The Newport West Parliamentary By-election

Voters in Newport West go to the polls today (Thursday 4th April) in a by-election to choose their new MP.

The vote was called following the death of Labour's Paul Flynn, who died on 17 February 2019, following a long illness. Newport West has been held by Labour since 1987, when Paul Flynn won the seat from the Conservatives.

Below is a list of candidates who are standing in the election. 

The national backdrop for the by-election has been the continued uncertainty over Brexit, with the original planned date for leaving the EU being postponed and the failure of the House of Commons to agree a way forward. The Conservatives are concerned this will adversely affect their vote.

In 2016, 56% of voters in Newport voted to leave the European Union, although it's votes were counted by local government area rather than constituency, meaning it is impossible to say with certainty how Newport West voted.

Although Labour’s Ruth Jones has remained the bookies’ favourite throughout the campaign, and was 1/12 to win at Ladbrokes this morning, it’s been a hotly contested by-election, with many of the parties putting significant resources into campaigning. 

The fight for second place looks to be between the Conservatives and UKIP. The bookies have Neil Hamilton for UKIP on 8/1 ahead of Matthew Evans for the Conservatives who is on 16/1.

This is quite significant because at the 2017 General Election UKIP polled well behind the Conservatives.

The result is expected in the early hours of Friday morning.