2023 Rutherglen and Hamilton West by-election facts for kids

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2023 Rutherglen and Hamilton West by-election

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Rutherglen and Hamilton West constituency
Boundary of the Rutherglen and Hamilton West constituency in Scotland
MP before election Margaret Ferrier Independent Elected MP TBD

A by-election will take place in the United Kingdom parliamentary constituency of Rutherglen and Hamilton West following the recall of the sitting MP, Margaret Ferrier. It is scheduled to take place on 5 October.

Ferrier was suspended from the House of Commons in 2023 for 30 days for breaching COVID-19 regulations in 2020. In accordance with the Recall of MPs Act 2015, this suspension triggered a recall petition in her constituency. This petition was successful, resulting in Ferrier being removed from the seat and triggering a by-election.

Constituency

Rutherglen and Hamilton West is a suburban constituency in the Greater Glasgow area, stretching eastwards along the River Clyde and south into Lanarkshire. A former centre of heavy industry, its historical coal mining industry died out as far back as 1950. Significant swathes of Rutherglen and Hamilton West have been highlighted as some of the most disadvantaged areas of Scotland. The bulk of the population are in the town of Rutherglen and the western parts of the town of Hamilton.

The constituency was created for the 2005 general election, out of the Glasgow Rutherglen and Hamilton South constituencies, which were abolished. Labour MP Tommy McAvoy, who was the longest-serving government whip, stepped down in the 2010 election, and the seat was retained for the party by Tom Greatrex, with an increased majority.

The constituency was regarded as a safe seat for Labour until the 2015 general election, when Margaret Ferrier took it from Greatrex by nearly 10,000 votes in the Scottish National Party landslide of 2015. In the snap 2017 general election, the seat was taken back by Labour's Ged Killen, with a majority of just 265 votes. In the 2019 general election, Ferrier defeated Killen by a majority of 5,000 votes. Nonetheless, it is one of the most marginal SNP seats in Scotland.

Recall petition

Background

Ferrier, standing for the Scottish National Party (SNP), was first elected MP for the constituency in the 2015 general election, lost her seat in 2017 and then regained it in 2019. In September 2020, Ferrier made serious breaches of COVID-19 regulations. She noted symptoms of COVID-19 and took a test, then visited various public places. She took a train from Scotland to London, on 28 September, and while waiting for results, she spoke in a parliamentary debate that evening. She received a positive test result the same evening and returned to Scotland the next morning, again by train.

She was suspended from the SNP, and referred herself to the police and the Parliamentary standards authorities. On 4 January 2021, Ferrier was arrested and charged by Police Scotland with "culpable and reckless conduct." She pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 270 hours of community service.

On 30 March 2023, the Commons Select Committee on Standards, recommended that she be suspended from Parliament for 30 days. She lost her appeal on the recommendation on 22 May 2023 with the independent panel finding that she "acted with blatant and deliberate dishonest intent. She acted with a high degree of recklessness to the public and to colleagues and staff at the House of Commons. She acted selfishly, putting her own interests above the public interest." On 6 June 2023, the House of Commons voted to suspend Ferrier for 30 days. The Recall of MPs Act 2015 provides that a recall petition is automatically initiated by any of several events happening to an MP, one of which is suspension from the House of Commons for a period of more than 10 sitting days or 14 calendar days.

Petition process

On 6 June 2023, South Lanarkshire Council was formally notified by Speaker of the House of Commons that a petition was to be opened. The petition opened at 9am on 20 June 2023 for a period of six weeks, closing at 5pm on 31 July. Electors were able to sign in person at seven locations within the constituency, as well as via post or proxy.

At the announcement of the petition, the electorate of the constituency was determined to be 81,124 persons, meaning that 8,113 signatures were required for the petition to succeed. Per the petition rules, no information on the progress of the petition was reported until the end of the signing period. The Labour Party and the SNP were both registered as campaigners for the success of the petition.

It was the fourth petition to occur since the procedure was introduced, as well as the first in Scotland and the only petition to date during the present Parliament.

On 1 August, it was announced that 11,896 people had signed the petition, exceeding the threshold and triggering the by-election. It will be the first by-election during the premiership of Humza Yousaf.

By-election

Candidate selection

Some candidates were selected by parties before the closure of the petition. Ferrier confirmed on 1 August that she would not stand for re-election.

Labour selected their candidate, Michael Shanks, in anticipation that the by-election would occur. Shanks was the Labour candidate in Glasgow North West at the 2017 general election. Shanks had resigned from the party on the day of the 2019 European Parliament election, citing antisemitism and Brexit, but re-joined when Keir Starmer became leader. The others shortlisted were Dr Greg Irwin, Aberdeen councillor Deena Tissera and South Lanarkshire councillor Maureen Devlin.

On 9 June 2023, the SNP selected local councillor and former primary school teacher Katy Loudon as their candidate. She is a member of South Lanarkshire Council, representing the Cambuslang East ward. On 27 August, the Alba Party announced that they would not contest the by-election "to prevent splitting the pro-independence vote".

On 12 June, the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) announced that Unison shop steward Chris Sermanni would be their candidate. The Scottish Socialist Party chose Bill Bonnar as their candidate.

On 3 August, the Scottish Conservatives selected Thomas Kerr as their candidate. Kerr has been a member of Glasgow City Council for Shettleston Ward since 2017. He became leader of the Conservative grouping on the council in 2019 after serving as deputy for two years.

On 7 August, Reform UK announced David Stark as their candidate. Stark, a retired architect, previously stood as the Conservative Party candidate for the Cumbernauld East ward in the 2017 North Lanarkshire Council election. Stark was endorsed by UKIP on 6 September.

On 11 August, the Scottish Liberal Democrats selected Gloria Adebo as their candidate. Adebo previously stood as a candidate for the party in the Rutherglen Central and North ward in the 2022 South Lanarkshire Council election.

Volt UK selected Ewan Hoyle as their candidate. He previously stood as a candidate for the party in the Pollokshields ward in the 2022 Glasgow City Council election. Formerly a Liberal Democrat, he previously stood as a candidate in Glasgow South in the 2015 and 2017 general elections, and Hamilton, Larkhill and Stonehouse in the 2011 Scottish Parliament election. Cameron Eadie, a 20-year-old student at the University of Glasgow, is standing for the Scottish Greens.

Date

The by-election will be held on 5 October 2023. Parliament was in recess when the petition closed; the SNP moved the writ of election on the first day after it reconvened, fixing the by-election for the earliest available date. Nominations close on 12 September.

Campaign

Anticipating the vacancy, campaigning began before the closure of the petition. The Scottish Labour leader, Anas Sarwar, and the SNP leader, Humza Yousaf, have both repeatedly visited the seat, which is seen as an SNP/Labour marginal. The contest has been seen as the first major test of Yousaf's period as SNP leader and First Minister. It has also been described as a "must-win" for Labour under Keir Starmer.

Commentator Polly Toynbee suggests that one issue in the by-election will be two-child benefit cap, which the SNP and the Greens oppose. The Economist reported that ambivalence of SNP voters constituency as a result of the resignation of Nicola Sturgeon showed a bad sign for the SNP holding the seat.

One local issue commented on by candidates was council tax in South Lanarkshire which is set to rise and exacerbate the cost-of-living crisis. The local council had been in controversy following the suspension of the Labour council leader Joe Fagan in June for reportedly "leaking classified information". On 25 August he survived a no confidence vote to remove him as head of the local authority. The local Labour party had been also criticised by councillor Mathew Buchanan (East Kilbride South), who wrote to Leader of the Scottish Labour Party Anas Sarwar alerting him of the allegedly "toxic culture" of the group. On 15 August, Keir Starmer and Anas Sarwar met with voters at Rutherglen Town Hall. On 21 August, deputy Labour leaders Jackie Baillie and Angela Rayner campaigned in the seat.

The Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross was accused of avoiding the by-election campaign. He said he would appear in the constituency at a later date.

Previous result

See also

• List of United Kingdom by-elections (2010–present)