Birmingham Hodge Hill by-election, 2004
A by-election was held for the United Kingdom Parliament seat of Birmingham Hodge Hill, on 15 July, the same day as the Leicester South by-election. The by-election was called following the resignation of the sitting MP, Terry Davis, on 22 June 2004.[1] Davis had been appointed as Secretary General of the Council of Europe
The area has had a Labour MP since the 1950 general election, the only break being a Conservative Party victory at a 1977 by-election for the Birmingham Stechford constituency. Stechford returned to Labour at the 1979 general election.
At the by-election, the seat was won by the Labour Party candidate Liam Byrne with 7,451 votes and a vastly reduced majority. The Liberal Democrat candidate Nicola Davies increased her party's share of the vote by over 26% and was only 460 votes behind.
The by-election was heavily contested by Labour and the Liberal Democrats, with both parties alleging "dirty tricks" by the other.[2]
Results
Turnout was 37.89%.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Liam Byrne | 7,451 | 36.5 | -27.4 | |
| Liberal Democrat | Nicola Davies | 6,991 | 34.2 | +26.1 | |
| Conservative | Stephen Eyre | 3,543 | 17.3 | -2.7 | |
| Respect | John Rees | 1,282 | 6.3 | ||
| National Front | Jim Starkey | 805 | 3.9 | ||
| English Democrats | Mark Wheatley | 277 | 1.4 | ||
| Christian Vote | Rev. George Hargreaves | 90 | 0.4 | ||
| Majority | 460 | ||||
| Turnout | 20,439 | 37.9 | |||
| Labour hold | Swing | ||||
2001 result
From the 2001 general election.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Terry Davis | 16,901 | 63.9 | -1.7 | |
| Conservative | Debbie Lewis | 5,283 | 20.0 | -4.0 | |
| Liberal Democrat | Charles Dow | 2,147 | 8.1 | -0.4 | |
| BNP | Lee Windridge | 889 | 3.3 | ||
| People's Justice | Perwaz Hussain | 561 | 2.1 | ||
| Socialist Labour | Dennis Cridge | 284 | 1.1 | ||
| UKIP | Harvey Vivian | 275 | 1.0 | -0.9 | |
| Muslim Party | Ayub Khan | 125 | 0.5 | ||
| Majority | 11,618 | 43.9 | |||
| Turnout | 26,465 | 47.9 | |||
