The Rotherham by-election was held on 5 May 1994, following the death of Labour Party

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 Rotherham

Rotherham (UK Parliament constituency)

Rotherham is a borough constituency covering the town of Rotherham in South Yorkshire. It returns one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post voting system....

 Jimmy Boyce.

Boyce had won the seat only at the 1992 general election

United Kingdom general election, 1992

The United Kingdom general election of 1992 was held on 9 April 1992, and was the fourth consecutive victory for the Conservative Party. This election result was one of the biggest surprises in 20th Century politics, as polling leading up to the day of the election showed Labour under leader Neil...

, but it had been continuously held by Labour since 1933, usually with a large majority. As a result, Labour were clear favourites to hold at the by-election

By-election

A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....

.

Labour decided to stand Denis MacShane

Denis MacShane

Denis MacShane is a British politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for Rotherham since the 1994 by-election and served as the Minister for Europe from 2002 until 2005, as well as being a current Policy Council member for Labour Friends of Israel.On 14 October 2010, it was announced...

, the director of the European Policy Institute. A former journalist

Journalist

A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...

 and 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...

 employee, he had unsuccessfully contested Solihull

Solihull (UK Parliament constituency)

Solihull is a borough 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.- Boundaries :...

 at the October 1974 general election

United Kingdom general election, October 1974

The United Kingdom general election of October 1974 took place on 10 October 1974 to elect 635 members to the British House of Commons. It was the second general election of that year and resulted in the Labour Party led by Harold Wilson, winning by a tiny majority of 3 seats.The election of...

.

The Conservative Party

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...

 had taken a distant second place in 1992, and having lost the previous two by-elections of the term to the Liberal Democrats

Liberal Democrats

The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...

, they were not hopeful of gaining ground. They chose to stand Nick Gibb

Nick Gibb

Nicolas John "Nick" Gibb is a British Conservative Party politician. He is the Member of Parliament for Bognor Regis and Littlehampton...

, a chartered accountant

Chartered Accountant

Chartered Accountants were the first accountants to form a professional body, initially established in Britain in 1854. The Edinburgh Society of Accountants , the Glasgow Institute of Accountants and Actuaries and the Aberdeen Society of Accountants were each granted a royal charter almost from...

 working for KPMG

KPMG

KPMG is one of the largest professional services networks in the world and one of the Big Four auditors, along with Deloitte, Ernst & Young and PwC. Its global headquarters is located in Amstelveen, Netherlands....

. The Liberal Democrats had taken less than one eighth of the votes cast in 1992, a significant decrease from the previous election. Despite this, they stood the same candidate, David Wildgoose.

Two other candidates stood: Screaming Lord Sutch

Screaming Lord Sutch

David Edward Sutch , also known as "Screaming Lord Sutch, 3rd Earl of Harrow", or simply "Screaming Lord Sutch", was a musician from the United Kingdom...

 of the Official Monster Raving Loony Party

Official Monster Raving Loony Party

The Official Monster Raving Loony Party is a registered political party established in the United Kingdom in 1983 by musician and politician David Sutch , better known as Screaming Lord Sutch.-History:...

, and Keith Laycock of the Natural Law Party

Natural Law Party

The Natural Law Party was a transnational party based on the teachings of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. It was active in up to 74 countries, and ran candidates in at least ten. Founded in 1992, it was mostly disbanded in 2004 but continues in India and in some U.S. states.The NLP viewed "natural law" as...

.

Results

As expected, MacShane easily won the seat, although, disappointingly for the main opposition party, his vote was more than eight percent down on Boyce's. Wildgoose improved his fortunes, more than doubling his vote, and taking second place. Gibb took less than ten percent of the votes, falling to a distant third place. Sutch was able to record his best ever result, taking 1,114 votes and a 4.2% share - within a percentage point of the Loonies retaining a deposit for the first time.

At the 1997 general election

United Kingdom general election, 1997

The United Kingdom general election, 1997 was held on 1 May 1997, more than five years after the previous election on 9 April 1992, to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party ended its 18 years in opposition under the leadership of Tony Blair, and won the general...

, MacShane retained the seat, with an increased majority. Wildgoose also stood, but proved unable to equal his performance in 1994, and by 2001 moved to contest Wentworth

Wentworth (UK Parliament constituency)

Wentworth was a parliamentary constituency in South Yorkshire. Originally created in 1918 and was abolished in 1950, the name was revived when a new constituency was created from 1983 to 2010. Throughout its history, Wentworth was a safe seat for the Labour Party.-Boundaries:Wentworth constituency...

. Gibb became one of the few Conservatives to enter Parliament in 1997, winning Bognor Regis and Littlehampton. Sutch stood in several subsequent by-elections, but was never able to beat his total in Rotherham.