The 2005 Livingston by-election was triggered when Robin Cook, the Labour Party Member of Parliament for Livingston, in Scotland, died on 6 August 2005.
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| Turnout | 38.6% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Notice of the vacancy in the constituency was published in the London Gazette on 2 September 2005, which allowed the Speaker of the House of Commons to issue the writ for the election on 8 September under the Recess Elections Act 1975. The poll was held on 29 September, in the week of the Labour Party Conference, when the Labour candidate Jim Devine held the seat for his party.
A by-election for the Glasgow Cathcart seat in the Scottish Parliament was also held on the same day.
Results edit
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Jim Devine | 12,319 | 41.8 |  9.3
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| SNP | Angela Constance | 9,639 | 32.7 |  11.1
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| Liberal Democrats | Charles Dundas | 4,362 | 14.8 | 0.6
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| Conservative | Gordon Lindhurst | 1,993 | 6.8 | 3.4
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| Scottish Green | David Robertson | 529 | 1.8 | New | |
| Scottish Socialist | Steven Nimmo | 407 | 1.4 | 0.4
| |
| UKIP | Peter Adams | 108 | 0.4 | New | |
| Independent | Melville Brown | 55 | 0.2 | New | |
| Alliance for Change (UK) | John William Allman | 33 | 0.1 | New | |
| Socialist (GB) | Brian Gardner | 32 | 0.1 | New | |
| Majority | 2,680 | 9.1 | 20.4
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| Turnout | 29,477 | 38.6 | 19.5
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| Labour hold | Swing | 10.2
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| General Election 2005: Livingston | |||||
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| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Labour | Robin Cook | 22,657 | 51.1 | 1.9
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| SNP | Angela Constance | 9,560 | 21.6 | 2.0
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| Liberal Democrats | Charles Dundas | 6,832 | 15.4 | 5.5
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| Conservative | Alison Ross | 4,499 | 10.1 | 2.5
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| Scottish Socialist | Steven Nimmo | 789 | 1.8 | 1.2
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| Majority | 13,097 | 29.5 | 0.1
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| Turnout | 44,337 | 58.1 | 2.0
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| Labour hold | Swing | 1.2
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Reaction to results edit
Labour's retention of the seat, albeit with a reduced majority, was regarded by the party with satisfaction. The Scottish National Party was the only party to increase their vote from the general election, and although they did not win, they achieved a swing of 10% from Labour. The Liberal Democrats' share of the vote fell by 0.6%.
There was a swing from Labour to Conservatives of 3%, but given the fourth-place position of the Conservative Party in this seat, and their third-place position in Scotland, the significance of this is debatable.
In 2007 Angela Constance gained the Livingston seat in the Scottish Parliament (which has slightly different boundaries) from Labour.
See also edit
References edit
- ^ Boothroyd, David. "Results of Byelections in the 2005-2010 Parliament". United Kingdom Election Results. Archived from the original on 27 December 2015. Retrieved 5 October 2015.