LEICESTER SOUTH BY ELECTION

The Leicester South by election held on Thursday 15th July was caused by the death of Labour MP Jim Marshall. Leicester South is one of the most ethnically diverse constituencies in the country, with a 19% Muslim population. Labour was defending a 13,000 majority in Leicester South, in a contest prompted by the death of MP Jim Marshall. The Tories were bussing in dozens of MPs and party workers every day from their London HQ in Smith Square. Meanwhile, Labour claimed it had succeeded in switching the debate from Iraq to matters closer to home. As in the Brent by election last year Tony Blair was advised to stay well away. Also as in Brent the result was a win for the Liberal Democrats after a 20%+ swing from Labour.
The sight of Tony Blair on TV grinning like a Cheshire cat before his clearing of any blame by the Butler report prompted me to action. I went down to Leicester for the last day of campaigning and met Yvonne Ridley the RESPECT candidate and the founder of RESPECT George Galloway. There were people from all over the country at the RESPECT office in Evington Road, Leicester. I met people from Leeds, London, Middlesbrough, Bognor Regis, Glasgow, Newcastle and I myself came down from Edinburgh. I took some photos, which I attach.
Respect candidate Yvonne Ridley received 3,724 votes, a 12.66 percent share of the vote in Leicester South. In Birmingham Hodge Hill, Respect candidate John Rees won 1,282 votes, a 6.27 percent share of the vote.
Has RESPECT established itself as the fourth force in British politics? Perhaps. Certainly their showing is very good for a party, which has only been in existence for six months. The Leicester south result in full is:


Results for Leicester South July 2004:



Candidate Party Votes % of vote


Parmjit Singh GILL Liberal Democrat Party 10,274 34.94%
Peter SOULSBY Labour Party 8,620 29.31%
Chris HEATON-HARRIS Conservative Party 5,796 19.71%
Yvonne RIDLEY Respect - Unity Coalition 3,724 12.66%
David ROBERTS Socialist Labour Party 263 0.89%
R U SEERIOUS Official Loony Party 225 0.77%
Patrick KENNEDY Independent 204 0.69%
Paul LORD Independent 186 0.63%
Mark BENSON Independent 55 0.19%
Jiten BARDWAJ Independent 36 0.12%
Alan BARRATT Independent 25 0.09%