In the UK parliamentary by-elections occur when a seat in the House of Commons is left vacant either due to a recall petition (MP is removed by constituents) or if they resign, die, get declared bankrupt, take a seat in the House of Lords or are convicted of a serious criminal offence.
Whilst this process is ongoing an MP of the same party in a nearby constituency will manage matters.
The process of moving the writ
- The Chief Whip of the political party of the incumbent MP starts the process of a by-election.
- They request that ‘the Speaker do issue his Warrant to the Clerk of the Crown to make out a new Writ for the electing of a Member to serve in this present Parliament for the constituency of … in the room of…’
- The speakers will put this question to MPS and they decide whether to agree to the motion
How long does this take ?
A new Writ is usually issued within three months of the vacancy. There have been a few times when seats remained vacant longer than six months. Seats will be left vacant towards the end of a Parliament. They are then filled at the general election.
If there are many vacant seats by-elections can take place on the same day.
The by-election timetable is between 21 and 27 working days from the issuing of the writ.
Upcoming by-elections
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15/02/24 - Wellingborough (Peter Bone MP - Conservative) - There was a successful recall petition after allegations of bullying and sexual misconduct. Bone is not standing again but the Conservative party chose his wife to stand. Its expected Labour will take this seat.
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15/02/24 - Kingswood (Chris Skidmore MP) - Resigned in protest of the government’s decision to grant new oil and gas licenses. Its expected Labour will take this seat.