State of the Parties

¹ The election in Staffordshire South was delayed until 23 rd June 2005 due to the death of the Lib Dem candidate. The seat was won by the Tories.
² Lib Dem William Rennie won Dunfermine & West Fife on 10 th February 2006 following the death of Labour MP Rachel Squire on 5 th January 2006.
³ Independent MP (and Welsh AM) Peter Law (Blaenau Gwent) died on the 25 th April 2006. The seat was held by his election agent, Dai Davies (Independent) on the 29 th June 2006, while the Assembly seat was held by his widow Patricia Davies.
⁴ Tory MP Eric Forth (Bromley & Chislehurst) died on the 19 th May 2006. The seat was held by the Tories on the 29 th June 2006.
⁵ The Rt Hon Clare Short (Birmingham Ladywood) resigned from the Labour party on the 20 th October 2006 to sit as an Independent Labour MP.
⁶ Labour's Plara Khabra (Ealing Southall) died on the 20 th June 2007. Labour held the seat in the by-election held on the 19 th July 2007.
⁷ Quentin Davies (Grantham & Stamford) defected from Conservative to Labour on the 26 th June 2007.
⁸ Labour's Tony Blair (Sedgefield) resigned on the 27 th June 2007. Labour held the seat in the by-election on the 19 th July 2007.
⁹ Robert Wareing (Liverpool West Derby) was de-selected as Labour candidate on the 16 th September 2007 in order to find a seat for the former Minister, Stephen Twigg. Wareing denounced the party as "New Labour Mafia", and resigned the whip to sit as an independent.
¹⁰ Andrew Pelling (Croydon Central) was suspended from the Conservative party on the 25 th September 2007 and now sits as an Independent Conservative.
¹¹ Derek Conway (Old Bexley & Sidcup) had the Conservative whip removed on the 29 th January 2008.
¹² Bob Spink (Castle Point) resigned the Conservative whip on the 12 th March 2008. The Tories claim to have withdrawn the whip first. On the 22 nd April 2008 he announced that was joining the UK Independence Party.
¹³ Labour MP Gwneth Dunwoodie died on the 18 th April 2008. The by-election on the 22 nd May 2008 was won by Edward Timpson for the Conservatives
¹⁴ London Mayor Boris Johnson stood down as Conservatve & Unionist MP for Henley on the 4 th June 2008. The Tories held the seat on the by-election on the 26 th June.
¹⁵ Shadow Home Secretary David David stood down as Conservative & Unionist MP for Haltemprice & Howden on the 12 th June 2008. He won a by-election on the issue of the new 42-day terror detention limit, which was not contested by Labour or the Liberal Democrats.
¹⁶ David Marshall (Labour, Glasgow East) resigned on the 30 th June 2008. The by election on the 24 th July was won by Cllr John Mason for the Scottish National Party.
¹⁷ John MacDougall (Labour, Glenrothes) died on the 13 th August 2008.