By Anthony Webber:
A by-election will take place on Thursday 15 February 2024 in the UK Parliament constituency of Wellingborough. This follows a recall petition held in late 2023 that removed the incumbent MP Peter Bone under the terms of the Recall of MPs Act 2015, triggered by his six-week suspension from the House of Commons.
It has been a Conservative-held seat since Bone’s election in 2005, and considered a safe seat since 2010. The seat is estimated to have voted Leave in the 2016 referendum on the United Kingdom’s European Union membership by a margin of 64% to 36%.
All the candidates were asked to respond to a questionnaire on their views in respect of the Israel/Palestine and the Ukraine/Russia conflicts.
This is very important as there is no mandate at all for the current government’s policies.
There is a conspiracy of silence amongst the main parties on these issues by no platforming them so proper debate is prevented.
The local and national media were aware of this questionnaire but decided to ignore it so it did not become an election issue.
A genuine free media would have been questioning the candidates themselves. The sad fact is that there is no longer a free media in the UK, with even most local papers owned by huge media corporations. There has since been the Tucker Carlson interview of President Putin and the rumpus regarding the Labour party candidate who changed his opinions in the Rochdale by-election, but these have been too late to persuade most of the candidates to be open and transparent with the electors.
Only two of the candidates responded, despite being given ample opportunities.
This is appalling because if anyone who is that arrogant gets elected, it is a sure sign that they will ignore engagement with the public and continue with offering policies with no mandate, no accountability or transparency ..
There are 11 candidates as listed below:
It is an interesting election in that it there are seven party candidates and two Independent candidates and two who offer no party description.
One of these is a former Green party candidate at Wellingborough of 2015 and 2019, who achieved over 4% in a previous election at which she stood.
Why she is no longer a Green candidate despite having Green credentials is something we do not know because she and the Green party candidate did not respond to our communications. The other one is apparently representing the Jamme and Kashmir National Panthers Party (JKNPP). He has stood at another by-election recently, but as to why is bewildering.
Opposition to the government’s Immigration policies and the general woke agenda comes from the Reform UK party and Britain First. These are both parties which are trying to present themselves as being different to the mainstream parties, yet in fact acted showed they were capable of suppressing issues too.
They both gave no credit to their cause as neither responded to the questionnaire.
Parties and candidates who are not open about their political views are such a let-down, not only to their supporters, but to the voters as well.
At a previous election in 2015, UKIP achieved 19.6% of the vote, virtually halving the Labour vote and reducing the Conservative vote by not so much.
If the combined Reform UK/Britain First vote is under this, then it will be a disappointment for them. But if you are not open and transparent, then you can hardly expect high votes. There is not a UKIP candidate in this by-election.
The Liberal Democrat candidate did not respond to the questionnaire either, which is a shame because the Liberal Democratic candidate who won the by-election in Somerton and Frome did respond to a different survey we sent to her. I think sometimes the public has a sixth sense as to who is going to best serve them and elect them accordingly. Being an MP is not just about making speeches in Parliament, it is about serving your electorate, engaging with them and representing them.
The Monster Raving Loony Party candidate , Nick Delves, responded to the questionnaire, as did Kevin Watts, an Independent candidate.
Responding is what every candidate should do, and there is simply no excuse not to.
We have a situation where the “Loony” party have become sane, and the main parties have become “loony!”
Kevin Watts is a former Labour party candidate for Wellingborough, and clearly there is another story in why he is not the candidate this time.
However, it is worth noting that his answers show that he is against the Labour party policies referred to in the questionnaire, which support the Conservative government policies in that regard. So, well done to him.
The official Labour candidate is keeping her nose down and obeying party policy. Like her colleague standing in Kingswood in that by-election, there is this sense of entitlement, which is not very commendable. If she wins, I sincerely hope she matures to become her own independent self and puts people before party.
The Conservative candidate is the partner of the former Conservative MP. It would be logical for her to demonstrate that she is not a continuation candidate of no accountability and transparency on policies with no mandate, but she has not done this, and in fact has kept a low profile.
The candidates had five easy to answer questions, including would they support a new petition for a Referendum on the Foreign Policy issues referred to which have no mandate from the public: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/655150
This election is a prime example of where the First Past the Post election system works against the voters having their preferred choice as their MP and is a discouragement for people to turn out to vote. The Single Transferable Vote ( STV) system, where electors vote for the candidates in order of preference, is one which ensures that all voters and candidates are treated fairly
The Candidates responses were as follows:
Monster Raving Loony Party, Nick the Flying Brick:
Hi Anthony
I’m not convinced by referendum. In The Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy the most powerful computer ever created was asked for an answer but the result ’42’ exposed the problem that no-one knew what the question was.
I think referendums might just be the same!
N
Hi Anthony
I’ve stood in a number of parliamentary elections over 25 years and I think this one is much the same regards media attention as all the other recent ones. Going back a few years the local papers would usually give you more column inches, but the local papers aren’t what they were.
The Loony Party get quite good media attention largely through the work of Chinners on Twitter.
Your questions seem a bit loaded and steer to a Parliamentary Petition which strikes me as seriously misguided, do you want us to appease Putin?
N
Hi Anthony.
I totally agree with the support of Ukraine by the UK government and the free world. I think Putin’s Russia is a criminal mafia and needs to be contained.
I believe Israel is entitled to defend itself against Hamas which is a racist organisation. I am very sorry the Palestinian people are caught in the middle of the conflict.
Kevin Charles Watts, Independent:
Hi Anthony, I apologise for late response this email went into my email acct.
To answer your questions however.
I believe that by aiding the Ukraine we as a Country are causing long term damage with Russia. Foreign policy in this Country is a joke we have no reason to support any Country that does not bide by international laws and human rights. I would prefer that any Country causing a war/conflict where we have international agreements that we pull out, we don’t give money or weapons that kill and cause mass destruction.
I hope that has given a clear view that I am against war and also that a ceasefire should have been called weeks/months ago not after 25,000+ innocent man, women and especially children have been murdered.
Regards Kevin
Kevin Watts Cllr
Candidate Independent.
Elections in the 2020s[edit]
| 2024 Wellingborough by-election: Wellingborough[8] | |||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Monster Raving Loony | Nick the Flying Brick | New | |||
| Liberal Democrats | Ana Gunn | ||||
| Reform UK | Ben Habib | New | |||
| Conservative | Helen Harrison | ||||
| no description | Ankit Love Jknpp Jay Mala Post-Mortem | New | |||
| Labour | Gen Kitchen | ||||
| Britain First | Alex Merola | New | |||
| Green | Will Morris | ||||
| Independent | Andre Pyne-Bailey | New | |||
| no description | Marion Turner-Hawes | New | |||
| Independent | Kev Watts | New | |||
| Majority | |||||
| Turnout | |||||
| Registered electors | |||||
Elections in the 2010s[edit]
| 2019 general election: Wellingborough[9] | |||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Conservative | Peter Bone | 32,277 | 62.2 | +4.8 | |
| Labour | Andrea Watts | 13,737 | 26.5 | –7.5 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Suzanna Austin | 4,078 | 7.9 | +4.6 | |
| Green | Marion Turner-Hawes | 1,821 | 3.5 | +1.7 | |
| Majority | 18,540 | 35.7 | +12.3 | ||
| Turnout | 51,913 | 64.3 | –2.9 | ||
| Conservative hold | Swing | +6.15 | |||
END.
Anthony Webber
Independent Political Commentator
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