Kensington and Chelsea by-election, 1999

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A BBC Ceefax page from 10 September 1999. The headline refers to this by-election.
A BBC Ceefax page from 10 September 1999. The headline refers to this by-election.

The Member of Parliament for Kensington and Chelsea, the Rt. Hon. Alan Clark, (Conservative) died of a brain tumour on September 5, 1999.

This was the first truly safe Conservative seat to have a by-election in the Parliament. There was immediate speculation that Michael Portillo, the most high-profile casualty of the 1997 general election, would use it to return to frontline politics. Portillo immediately confirmed his interest in the seat, but was then confronted with the publication of an interview he had given previously that summer in which he had confirmed that while at Peterhouse, Cambridge he had had homosexual affairs.

Portillo was selected as Conservative candidate but faced demonstrations organised by gay rights group OutRage! and its principal campaigner Peter Tatchell who protested against his vote for an unequal age of consent for gay and straight sex, and support for the ban on homosexuality in the UK armed forces while Secretary of State for Defence. Tatchell continued to try to confront Portillo throughout the election, not assuaged by Portillo saying that he had changed his mind on the age of consent.

The Labour Party selected Robert Atkinson, who had fought the 1997 election and was a local councillor. The Liberal Democrats also renominated their general election candidate, Robert Woodthorpe Browne. Because of the prominence of the byelection in central London and the big political name, there were a wide variety of fringe and minor party candidates. Polling day was set for November 25. Michael Portillo returned safely to Parliament.

[edit] Results

1999 by-election: Kensington and Chelsea
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Michael Portillo 11,004 56.4 +2.8
Labour Robert Atkinson 4,298 22.0 -5.9
Liberal Democrat Robert Woodthorpe Browne 1,831 9.4 -5.9
Pro-Euro Conservative John Stevens 740 3.8
UK Independence Damian Hockney 450 2.3 +0.9
Green Hugo Charlton 446 2.3
Democratic Party The Earl of Burford 182 0.9
Legalise Cannabis Colin Paisley 141 0.7
Independent Dr. Michael Irwin 97 0.5
UK Pensioners Party Paul Oliver 75 0.4 -0.1
Independent Referendum Party Stephen Scott-Fawcett 57 0.3
Independent Louise Hodges 48 0.3
Natural Law Gerard 'Ged' Valente 35 0.2 0.1
ProLife Alliance Lisa Lovebucket 26 0.1
Independent John Davies 24 0.1
Independent Peter May 24 0.1
Monster Raving Loony Howling Laud Hope 20 0.1
Independent Tonysamuelsondotcom 15 0.1
Majority 6,706 34.4
Turnout 29.7
Conservative hold Swing

[edit] General Election result, 1997

General Election 1997: Kensington and Chelsea
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Alan Clark 19,887 53.6 -14.6
Labour Robert Atkinson 10,368 27.9 +11.3
Liberal Democrat Robert Woodthorpe Browne 5,668 15.3 +2.1
Independent Edward Bear 218 0.6
United Kingdom Pensioners Party Paul Oliver 176 0.5
Natural Law Susan Hamza 122 0.3
Rainbow Dream Ticket Paul Sullivan 65 0.2
Independent Pete Parliament 44 0.1
Majority 9,519 25.7
Turnout 54.7
Conservative hold Swing

[edit] See also