October 2009
Summary
Norwich North by-election
The Norwich North Organisation
by-election took place In UK Parliamentary elections in
on 23 July 2009 England and Wales, the
following the resignation Returning Officer may receive
the writ, declare the result and
of the Labour Member return the writ but all other
of Parliament (MP), functions are carried out by the
Dr Ian Gibson. This Acting Returning Officer (ARO).
summary provides The ARO is a senior local
government officer statutorily
information on the appointed to run the election
administration of the independent of their local
resulting by-election in authority position. The ARO for
the Norwich North by-election
the Parliamentary was Broadland District Council’s
constituency of Chief Executive Officer Colin
Norwich North. Bland.
The Norwich North constituency
The following includes parts of the two council
information was areas of Broadland District
obtained during the Council and Norwich City
Council. In constituencies with
observation of the by- boundaries that cross over local
election by Commission government borders, the
representatives and Secretary of State designates
the lead role to the council with
from information the higher number of electors, in
provided by the Acting this case Broadland, which has
Returning Officer, an electorate of 47,362. Norwich
Electoral Registration has an electorate of 27,762.
Officer and their staff. Timetable
Although the short timescale for
by-elections has planning
implications for the ARO, a
significant factor at Norwich
North was that the by-election
closely followed the 4 June
European Parliamentary
elections, meaning that systems
and procedures were already in
place.
The timetable for the Norwich
North by-election was 17 working
days. The key dates were:
• Dr Gibson resigned on 5 June
2009 and the writ of election
was issued following a motion
of the House of Commons on
30 June 2009.
• The writ was received at
Broadland on Wednesday 1
July 2009 and the Notice of
Election was published on
Friday 3 July.
• The closing date for the
delivery of nomination papers
was Wednesday 8 July.
• Applications to register to vote
in the by-election, or to apply
for a postal vote, had to be
received by the Electoral
Registration Officer by
Wednesday 8 July while
applications to vote by proxy
(except in the case of a
medical emergency) had to
be received by Wednesday 15
July.
• Polling day for the by-election
was set as Thursday 23 July.
The Electoral Commission: Norwich North by-election
Candidates
Twelve candidates contested the
Norwich North by-election. Ten
candidates stood for election as
a candidate for a registered
political party and two
candidates stood as
independent candidates.
Political parties are required to
be registered with the Electoral
Commission if they wish their
candidates to use the registered
party name or one of their 12
descriptions on the ballot paper
when contesting any statutory
election in the UK.
Nominations
The nominations process went
smoothly. The ARO offered
informal checks of candidates’
nomination papers although
most chose not to submit
papers for an informal check. All
12 candidates who submitted
nomination papers remained
validly nominated.
Candidates’ election
expenses
Candidates contesting a UK
Parliamentary by-election are
subject to a £100,000 spending
limit, which is applicable from
the moment a person becomes
a candidate through to the date
Table 1: Reasons for postal vote rejection
Rejected for
Want of a signature and/or date of birth
Mismatched signature and/or date of birth
of the poll. Expense returns with
supporting receipts must be
submitted to the ARO by every
candidate along with a
declaration from the agent,
within 35 calendar days (27
August) from the date the result
of the by-election is announced.
Absent voting
The management of absent
voting was split between the two
authorities, Broadland District
and Norwich City, with each
processing postal votes from
the electors within their
boundaries. The ARO
contracted commercial
suppliers to print the postal
ballots. The postal ballot packs
were then assembled and sent
from the council offices. The
process of printing and sending
postal ballot packs to voters ran
smoothly.
More than 300 additional
electors were granted postal
votes between the vacancy
occurring and the deadline for
postal vote applications (24
working days).
Postal ballot packs were
despatched to 14,462 electors
(21.91% of the eligible
electorate) on 10 July. 10,509
Number of postal ballots rejected
(72.66%) completed postal
votes were received by the ARO
by the deadline of 10pm on
polling day, representing 30.56%
of the overall turnout. Norwich
City held postal vote opening
sessions on 20, 21, 22, and 23
July, while Broadland held
opening sessions on the 21, 22
and 23 July.
The ARO undertook 100%
verification of postal voting
statements. Both authorities
opted to use electronic
comparison checking software
to assist in their adjudication of
the personal identifiers. There
were minor technical delays with
scanning software at the first
opening session in Norwich City.
However this proved
inconsequential as the ARO had
allowed for multiple opening
sessions.
Postal voting statements that
are subject to the verification of
personal identifiers can be
rejected for a number of
reasons. In total, 257 postal
votes were rejected by the ARO,
representing less than 2% of
those returned by the close of
poll. A breakdown of the
reasons for postal vote rejection
is shown in Table 1.
156
101

Polling Day
Our observations on polling day
were that voting in polling
stations ran smoothly. The vast
majority of polling station staff
had worked at the 4 June
European Parliamentary
elections and had all attended a
briefing session organised by
the elections team on how to
fulfil their duties on polling day.
The turnout for the Norwich
North by-election was 45.76%
compared to 61.10% at the
2005 UK Parliamentary general
election.
The count
The counting of the votes took
place at the Norfolk
Showground on Friday 24 July
from 9am. Traditionally UK
Parliamentary by-elections are
counted directly after the close
of poll at 10pm on the Thursday
night. However, the ARO took
the decision to count the
Norwich North by-election
ballots on Friday. This allowed
him to make advance
Table 2: Turnout
Electorate
Number of votes cast
Percentage poll
Number of rejected ballot papers
The Electoral Commission: Norwich North by-election
preparations after polling had
closed and begin the count the
following day with a refreshed
counting and supervising team.
All of the 180 postal votes
handed in at polling stations
underwent verification of
personal identifiers directly after
close of poll, meaning they
could simply be added into the
ballots to be counted the
following day. Being able to
verify postal votes on polling
night removed any possibility of
postal vote processing delaying
the start of the count.
Communication with those
present at the count appeared
to be sufficient, with
announcements made at key
points, including the opening
address and welcome from the
ARO. However, some
announcements were difficult to
hear as a result of the
performance of the public
address system and noise
created by the large number of
media representatives making
live broadcasts.
Commission representatives
noted that there was
consistency in the decisions
made in adjudicating doubtful
ballot papers, and that
candidates and agents
observed this process.
Over 100 media representatives
from local, national and
international print and broadcast
media were accredited by the
ARO to attend the count. They
were accommodated in the
room adjoining the main count
venue. In addition, a designated
area in the count room was
provided so that camera
operators and reporters could
work there throughout the day
without encroaching on the
counting process.
The results
Tables two and three below
show the turnout and the results
of the by-election.
75,124
34,377
45.76%
282
The Electoral Commission: Norwich North by-election

Table 3: The results by candidate

Candidate Party Votes received Share of the vote

(%)

Chloe Smith Conservative 13,591 39.54

Chris Ostrowski Labour 6,243 18.16
April Pond Liberal Democrat 4,803 13.97
Glenn Tingle UK Independence 4,068 11.83
Rupert Read Green 3,350 9.74
Craig Murray Put an Honest Man into Parliament 953 2.77
Robert West British National 941 2.74
Bill Holden Independent 166 0.48
Alan Hope Monster Raving Loony 144 0.4
Anne Fryatt NOTA 59 0.17
Thomas Burridge Libertarian 36 0.10
Peter Baggs Independent 23 0.07

Further information
Please contact:
The Electoral Commission
Trevelyan House
Great Peter Street
London SW1P 2HW
Tel: 020 7271 0500
Fax: 020 7271 0505
Email:
info@electoralcommission.org.uk
www.electoralcommission.org.uk

We are an independent body set up by the UK Parliament. Our aim is

integrity and public confidence in the democratic process. We regulate
party and election finance and set standards for well-run elections.
For more information see: www.electoralcommission.org.uk