The Conservatives have held the Old Bexley and Sidcup constituency in the by-election that took place on 2 December, although their majority was cut from 18,952 to 4,478 when compared to the 2019 general election.
Despite losing 13% of the vote, Conservative candidate Louie French still won over half of the votes cast (51.5%) to take the seat, with the Labour Party increasing their vote by 7.4%.
Finishing in third place was Reform UK, with party Leader Richard Tice winning 6.6% of the total, while both the Greens and the Liberal Democrats lost their deposits.
The by-election was held following the death of Old Bexley and Sidcup MP and former government Minister James Brokenshire, who died at the age of 53 in October following a battle with lung cancer.
He represented the seat for over nine years, having won four consecutive elections, 2010, 2015, 2017 and 2019 respectively.
New MP Louie French, a councillor in the London Borough of Bexley, said being elected to the role is the “greatest honour of my life”.
In his acceptance speech, he paid tribute to Mr Brokenshire and said:
“First of all, I’d like to pay tribute to my good friend James Brokenshire, who represented the seat for more than 10 years and who fought for the people of Old Bexley and Sidcup every single day.
“He made an enormous impact on everyone who lives here and as your Member of Parliament, I will work tirelessly to build on everything he achieved.”
On his successful campaign, he said:
“I am incredibly proud of the campaign my team and I have run based on local issues that matter to the people who live here and tonight those people sent a clear message, they want an MP who will work with the government to deliver on their priorities.
“My focus will now be delivering on those promises that I made during the campaign.”
A Conservative seat since its creation in 1983 and once represented by former Prime Minister Harold Wilson, the turnout was 33.5%.
| Candidate | Party | Votes |
| Louie French | Conservative | 11,189 |
| Daniel Francis | Labour | 6,711 |
| Richard Tice | Reform UK | 1,432 |
| Jonathan Rooks | Green | 830 |
| Simone Reynolds | Liberal Democrats | 647 |
| Elaine Cheeseman | English Democrats | 271 |
| John Poynton | UKIP | 184 |
| Richard Hewison | Rejoin EU | 151 |
| David Kurten | Heritage | 116 |
| Carol Valinejad | Christian People’s Alliance | 108 |
| Mad Mike Young | Monster Raving Loony | 94 |
| 21,733 |
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