James Brokenshire: Arlene Foster pays tribute to MP

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Voting began at 7am on Thursday, December 2, as the constituency of Old Bexley and Sidcup elect their new MP. This by-election was triggered following the death of Conservative MP James Brokenshire from lunch cancer in October.

Will there be an exit poll?

Exit polls are taken as soon as voters leave the polling station, where they are asked how they voted by pollsters who are usually hired by media outlets.

Exit polls provide an initial snapshot of how parties have fared and the results we can expect to see.

Exit polls are popular tools in general elections, but in by-elections like this, they don’t usually take place, so no exit polls are expected today.

When will we know results?

Vote counting will begin as soon as the polls close at 10pm.

The results are expected in the early hours of Friday morning.

You can follow us here for live coverage as the results come in.

Who is standing?

Listed alphabetically, the following 11 candidates are standing for election:

• Elaine Frances Cheeseman, English Democrats
• Daniel Francis, Labour Party
• Louie Thomas French, Conservative Party
• Richard Hewison, Rejoin EU
• David Michael Kurten, Heritage Party
• John Edmund Poynton, UK Independence Party
• Simone Reynolds, Liberal Democrats
• Jonathan Scot Rooks, Green Party
• Richard James Sunley Tice, Reform UK
• Carol Margaret Valinejad, Christian Peoples Alliance
• Mad Mike Young, Official Monster Raving Loony Party

What is the history of the seat?

Old Bexley and Sidcup was created in 1983 and has been Conservative-held ever since.

Former British Prime Minister Sir Edward Heath was the MP for Old Bexley and Sidcup right up until his retirement in 2001.

At 81, this made him the longest-serving MP in the Commons at the time, or ‘Father of the House’.

In 2010, the seat was won by James Brokenshire, who held the seat until his death on October 7, 2021.

In the 2019 general election, Mr Brokenshire won 64.5 percent of the voter, a huge victory against Labour’s 23.5 percent.

After his death, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he was “desperately sad” about the news.

He described Mr Brokenshire as “the nicest, kindest and most unassuming of politicians but also extraordinarily effective”.

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