South East Staffordshire by-election, 1996

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A by-election was held for the British House of Commons constituency of South East Staffordshire on April 11, 1996 following the death of sitting Conservative MP Sir David Lincoln Lightbown.

The result was a Labour gain from the Conservatives.

South East Staffordshire
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Brian Jenkins 26,155 60.1 +22.0
Conservative T. James 12,393 28.5 –22.2
Liberal Democrat J. Davy 2,042 4.7 –4.9
UK Independence A. Smith 1,272 2.9
Monster Raving Loony David Sutch 506 1.2
National Democrats S. Edwards 358 0.8
Liberal S. Mountford 332 0.8
Independent Conservative L. Tucker 123 0.3
L!VE TV News Bunny 85 0.2
Independent N. Samuelson 80 0.2
Natural Law D. Lucas 53 0.1
Independent F. Sandy 53 0.1
Independent A. Wood 45 0.1
Majority 13,762 31.6
Turnout 62.0
Labour gain from Conservative Swing –22.06

[edit] Notes on candidates

  • News Bunny was a character on the cable channel Live TV. The candidate was an employee of the channel who changed his name for the purposes of the election.
  • The ballot paper description of the candidate N Samuelson was "Daily Loonylugs Earing Up the World"
  • News Bunny, was arrested during the campaign for obstructing the highway. He was filmed by BBC Midlands Today handing carrots out to motorists as part of his electioneering. The BBC captured the memorable line, spoken a female police officer to a male police officer, "Get that rabbit".

[edit] Sources

[edit] See also