Birmingham Hodge Hill Result

Liam Byrne (Lab) 7,451 (36.45%)
Nicola Davies (LD) 6,991 (34.20%)
Stephen Eyre (C) 3,543 (17.33%)
John Rees (Respect) 1,282 (6.27%)
James Starkey (NF) 805 (3.94%)
Mark Wheatley (Eng Dem) 277 (1.36%)
James Hargreaves (OCV) 90 (0.44%)

Turnout: 37.89%
Labour hold majority: 460
Swing: 26.75%

Leicester South Result

Parmjit Singh Gill (LD) 10,274 (34.94%)
Sir Peter Soulsby (Lab) 8,620 (29.31%)
Chris Heaton-Harris (C) 5,796 (19.71%)
Yvonne Ridley (Respect) 3,724 (12.66%)
David Roberts (Soc Lab) 263 (0.89%)
RU Seerious (Loony) 225 (0.77%)
Patrick Kennedy (Ind) 204 (0.69%)
Paul Lord (Ind) 186 (0.63%)
Mark Benson (Ind) 55 (0.19%)
Jiten Bardwaj (Ind) 36 (0.12%)
Alan Barrett (Ind) 25 (0.09%)

Tunout: 41.6%
Lib Dem gain from Labour majority 1,654
Swing 21.46%

Labour in danger of losing its heartlands

The Scotsman - 15 July

On the eve of two crucial by-elections that Labour is in real danger of losing as its heartlands desert it in favour of an anti-war vote, the Tory leader stepped into the breach to display his party’s credentials to the electorate.

It is widely thought the anti-war sentiment will swing the vote towards the Liberal Democrats, and the gamble taken yesterday by Mr Howard - who supported the conflict and who continues to believe it was a justified action - was that his attack on Mr Blair’s credibility will garner votes without leading to allegations of opportunism.

Sources indicated yesterday that, from postal ballots, the result in Leicester East is likely to see Labour defeated by the Lib Dems, with the Tories taking second place.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE

Labour braced for loss of at least one seat

The Independent

Tony Blair faces losing two safe Labour seats in by-elections today after the Liberal Democrats said there would be a photo-finish in Leicester South, and a strong anti-war vote in Birmingham Hodge Hill.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE

Lib Dems talk up chances of a double triumph

Daily Telegraph

Lord Rennard, the Liberal Democrat's chief executive and a by-election expert, said tomorrow's polls in Leicester South and Birmingham Hodge Hill were on a knife-edge with Labour and the Lib Dems in with an equal chance of victories, and the Tories out of sight.

"They will be very close with just 2,000 votes between us and Labour," he said between shifts on the campaign trail. "If anything the movement is in our direction."

CLICK HERE FOR MORE

Blair faces his longest week

The Scotsman - 12 July 2004

Sadly for Mr Blair’s friends, Iraq may this week saddle them and the Labour Party with some semi-permanent reminders of the conflict and its political consequences: two new Liberal Democrat MPs.

Always quick to seize any campaigning opportunity, Charles Kennedy’s troops aim to capitalise fully on the Butler Report by printing last-minute posters and flyers summarising Butler’s findings, hoping to drive the anti-war message home right up the minute the polls open.

Publicly, Labour is upbeat about the seats, where the party had healthy majorities in 2001. Privately, the mood is decidedly downbeat. "It will be a miracle if we hold both seats," said one minister. "The timing of Butler couldn’t be worse for us really."

CKICK HERE FOR MORE

Blair’s fortunes hinge on by-elections

Sunday Herald

This Thursday night, almost like a pathetic Hollywood studio that can’t help itself by commissioning and re-commissioning bankable sequels, we have the potential of Return To Brent or Brent East Revisited or just Brent II.

Hodge Hill is Conservative target number 365 out of all the UK parliamentary constituency. For Charles Kennedy’s Liberal Democrats it is target number 514. The Liberal Democrats captured a measly 8% of the vote last time. Yet even with the starkness of the arithmetic and the commandment-on-high from Downing Street that reads simply “Thou shalt not lose Hodge Hill”, this is a by-election that has the main parties riddled with jitters.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE

LOOK OUT BELOW

The next three items are taken from the Leicester Mercury and give very different views of the campaign material being sent out by the three main candidates in Leicester South.

WHERE ARE THE POLICIES?

Leicester Mercury - 09 July 2004

The electors in Knighton Ward cannot complain that they have not received substantial pieces of election literature relating to Leicester South by-election.

However, could it be that the Liberal Democrats do not believe that the electorate have any degree of intelligence or common sense, as their leaflets continually knock the Labour and Conservative Parties but omit policy statements?

Are they afraid of saying what their policies are, and is it perhaps a reflection of their negative campaigning that they seem obsessed in trying to convince voters that they will win the by-election by pushing the same message without saying what they stand for!

A Smith, Knighton.

DUBIOUS TACTICS

Leicester Mercury - 09 July 2004

Familiarity in election build-ups can prove counter-productive

Even allowing for the enthusiasm of any competitive spectacle such as a Parliamentary by-election, I found it offensive to receive an election mailing from the Labour candidate addressing me by my first name, enclosing a Labour window-poster and referring to his two main opponents in a derisory manner (as "Mr 2 Jobs" and "Mr Cuts").

Admittedly, I am not a Labour Party supporter, but I consider such presumptuousness to be quite unqualifiable.

As to the other enclosure - a sheet headed "How to Vote" - on which only the Labour candidate's name appears alongside a cross, there is surely a risk of misinterpretation by voters with poor command of English that this is an order to vote Labour.

I cannot see any true honour in such tactics.

David E Gillman, Leicester.

LEAFLET DESERVES POLICE CAUTION

Leicester Mercury - 09 July 2004

Coming downstairs from resting after working on a night shift I could see a note pushed through my door.

It appeared to be handwritten in felt tip pen on a folded piece of paper. It said: "Don't call the police!"

For a few moments I thought I'd received some kind of threatening letter.

In fact, it was a leaflet - made to look like what I have described above - on behalf of the Leicester South Conservative candidate Chris Heaton-Harris.

It was critical of how the police are too bogged down with paperwork and aren't out on the beat enough catching criminals.

Perhaps the police could start by cautioning Mr Heaton-Harris about distributing election literature that certainly fooled me for a few moments, and could, surely, frighten others, especially pensioners that receive it.

Kevin Hewick, Leicester.

CANDIDATE PROFILES

The Guardian

As the by-elections in Birmingham and Leicester loom closer, Matthew Tempest profiles key candidates in the traditionally safe Labour seats.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE

HODGE HILL CANDIDATES

The full list of candidates for the Birmingham Hodge Hill constituency are as follows:

Liam Dominic Byrne - Labour

Nicola Sian Davies - Liberal Democrat

Stephen John Arthur Eyre - Conservative

James George Hargreaves - Operation Christian Vote Proclaiming Christ's Lordship

John William Rees - Respect Unity Coalition

James William Starkey - National Front Protect Our Children's Future

Mark Kenneth Wheatley - English Democrats Party


CLICK HERE FOR CANDIDATE WEBSITE LINKS

LEICESTER SOUTH CANDIDATES

The full list of candidates for the Leicester South constituency are as follows:

Peter Alfred Soulsby - Labour

Parmjit Singh Gill - Liberal Democrats

Christopher Heaton Harris - Conservative

Yvonne Anne Ridley - Respect

David Paul Roberts - Socialist Labour Movement

RU Seerius - The Official Monster Raving Loony Party

Patrick Joseph Kennedy - Independent

Paul Anthony Lord - Independent

Mark Edwin Benson - Independent

Alan Gordon Barrett - Independent

Jiten Bardwaj - Independent

CLICK HERE FOR CANDIDATE WEBSITE LINKS

SAVE OUR SCHOOLS CAMPAIGN

LEICESTER SOUTH



Why we are standing

Leicester City Education Authority is proposing to close six special schools. Our aim is to ensure that the authority maintain appropriate choice in education and don't force our children into mainstream schools.
The teachers’ unions have voted against these proposals.

We agree with the teachers and think that any review of the education system should start with the aim of meeting the needs of children.

SOS WEBSITE

LIB DEMS LEAFLETS

Take a look at the latest leaflets from the Lib Dems in Leicester South.



LEICESTER SOUTH NEWS

Take a look at the latest leaflets from the Lib Dems in Hodge Hill.



EAST BIRMINGHAM NEWS