1999 Leeds Central by-election

1999 Leeds Central by-election

← 1997 10 June 1999 2001 →
Turnout	19.9%
First party Second party Third party   Candidate Hilary Benn Peter Wild Edward Wild Party Labour Liberal Democrats Conservative Popular vote 6,361 4,068 1,618 Percentage 48.2% 30.8% 12.3% Swing 21.4pp 19.6pp 1.4pp
MP before election Derek Fatchett Labour Elected MP Hilary Benn Labour

The Member of Parliament for Leeds Central, Rt. Hon. Derek Fatchett, (Labour) died suddenly on 9 May 1999. The Labour government rushed to organise for the by-election and moved the writ so that the election could be held on 10 June, the same day as elections to the European Parliament.

The shortlist for the Labour candidacy included the Chair of Leeds Central Constituency Labour Party, Maggie Giles-Hill, and Shahid Malik, but the selection went to Hilary Benn who had been Special Adviser to David Blunkett, then Secretary of State for Education and Employment.^[1] The Conservatives chose their general election candidate Edward Wild. The Liberal Democrats provided the strongest challenge and increased their vote by nearly 20%, but this was not enough to take the seat.^[2]

The campaign was subsumed with the European Parliament elections, and the result was an all-time low turnout for a by-election:^{[citation needed]} at 19.9% it held the record for the lowest turnout in a UK parliamentary election since World War II,^[3] until surpassed in 2012 by the Manchester Central by-election.^{[citation needed]}