1994 Rotherham by-election

The Rotherham by-election was held on 5 May 1994, following the death of Labour Party Member of Parliament for Rotherham Jimmy Boyce.

1994 Rotherham by-election
5 May 1994
  First party Second party Third party
 
LD
Candidate Denis MacShane David Wildgoose Nick Gibb
Party Labour Liberal Democrats Conservative
Popular vote 14,912 7,958 2,649
Percentage 55.6% 29.7% 9.9%
Swing 8.3% 17.4% 13.8%
MP before election

Jimmy Boyce
Labour

 Elected MP

Denis MacShane
Labour

Boyce had won the seat only at the 1992 general election, 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.

Labour decided to stand Denis MacShane, the director of the European Policy Institute. A former journalist and trade union employee, he had unsuccessfully contested Solihull at the October 1974 general election.

The Conservative Party had taken a distant second place in 1992, and having lost the previous two by-elections of the term to the Liberal Democrats, they were not hopeful of gaining ground. They chose to stand Nick Gibb, a chartered accountant working for KPMG. 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 of the Official Monster Raving Loony Party, and Keith Laycock of the Natural Law Party.

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