Leicester South by-election, 2004

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Leicester South constituency, shown within Leicester.

A by-election was held in Leicester South on July 15, the same day as the Birmingham Hodge Hill by-election. It was won by Parmjit Singh Gill of the Liberal Democrats, over-turning a Labour majority of 13,243 votes at the 2001 General Election.

The MP for Leicester South, Jim Marshall, from the Labour Party died on May 27, 2004, shortly before the local and European elections in June.

The seat was first won by Marshall in 1974. He lost it to the Conservative Party candidate, Derek Spencer, in the 1983 general election by 7 votes, but won it back at the 1987 election. Marshall had a large personal vote, and both the Liberal Democrat and Conservative Parties targeted the seat at the 2004 by-election. At the 2005 general election, the Liberal Democrats were unable to retain the seat and Peter Soulsby became Leicester South's MP.

The constituency is diverse, covering leafy suburbs such as Stoneygate and Knighton along with inner city areas with a strong Asian community.

[edit] Results

Turnout was 41.6%

LibDem posters on London Road.

By-election 2004: Leicester South
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Parmjit Singh Gill	10274	34.9
	Labour	Sir Peter Soulsby	8620	29.3
	Conservative	Chris Heaton-Harris	5796	19.7
	Respect	Yvonne Ridley	3724	12.7
	Socialist Labour	Dave Roberts	263	0.9
	Monster Raving Loony	R.U. Seerius	225	0.8
	Independent - Save Our Schools	Pat Kennedy	204	0.7
	Independent	Paul Lord	186	0.6
	Independent (anti-EU)	Mark Edwin Benson	55	0.2
	Independent (yoga and meditation)	Jitendra Bardwaj	36	0.1
	Independent Conservative	Alan Gordon Barrett	25	0.1
Majority			1654	5.6
Turnout
	Liberal Democrats gain from Labour		Swing	21% Lab to LD

[edit] 2001 Result

General Election 2001: Leicester South
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jim Marshall	22,958	54.5	-3.5
	Conservative	Richard Hoile	9,715	23.1	-0.7
	Liberal Democrats	Parmjit Singh Gill	7,243	17.2	+3.4
	Green	Margaret Layton	1,217	2.9
	Socialist Labour	Arnie Gardner	676	1.6
	UK Independence	Kirti Ladwa	330	0.8
Majority			13,243	31.4
Turnout			42,139	58.0