So will Barnsley Central be the next by-election?

So will Barnsley Central be the next by-election?


Barnsley General election result Party Votes % +/-
Eric Illsley Labour 17487 47.3 -10.4
Christopher Wiggin Liberal Democrat 6394 17.3 -2
Piers Tempest Conservative 6388 17.3 2.5
Ian Sutton British National Party 3307 8.9 4.4
David Silver UK Independence Party 1727 4.7 4.7
Donald Wood Independent 732 2 2
Tony Devoy Independent 610 1.6 1.6
Terry Robinson Socialist Labour Party 356 1
1

And will Labour’s ratings continue to be untouched?

Today at Southwark Crown Court the only sitting MP to face charges from the expenses scandal, Eric Illsley, pleaded guilty and so paved the way for a possibly by-election – the second of this parliament.

If he receives a jail sentence of a year or more than he’ll cease to be an MP thus opening the way for a new contest. The court will give its ruling on this in four weeks.

On the face of it the seat looks a copper-bottomed Labour hold and the only interest might be from the BNP. The table above shows what happened last May.

So far Labour’s position has hardly been touched by all of this – it’s old news from when a different regime was in charge. Is that going to continue? Probably.

Mike Smithson

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