2014 Rochester and Strood by-election

2014 Rochester and Strood by-election

20 November 2014 (2014-11-20)

Rochester and Strood constituency
Turnout50.6%
  First party Second party Third party
 
Candidate Mark Reckless Kelly Tolhurst Naushabah Khan
Party UKIP Conservative Labour
Popular vote 16,867 13,947 6,713
Percentage 42.1% 34.8% 16.8%
Swing New party 14.4% 11.7%

MP before election

Mark Reckless
Conservative

Subsequent MP

Mark Reckless
UKIP

A by-election was held on 20 November 2014 for the UK parliamentary constituency of Rochester and Strood in Kent, England. The sitting Member of Parliament (MP) Mark Reckless called it on joining the UK Independence Party (UKIP), from the Conservatives. He resigned his seat.

Reckless retained the seat, and polled 42.1% of the vote as the UKIP candidate. The Conservative Party came second with 34.8%, and Labour third with 16.8%. The other ten candidates lost their deposits, including the Liberal Democrats whose 0.87% vote share was a record low for them, and the lowest ever for a party in government.

This was the last by-election of the 2010–2015 Parliament.