Crewe and Nantwich by-election, 2008
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The Crewe and Nantwich by-election, 2008 was a parliamentary by-election held on 22 May 2008, for the British House of Commons constituency of Crewe and Nantwich, in Cheshire, England. The election was won by the Conservative party candidate Edward Timpson, who defeated the Labour party candidate Tamsin Dunwoody, on a swing from Labour to Conservative of 17.6%, a swing that in a general election would see nine Labour cabinet ministers lose their seats. At the time of the by-election, a swing of 7% in a general election would have seen the Conservatives gain an overall majority over Labour. This was the first seat gained by the Conservatives in a by-election since the Mitcham and Morden by-election, 1982.
The by-election was called following the death on 17 April 2008 of the sitting MP Gwyneth Dunwoody. The timing of the election caused controversy as, by convention, by-elections are not moved until after the funeral of the deceased Member of Parliament, which drew protests from Conservative and Liberal Democrat members in the House of Commons. However the writ was moved with the approval of the Dunwoody family.
The election had attracted high media and public interest following heavy defeats for the incumbent Labour party in the local elections held earlier that same month, and the fact it followed the controversial removal by the Labour government of the 10 pence national income tax band, which had seen a backbench rebellion against the prime minister Gordon Brown, causing an announcement in the same month of a recovery package to help the people left worse off by the move.
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