2013 Eastleigh by-election

2013 Eastleigh by-election

← 2010 28 February 2013 2015 →
The Eastleigh seat in the House of Commons. Triggered by vacation of seat by incumbent
Turnout	52.8%
First party Second party   Candidate Mike Thornton Diane James Party Liberal Democrats UKIP Popular vote 13,342 11,571 Percentage 32.1% 27.8% Swing 14.4% 24.2%   Third party Fourth party   Con Lab Candidate Maria Hutchings John O'Farrell Party Conservative Labour Popular vote 10,559 4,088 Percentage 25.4% 9.8% Swing 13.9% 0.2%
MP before election Chris Huhne Liberal Democrats Subsequent MP Mike Thornton Liberal Democrats

A by-election for the House of Commons constituency of Eastleigh in Hampshire was held on 28 February 2013.^[1]

The election was triggered by the resignation of the sitting MP, Liberal Democrat Chris Huhne, which took effect on 5 February 2013.^[2] The resignation coincided with his guilty plea on the eve of a court case in which he and his ex-wife were to be prosecuted for lying to police about a historical speeding offence (committed in 2003 but which only came to light in May 2011). Huhne had already stood down from his position as the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change in February 2012 when first charged.^[3]

Mike Thornton retained the seat for the Liberal Democrats, though with a reduced majority compared with the 2010 general election. UKIP came second with a greatly increased share of the vote, the Conservatives came third, and Labour fourth.^[4] Following the election result, UKIP leader Nigel Farage and Conservative candidate Maria Hutchings each blamed the other party for splitting the vote and allowing the Liberal Democrats to win.^[5]