# 2016 Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough by-election

53°24′40″N 1°27′07″W﻿ / ﻿53.411°N 1.452°W﻿ / 53.411; -1.452
On 5 May 2016, a by-election was held in the UK Parliamentary constituency of Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough in South Yorkshire. It was caused by the death of the sitting Member of Parliament (MP) Harry Harpham on 4 February 2016. Harpham had been the Labour Party MP for the seat since the 2015 general election. The by-election took place on the same day as local elections in the United Kingdom.

## Candidates

Sheffield City Council published the statement of persons nominated on 8 April 2016. This showed that seven candidates would contest the by-election.
The Labour candidate was Gill Furniss, a Sheffield city councillor and the widow of Harry Harpham. She had stood for the party at the constituency level in Sheffield Hallam in the 2001 general election, where she came third.
UKIP's candidate was Steven Winstone, a local metal trader and businessman. He focused his campaign on protecting jobs in the local steel industry. He had stood for the party in Sheffield South East in the 2015 general election, where he came second.
The Conservatives selected Spencer Pitfield.
The Liberal Democrats selected Shaffaq Mohammed, a city councillor.
The Green Party reselected Christine Gilligan Kubo, a lecturer at Sheffield Business School, and their candidate from the 2015 general election.
Bobby Smith of the New Fathers 4 Justice campaign announced that he would stand in the by-election. He stood under the label "Give Me Back Elmo". He had contested the 2015 general election under the same description in Prime Minister David Cameron's Witney constituency, but took only 37 votes. Smith, of Stevenage, also contested the borough council election in his home town on the same day as the by-election.
Yorkshire First selected Stevie Manion.

## Result

By-election 2016: Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Gill Furniss | 14,087 | 62.4 | +5.9 |
| | UKIP | Steven Winstone | 4,497 | 19.9 | –2.2 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Shaffaq Mohammed | 1,385 | 6.1 | +1.6 |
| | Conservative | Spencer Pitfield | 1,267 | 5.6 | –5.4 |
| | Green | Christine Gilligan Kubo | 938 | 4.2 | –0.1 |
| | Yorkshire First | Stevie Manion | 349 | 1.5 | New |
| | Give Me Back Elmo | Bobby Smith | 58 | 0.2 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 9,590 | 42.5 | +8.8 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 22,581 | 33.2 | –21.6 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | +4.1 | |

## Previous election

General election 2015: Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Harry Harpham | 22,663 | 56.6 | +1.6 |
| | UKIP | John Booker | 8,856 | 22.1 | +18.0 |
| | Conservative | Elise Dünweber | 4,407 | 11.0 | –0.5 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Jonathan Harston | 1,802 | 4.5 | –15.5 |
| | Green | Christine Gilligan Kubo | 1,712 | 4.3 | New |
| | TUSC | Maxine Bowler | 442 | 1.1 | –0.6 |
| | English Democrat | Justin Saxton | 171 | 0.4 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 13,807 | 34.6 | –0.4 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 40,053 | 54.8 | –2.3 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | –8.2 | |