Labour hold | Swing | ||||
