2006 Bromley and Chislehurst by-election

2006 Bromley and Chislehurst by-election

← 2005 29 June 2006 2010 →
Bromley and Chislehurst parliamentary seat
Turnout	40.2%
First party Second party   LD Candidate Bob Neill Ben Abbotts Party Conservative Liberal Democrats Popular vote 11,621 10,988 Percentage 40.0% 37.8% Swing 11.1% 17.5%   Third party Fourth party   Candidate Nigel Farage Rachel Reeves Party UKIP Labour Popular vote 2,347 1,925 Percentage 8.1% 6.6% Swing 4.9% 15.6%
MP before election Eric Forth Conservative Subsequent MP Bob Neill Conservative

A by-election was held in the UK parliament constituency of Bromley and Chislehurst in London, following the death of Conservative Member of Parliament Eric Forth on 17 May 2006.^[1] The writ for the electing of a new member was issued on 6 June for a polling day of 29 June 2006, the same day as the Blaenau Gwent by-elections.^[2] The Conservatives held the seat but with their majority much reduced by the Liberal Democrats.

Labour, who stood future Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves, was pushed into fourth place by Nigel Farage of the UK Independence Party. This was only the second time Labour had fallen to fourth place in an English by-election since World War II, the 1989 Richmond (Yorks) by-election being the other occasion. Labour would later drop to fifth place at the 2008 Henley by-election.