Wigan by-election, 1999
Encyclopedia
The Labour
Member of Parliament
for Wigan
(Greater Manchester
, England
) Roger Stott
, died on 9 August 1999, causing a by-election
in the constituency. Polling day was set for 23 September. Labour selected Neil Turner, who had been a local councillor for 27 years, to defend the seat. The Conservatives
chose Tom Peet, who was an active Trade Union
ist and had worked at a nearby coal mine
.
Wigan was a massively safe Labour seat and none of the other candidates could form an effective challenge.
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for Wigan
Wigan (UK Parliament constituency)
Wigan is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election...
(Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 2.6 million. It encompasses one of the largest metropolitan areas in the United Kingdom and comprises ten metropolitan boroughs: Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wigan, and the...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
) Roger Stott
Roger Stott
Roger Stott, CBE was a British Labour Party politician.-Biography:Stott was born in Rochdale, the first child of Richard and Edith Stott. He went to school in Rochdale and when he was 15 he joined the Merchant Navy...
, died on 9 August 1999, causing a by-election
By-election
A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....
in the constituency. Polling day was set for 23 September. Labour selected Neil Turner, who had been a local councillor for 27 years, to defend the seat. The Conservatives
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
chose Tom Peet, who was an active Trade Union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
ist and had worked at a nearby coal mine
Coal mining
The goal of coal mining is to obtain coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content, and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from iron ore and for cement production. In the United States,...
.
Wigan was a massively safe Labour seat and none of the other candidates could form an effective challenge.