69-601: Christopher Michael Leslie (born 28 June 1972) is a British business executive and former politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Shipley from 1997 to 2005 and Nottingham East from 2010 to 2019 . A former member of the Labour Party , he defected to form Change UK and later became an independent politician . Born in Keighley , Leslie was educated at Bingley Grammar School and graduated from
138-643: A Government position during his first time in Parliament including voting in favour of the invasion of Iraq in March 2003. In the 2005 general election , Leslie lost his seat to Conservative candidate Philip Davies , by fewer than 500 votes. Leslie led Gordon Brown 's successful (and uncontested) campaign for the leadership of the Labour Party in 2007. Having lost his seat in Shipley, in 2005, he became
207-613: A five-year cycle, or when a snap election is called. Since the Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Act 2022 , Parliament is automatically dissolved once five years have elapsed from its first meeting after an election. If a vacancy arises at another time, due to death or resignation , then a constituency vacancy may be filled by a by-election. Under the Representation of the People Act 1981 any MP sentenced to over
276-469: A member of Parliament is to do what they think in their faithful and disinterested judgement is right and necessary for the honour and safety of Great Britain. The second duty is to their constituents, of whom they are the representative but not the delegate. Burke's famous declaration on this subject is well known. It is only in the third place that their duty to party organisation or programme takes rank. All these three loyalties should be observed, but there
345-558: A net gain of just one seat, 2005 was the first general election since their famous 1983 landslide victory where the number of Conservative seats increased appreciably, although the Conservatives' vote share increased only slightly and this election did mark the third successive general election in which the Conservatives polled below 35%. In some areas the Conservative vote actually fell. The Conservatives claimed to have won
414-499: A person must be at least 18 years old and be a citizen of the UK , a Commonwealth nation, or Ireland . A person is not required to be registered to vote, nor are there any restrictions regarding where a candidate is a resident. The House of Commons Disqualification Act 1975 outlaws the holders of various positions from being MPs. These include civil servants , regular police officers (but not special constables ), regular members of
483-491: A political party, they may act in the interests of that party, subordinate to the other two responsibilities. 2005 United Kingdom general election * Indicates boundary change – so this is a notional figure Tony Blair Labour Tony Blair Labour The 2005 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 5 May 2005, to elect 646 members to the House of Commons . The governing Labour Party led by
552-484: A political research assistant in Bradford . He was elected to Parliament a month before his 25th birthday. Leslie gained the seat of Shipley as a Labour Co-operative candidate in the 1997 general election defeating Marcus Fox , the chairman of the Conservative 1922 Committee and Shipley's Conservative MP since 1970. In the process, Leslie overturned a 12,382 majority, to return a 2,966 majority of his own. It
621-530: A prison sentence of a year or more. People in respect of whom a bankruptcy restrictions order has effect are disqualified from (existing) membership of the House of Commons (details differ slightly in different countries). Members are not permitted to resign their seats. In practice, however, they always can. Should a member wish to resign from the Commons , they may request appointment to one of two ceremonial Crown offices: that of Crown Steward and Bailiff of
690-568: A strong economy; however, Blair had suffered a decline in popularity, which was exacerbated by the controversial decision to send British troops to invade Iraq in 2003. Despite this, Labour mostly retained its leads over the Conservatives in opinion polls on economic competence and leadership, and Conservative leaders Iain Duncan Smith (2001–2003) and Michael Howard (2003–2005) struggled to capitalise on Blair's unpopularity, with
759-502: A year in jail automatically vacates their seat. For certain types of lesser acts of wrongdoing, the Recall of MPs Act 2015 mandates that a recall petition be opened; if signed by more than 10% of registered voters within the constituency, the seat is vacated. In the past, only male adult property owners could stand for Parliament. In 1918, women acquired the right to stand for Parliament , and to vote. To be eligible to stand as an MP,
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#1732790964039828-454: Is based on the 2001 election results if they had been fought on these new 2005 boundaries. At 04:28 BST, it was announced that Labour had won Corby , giving them 324 seats in the House of Commons out of those then declared and an overall majority, Labour's total reaching 355 seats out of the 646 House of Commons seats. Labour received 35.3% of the popular vote , equating to approximately 22% of
897-414: Is no doubt of the order in which they stand under any healthy manifestation of democracy. Theoretically, contemporary MPs are considered to have two duties, or three if they belong to a political party. Their primary responsibility is to act in the national interest. They must also act in the interests of their constituents, where this does not override their primary responsibility. Finally, if they belong to
966-565: The 1992 general election and having not taken a single seat off Labour in 1997 , they had held their gains off Labour from the 2001 general election and had actually made further gains from them. The Liberal Democrats also managed to take three seats from the Conservatives, one notable victory being that of Tim Farron over Tim Collins in Westmorland and Lonsdale , through the use of a "decapitation strategy", which targeted senior Tories. The Liberal Democrats increased their percentage of
1035-613: The 2005 general election . He was director of the New Local Government Network think-tank from 2005 until being elected for Nottingham East at the 2010 general election . Between May and September 2015, Leslie served as Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer in the shadow cabinet of acting Labour leader Harriet Harman . In 2018, he lost a motion of no confidence by his constituency party. In February 2019, Leslie left Labour alongside six other MPs in protest at
1104-472: The 2010 general election , representing Nottingham East . Leslie supported Ed Balls for the leadership of the Labour Party during the 2010 leadership election following the resignation of Gordon Brown, voting for David Miliband as his second preference. In September 2011, he stood in the shadow cabinet elections but missed out on becoming a shadow cabinet minister, however he was promoted to Her Majesty's Opposition becoming Shadow Financial Secretary to
1173-526: The 2015 Labour leadership election , and was critical of the economic policies of Jeremy Corbyn , calling them "starry-eyed, hard left". On 12 September 2015, Leslie resigned from the Labour front bench following the election of Corbyn as party leader. Leslie is a supporter of Labour Friends of Israel and Labour Friends of Palestine and the Middle East . In June 2018 Leslie published a pamphlet through
1242-615: The Guinness Book of World Records as longest consecutive delivery of first results). The vote itself represented a swing (in a safe Labour seat, in a safe Labour region) of about 4% to the Conservatives and 4.5% to the Liberal Democrats, somewhat below the prediction of BBC/ITV exit polls published shortly after 2200 BST. Sunderland North was the next to declare, followed by Houghton and Washington East , both of whose Labour MPs retained their seats but with reductions in
1311-465: The House of Commons —they follow a policy of abstentionism .) The pro- independence Scottish National Party and Plaid Cymru (Party of Wales) stood candidates in every constituency in Scotland and Wales respectively. Many seats were contested by other parties, including several parties without incumbents in the House of Commons. Parties that were not represented at Westminster, but had seats in
1380-616: The Nottingham East constituency to the Labour candidate Nadia Whittome in the 2019 general election , losing his deposit with 3.6% of the vote. In July 2020, Leslie was appointed chief executive of the Credit Services Association, the trade association of the UK debt collection and purchase industry. In February 2005, he married Nicola Murphy, a special adviser to Gordon Brown , in Westminster ;
1449-657: The Senedd (Welsh Parliament) or the Northern Ireland Assembly are also ineligible for the Commons according to the Wales and Northern Ireland (Miscellaneous Provisions) Acts respectively, passed in 2014 (but members of the Scottish Parliament are eligible). People who are bankrupt cannot stand to be MPs. The Representation of the People Act 1981 excludes persons who are currently serving
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#17327909640391518-583: The Social Market Foundation , where he is a member of the Policy Advisory Board, entitled Centre Ground: Six Values of Mainstream Britain . In August the same year The Guardian reported that "many saw the document as laying the intellectual groundwork for a future new [political] party," however Leslie denied this. In September 2018, Leslie lost a vote of no confidence brought by his Constituency Labour Party and became
1587-727: The United Kingdom , a member of Parliament ( MP ) is an individual elected to serve in the House of Commons , the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom . All 650 members of the UK House of Commons are elected using the first-past-the-post voting system in single member constituencies across the whole of the United Kingdom, where each constituency has its own single representative. All MP positions become simultaneously vacant for elections held on
1656-633: The University of Leeds with a Bachelor of Arts in Politics and Parliamentary Studies and a Master of Arts in Industrial and Labour Studies. After working as an office administrator and political researcher, he was elected to Parliament for Shipley aged 24 at the 1997 general election . Leslie was a minister in the Department for Constitutional Affairs from 2001 to 2005 but lost his seat at
1725-535: The armed forces (but not reservists), and some judges . Members of the House of Lords were not permitted to hold Commons seats until the passing of the House of Lords Reform Act 2014 , which allows retired or resigned members of the House of Lords to stand or re-stand as MPs. Members of legislatures outside of the Commonwealth are excluded, with the exemption of the Irish legislature . Additionally, members of
1794-942: The devolved assemblies and/or the European Parliament , included the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland , the UK Independence Party , the Green Party of England and Wales , the Scottish Green Party , and the Scottish Socialist Party . The Health Concern party also stood again. A full list of parties which declared their intention to run can be found on the list of parties contesting the 2005 general election . All parties campaigned using such tools as party manifestos , party political broadcasts and touring
1863-460: The prime minister Tony Blair won its third consecutive victory, with Blair becoming the second Labour leader after Harold Wilson to form three majority governments. However, its majority fell to 66 seats; the majority it won four years earlier had been of 167 seats. The UK media interpreted the results as an indicator of a breakdown in trust in the government, and especially in Blair. This
1932-453: The returning officer who was obliged to declare the result as soon as it was known. As previously, there was serious competition amongst constituencies to be first to declare. Sunderland South repeated its performance in the last three elections and declared Labour incumbent Chris Mullin re-elected as MP with a majority of 11,059 at approximately 2245 BST (failing by two minutes to beat its previous best, but making it eligible for entry into
2001-531: The "intolerant hard left". Centrist Labour MPs rallied around Leslie online. On 18 February 2019, Leslie and six other MPs ( Chuka Umunna , Luciana Berger , Angela Smith , Mike Gapes , Gavin Shuker and Ann Coffey ) quit Labour in protest at Jeremy Corbyn's leadership to form The Independent Group, later Change UK . He continued to serve as a Change UK MP after six of its 11 MPs left the party in June 2019. He lost
2070-471: The 1920s, was reduced from six MPs to one, with party leader David Trimble himself being unseated. The more hardline Democratic Unionist Party became the largest Northern Irish party, with nine MPs elected. Apart from Trimble, notable MPs leaving the House of Commons at this election included former SDLP leader John Hume , former Cabinet ministers Estelle Morris , Paul Boateng , Chris Smith , Gillian Shephard , Virginia Bottomley and Michael Portillo ,
2139-450: The BBC and ITV agreed for the first time to pool their respective data, using results from Mori and NOP. More than 20,000 people were interviewed for the poll at 120 polling stations across the country. The predictions were very accurate—initial projections saw Labour returned to power with a majority of 66 (down from 160), and the final result (including South Staffordshire , where the election
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2208-528: The Chiltern Hundreds , or that of Crown Steward and Bailiff of the Manor of Northstead . These offices are sinecures (that is, they involve no actual duties); they exist solely to permit the "resignation" of members of the House of Commons. The Chancellor of the Exchequer is responsible for making the appointment, and, by convention, never refuses to do so when asked by a member who desires to leave
2277-511: The Conservatives. The first Liberal Democrat seat to be declared was North East Fife , the constituency of Lib Dem deputy leader Sir Menzies Campbell which he had held since 1987 . The constituency of Crawley in West Sussex had the slimmest majority of any seat, with Labour's Laura Moffatt holding off the Conservatives' Henry Smith by 37 votes after three recounts. Following problems with exit polls in previous British elections,
2346-628: The Father of the House of Commons Tam Dalyell , Tony Banks and Sir Teddy Taylor , while Stephen Twigg lost the Enfield Southgate constituency back to the Conservatives. A notable MP who joined the House of Commons at this election was future Labour leader and energy secretary Ed Miliband . Following the election, Michael Howard conceded defeat , resigned as Conservative leader and was succeeded by future prime minister David Cameron . Blair resigned as both prime minister and leader of
2415-530: The House of Commons. Members of Parliament are entitled to use the post-nominal initials MP. MPs are referred to as "honourable" as a courtesy only during debates in the House of Commons (e.g., "the honourable member for ..."), or if they are the children of peers below the rank of marquess ("the honourable [first name] [surname]"). Those who are members of the Privy Council use the form The Right Honourable ( The Rt Hon. ) Name MP. The first duty of
2484-422: The Labour Party in June 2007, and was replaced by Gordon Brown , the then Chancellor of the Exchequer . The election results were broadcast live on the BBC and presented by Peter Snow , David Dimbleby , Tony King , Jeremy Paxman , and Andrew Marr . The governing Labour Party , led by Tony Blair , was looking to secure a third consecutive term in office and to retain a large majority. The Conservative Party
2553-555: The Lib Dems' vote share predicted by the exit poll was accurate (22.6% compared to the actual 22.0%), they did better in some Lib Dem-Labour marginals than predicted on the basis of the national share of the vote, and achieved a net gain of 11 seats. There were major boundary changes in Scotland, where the number of seats was reduced from 72 to 59. As a result of this each party lost some seats, and this notional election result below
2622-417: The Liberal Democrats achieving what was at that point their largest vote share in their history. Blair won a third term as prime minister, with Labour having 355 MPs, but with a popular vote share of just 35.2%. This was the smallest of any majority government in UK electoral history until Keir Starmer won an even lower share in 2024. In terms of votes, Labour was only narrowly ahead of the Conservatives, but
2691-538: The Liberal Democrats failed to match the higher national votes of the SDP–Liberal Alliance in the 1980s either in absolute or percentage terms. The total combined vote for Labour, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats proved to be the lowest main three-party vote since 1922 . Popular vote The figure of 355 seats for Labour does not include the Speaker Michael Martin . See also
2760-655: The Liberal Democrats. In Northern Ireland the Ulster Unionists were all but wiped out, only keeping North Down , with leader David Trimble losing his seat in Upper Bann . For the first time the DUP became the biggest party in Northern Ireland. It was the first general election since 1929 in which no party received more than ten million votes. It was the most "three-cornered" election since 1923 , though
2829-762: The Official Opposition, but more realistically hoped to play a major part in a parliament led by a minority Labour or Conservative government. In Northern Ireland the Democratic Unionist Party sought to make further gains from the Ulster Unionist Party in unionist politics, and Sinn Féin hoped to overtake the Social Democratic and Labour Party in nationalist politics. (Sinn Féin MPs do not take their seats in
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2898-569: The Tories and the Liberal Democrats, Labour also lost Blaenau Gwent , its safest seat in Wales, to Independent Peter Law , and Bethnal Green and Bow to Respect candidate George Galloway . The Conservatives claimed that their increased number of seats showed disenchantment with the Labour government and was a precursor of a Conservative breakthrough at the next election. Following three consecutive elections of declining representation and then in 2001
2967-561: The Treasury . On 7 October 2013, he was promoted to the Shadow Cabinet, becoming Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury . In May 2015, he was promoted to Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer , replacing Ed Balls , who had lost his parliamentary seat in the 2015 general election . In this role he opposed Labour's proposals for rent controls, while receiving income as a residential landlord himself. Leslie supported Yvette Cooper in
3036-538: The caption "Britain's working, don't let the Tories wreck it again." For the Liberal Democrats, this was the second and final election campaign fought by leader Charles Kennedy , who strongly opposed the Iraq War and personally offered a more down-to-earth approach to voters, which proved popular. There were some questions, however, over Kennedy's abilities when, at the Liberal Democrat manifesto launch, he
3105-541: The country in what are commonly referred to as battle buses . Local elections in parts of England and in Northern Ireland were held on the same day. The polls were open for fifteen hours, from 07:00 to 22:00 BST ( UTC+1 ). The election came just over three weeks after the dissolution of Parliament on 11 April by Queen Elizabeth II , at the request of the Prime Minister, Tony Blair. Following
3174-726: The couple became engaged the previous year. In April 2016, Nicola Murphy founded Labour Tomorrow, an organisation which funded Labour-connected activists and groups who oppose Jeremy Corbyn as party leader. Member of Parliament (United Kingdom) King Charles III [REDACTED] William, Prince of Wales [REDACTED] Charles III ( King-in-Council ) [REDACTED] Starmer ministry ( L ) Keir Starmer ( L ) Angela Rayner ( L ) ( King-in-Parliament ) [REDACTED] Charles III [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] The Lord Reed The Lord Hodge Andrew Bailey Monetary Policy Committee In
3243-425: The death of Pope John Paul II on 2 April, it was announced that the calling of the election would be delayed until 5 April. Thanks to eight years of sustained economic growth Labour could point to a strong economy, with greater investment in public services such as education and health. This was overshadowed, however, by the issue of the controversial 2003 invasion of Iraq , which met widespread public criticism at
3312-674: The director of the New Local Government Network , which was described in the Local Government Chronicle in 2001 as a "Blairite think-tank". On 14 April 2010, he was selected as the Labour parliamentary candidate for Nottingham East in the general election campaign, after the National Executive Committee imposed a shortlist and selection panel, following the late resignation of the MP John Heppell . Leslie returned to Parliament at
3381-498: The electorate on a 61.3% turnout, up from 59.4% turnout in 2001. As expected, voter disenchantment led to an increase of support for many opposition parties, and caused many eligible to vote, not to turn out. Labour achieved a third successive term in office for the first time in their history, though with reduction of the Labour majority from 167 to 67 (as it was before the declaration of South Staffordshire ). As it became clear that Labour had won an overall majority, Michael Howard ,
3450-479: The fourth Labour MP to have such a motion passed against him. The motion, brought by members of the Mapperley branch of Nottingham East, criticised Leslie for his "disloyalty and deceit", which it dubbed "a severe impediment to Labour Party electability", and as "incompatible" with Leslie continuing as the Labour candidate. Leslie did not attend the vote and had earlier remarked that the party had been infiltrated by
3519-516: The general election in England, since they received more votes than Labour although Labour still won a majority of seats. The Liberal Democrats claimed that their continued gradual increase in seats and percentage vote showed they were in a position to make further gains from both parties. They pointed in particular to the fact that they were now in second place in roughly one hundred and ninety constituencies and that having had net losses to Labour in
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#17327909640393588-406: The incumbent majorities of up to 9%. The first Scottish seat to declare was Rutherglen and Hamilton West — another safe Labour seat, also a Labour hold, but with the majority reduced by 4%. The first seat to change hands was Putney , where Labour's majority of 2,771 fell to a strong Conservative challenge, with a total swing of about 5,000 (6.2%). This was also the first seat to be declared for
3657-569: The leader of the Conservative Party, announced his intention to retire from frontline politics. The final seat to declare was the delayed poll in South Staffordshire, at just after 1 a.m. on Friday 24 June. The election was followed by further criticism of the UK electoral system. Calls for reform came particularly from Lib Dem supporters, citing that they received only just over 10% of the overall seats with 22.1% of
3726-458: The leadership of Jeremy Corbyn to form The Independent Group, later Change UK . Leslie was born in Keighley , West Riding of Yorkshire, and attended Bingley Grammar School before becoming a student at the University of Leeds , graduating in 1994 with a Bachelor of Arts in Politics and Parliamentary Studies. From 1994 to 1996, he was an office administrator and gained a Master of Arts in Industrial and Labour Studies in 1996, afterwards becoming
3795-506: The party consistently trailing behind Labour in the polls throughout the 2001–2005 parliament. The Conservatives campaigned on policies such as immigration limits, improving poorly managed hospitals, and reducing high crime rates. The Liberal Democrats took a strong stance against the Iraq War , particularly due to the absence of a second United Nations resolution, This anti-war position resonated with disenchanted Labour voters, leading to
3864-523: The party still held a comfortable lead in terms of seats. The Conservatives returned 198 MPs, with 32 more seats than they had won at the previous general election, and won the popular vote in England , while still ending up with 91 fewer MPs in England than Labour. The Liberal Democrats saw their share of the popular vote increase by 3.7%, and won the most seats of any third party since 1923 , with 62 MPs. Anti-war activist and former Labour MP George Galloway
3933-494: The popular vote. The only parties to win a substantially higher percentage of seats than they achieved in votes were Labour, the Democratic Unionist Party, Sinn Féin, and Health Concern , which ran only one candidate. The results of the election give a Gallagher index of dis-proportionality of 16.76. The Labour government claimed that being returned to office for a third term for the first time ever showed
4002-462: The public approval of Labour 's governance and the continued unpopularity of the Conservatives. Nevertheless, Labour's vote declined to 35.3%, the lowest share of the popular vote to have formed a majority government in the history of the UK House of Commons. In many areas the collapse in the Labour vote resulted in a host of seats changing hands. Labour also failed to gain any new seats, almost unique in any election since 1945. As well as losing seats to
4071-470: The time, and would dog Blair throughout the campaign. The Chancellor, Gordon Brown , played a prominent role in the election campaign, frequently appearing with Blair and ensuring that the economy would remain the central focus of Labour's message. Recently elected Conservative leader Michael Howard brought a great level of experience and stability to a party that had ousted its former leader Iain Duncan Smith just 18 months prior. The Conservative campaign
4140-405: The unpopular Major Government of 1992–1997 , airing a party election broadcast attacking Howard, showing a montage of scenes from Howard's tenure as Home Secretary , including prison riots and home repossessions. It also launched a billboard campaign showing Howard, and the Conservative Party's four previous leaders ( Iain Duncan Smith , William Hague , John Major and Margaret Thatcher ), with
4209-579: The vote by 3.7%, the Conservatives by 0.6%, and Labour's dropped by 5.4%. The UK media interpreted the results as an indicator of a breakdown in trust in the government, and especially in Blair. Meanwhile, the Scottish National Party improved its position in Scotland, regaining the Western Isles and Dundee East from Labour, having lost both seats in 1987. In Wales Plaid Cymru failed to gain any seats and lost Ceredigion to
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#17327909640394278-401: Was asked about local income tax, but appeared confused on the figures. Both the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives were keen to tackle Labour's introduction of tuition fees , which both opposition parties opposed and promised to abolish. At the close of voting (2200 BST ) the ballot boxes were sealed and returned to the counting centres, where counting proceeded under the supervision of
4347-663: Was elected as the MP for Bethnal Green and Bow under the Respect – The Unity Coalition banner, unseating Oona King ; Richard Taylor was re-elected for Kidderminster Health Concern in Wyre Forest ; and independent candidate Peter Law was elected in Blaenau Gwent . In Northern Ireland , the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), the more moderate of the main unionist parties, which had dominated Northern Irish politics since
4416-445: Was managed by Australian strategist Lynton Crosby . The campaign focused on more traditional conservative issues like immigration, which created some controversy with the slogan "It's not racist to impose limits on immigration". They also criticised Labour's "dirty" hospitals and high crime levels, under the umbrella of the slogan "Are you thinking what we're thinking?" However, Labour counter-attacked, by emphasising Howard's role in
4485-439: Was postponed due to the death of a candidate) was indeed a Labour majority of 66. The projected shares of the vote in Great Britain were Labour 35% (down 6% on 2001), Conservatives 33% (up 1%), Liberal Democrats 22% (up 4%) and other parties 8% (up 1%). The Conservatives were expected to make the biggest gains, however — 44 seats according to the exit poll — with the Liberal Democrats expected to take as few as two. While
4554-474: Was reduced by a half to 1,428. Shortly before his 30th birthday, he became a junior minister in the Cabinet Office in 2001, following the recent election. In 2002, he was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister . He then moved to spend almost two years as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Department for Constitutional Affairs , working again under Falconer from 2003 to 2005. He never rebelled against
4623-446: Was seeking to regain seats lost to both Labour and the Liberal Democrats since the 1992 general election , and move from being the Official Opposition into government. The Liberal Democrats hoped to make gains from both main parties, but especially the Conservative Party, with a "decapitation" strategy targeting members of the Shadow Cabinet . The Lib Dems had also wished to become the governing party, or to make enough gains to become
4692-404: Was the first time the Labour Party had won a third consecutive election, but would be the last election victory for Labour until 2024 . The Liberal Democrats , led by Charles Kennedy , increased its seat count for a third consecutive election, netting the most seats in its history until 2024 and the most of any of the connected British Liberal parties since 1929 . The Labour campaign emphasised
4761-425: Was the neighbouring seat to his hometown of Keighley , another seat taken by Labour from the Conservatives in 1997. Leslie was the Baby of the House when he first entered the Commons, remaining so until June 2000 when David Lammy , three weeks Leslie's junior, was elected. He was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary to Lord Falconer for three-and-a-half years. Leslie held his seat in 2001, but his majority
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