A special election held between general elections to fill a vacancy, as for a parliamentary seat. In other words, by-elections are called whenever a sitting MP dies or retires from the Commons before Parliament is dissolved). They may also take place if the High Court rules that election law has been broken.
Once a by-election has been called, the same procedural rules apply as in a general election - with the exception that candidates are allowed a higher rate of expenses (with the limit of 100,000£, regulated by the Electoral Commission).
National interest in by-elections tends to be quite high since they are regarded as public opinion meters between general elections.
By-elections in UK since the 2005 General Election
No comments:
Post a Comment