A by-election took place in the United Kingdom parliamentary constituency of Rutherglen and Hamilton West on 5 October 2023, following the recall of incumbent MP Margaret Ferrier.
Ferrier, elected for the Scottish National Party, was suspended from the House of Commons in June 2023 for 30 days for breaching COVID-19 regulations in 2020. In accordance with the Recall of MPs Act 2015, this suspension triggered a recall petition in the constituency. This petition was successful, resulting in her removal from the seat and thus triggering a by-election.
The by-election was won by Michael Shanks of Labour with 58.6% of the vote, while Katy Loudon of the SNP finished in second place with 27.6% of the vote. Twelve other candidates stood in the by-election, although none of them exceeded the 5% of the vote required to retain their deposits. Turnout was recorded at 37.19%.
Constituency
Rutherglen and Hamilton West is a suburban constituency in Greater Glasgow, stretching eastwards along the River Clyde and south into Lanarkshire. A former centre of heavy industry, its historical coal mining industry died out as far back as 1950. Significant swathes of the seat have been highlighted as some of the most deprived areas of Scotland. Most constituents live in the town of Rutherglen and the western parts of the town of Hamilton.
The constituency was created for the 2005 general election, out of the abolished Glasgow Rutherglen and Hamilton South constituencies. Labour MP Tommy McAvoy, who was the longest-serving government whip, stood down at the 2010 election, and the seat was retained for the party by Tom Greatrex with an increased majority.
The constituency was regarded as a safe seat for Labour until the 2015 general election, when Margaret Ferrier took it from Greatrex by nearly 10,000 votes amidst a Scottish National Party landslide. In the snap 2017 general election, the seat was taken back by Labour's Ged Killen with a majority of just 265 votes. In the 2019 general election, Ferrier defeated Killen by a majority of 5,000 votes, nonetheless making it one of the most marginal SNP seats in Scotland.
Recall petition
Background
Ferrier, standing for the Scottish National Party (SNP), was first elected MP for the constituency in the 2015 general election, lost her seat in 2017 and then regained it in 2019. In September 2020, Ferrier made serious breaches of COVID-19 regulations. She noted symptoms of COVID-19 and took a test, then visited various public places. She took a train from Scotland to London, on 28 September, and while waiting for results, she spoke in a parliamentary debate that evening. She received a positive test result the same evening and returned to Scotland the next morning, again by train.
Ferrier was subsequently suspended from the SNP, and referred herself to the police and the Parliamentary standards authorities. On 4 January 2021, she was arrested and charged by Police Scotland with "culpable and reckless conduct." She pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 270 hours of community service.
On 30 March 2023, the Commons Select Committee on Standards, recommended that she be suspended from Parliament for 30 days. She lost her appeal on the recommendation on 22 May 2023 with the independent panel finding that she "acted with blatant and deliberate dishonest intent. She acted with a high degree of recklessness to the public and to colleagues and staff at the House of Commons. She acted selfishly, putting her own interests above the public interest." On 6 June 2023, the House of Commons voted to suspend Ferrier for 30 days. The Recall of MPs Act 2015 provides that a recall petition is automatically initiated by any of several events happening to an MP, one of which is suspension from the House of Commons for a period of more than 10 sitting days or 14 calendar days.
Petition process
On 6 June 2023, South Lanarkshire Council was formally notified by Speaker of the House of Commons that a petition was to be opened. The petition opened at 9am on 20 June 2023 for a period of six weeks, closing at 5pm on 31 July. Electors were able to sign in person at seven locations within the constituency, as well as via post or proxy.
At the announcement of the petition, the electorate of the constituency was determined to be 81,124 persons, meaning that 8,113 signatures were required for the petition to succeed. Per the petition rules, no information on the progress of the petition was reported until the end of the signing period. The Labour Party and the SNP were both registered as campaigners for the success of the petition.