2022 Tiverton and Honiton by-election

2022 Tiverton and Honiton by-election

23 June 2022

Tiverton and Honiton constituency
Turnout52.3% ( 19.6 pp)
  First party Second party
 
Con
Candidate Richard Foord Helen Hurford
Party Liberal Democrats Conservative
Popular vote 22,537 16,393
Percentage 52.9% 38.5%
Swing 38.0 pp 21.7pp

MP before election

Neil Parish
Conservative

Elected MP

Richard Foord
Liberal Democrats

A by-election for the United Kingdom parliamentary constituency of Tiverton and Honiton was held on 23 June 2022. It was caused by the resignation of incumbent Conservative Party Member of Parliament (MP) Neil Parish following his admission that he viewed pornography on his mobile phone in the House of Commons chamber. The by-election was won by Richard Foord of the Liberal Democrats. The Conservative majority of 24,239 in the 2019 general election is thought to have been the largest majority ever overturned in a by-election.

It was the Liberal Democrats' third gain from the Conservatives since 2019, following their victory at Chesham and Amersham in June 2021, and in North Shropshire in December 2021.

The election was held on the same day as the 2022 Wakefield by-election, which the Conservatives lost to the Labour Party. This was the first time since the 1991 Kincardine and Deeside and Langbaurgh by-elections that a British government has lost two seats in by-elections on the same day.