Minor question on British 1997 election

[Insula Dei]

Why was speaker Betty Boothroyd opposed by Richard Silvester (Ind. Labour) in West Bromwich West when she herself hailed from the Parliamentary Labour Party?

[minionofmidas]

Something I found

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Also, elsewhere he's listed as "Labour Time for Change". I do wonder why he did so well, though.

[minionofmidas]

Oh, and apparently he was later elected a LD councillor in Bolton, then defected to Labour, then lost to another LD in 2010. In Andrew Teale's home ward no less.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

I do wonder why he did so well, though.

Because he had 'Labour' next to his name on the ballot and Boothroyd didn't.

[doktorb]

As convention says Speakers are not opposed by mainstream parties, handfulls of randoms and allsorts are found on the ballot.  This was also pre-Register of Political Parties, so names like "Independent Labour" were allowed.

[joevsimp]

Because he had 'Labour' next to his name on the ballot and Boothroyd didn't.

See also Glasgow North East in 2005, Socialist Labour Party (Scargill's bunch) got 14% against Micheal Martin

and yeah, back then you could call yourself a Conservatory or a Literal Democrat

[You kip if you want to...]

Because he had 'Labour' next to his name on the ballot and Boothroyd didn't.

See also Glasgow North East in 2005, Socialist Labour Party (Scargill's bunch) got 14% against Micheal Martin

Did the SocLab candidate even break 20 votes at the by-election in 2009?

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Because he had 'Labour' next to his name on the ballot and Boothroyd didn't.

See also Glasgow North East in 2005, Socialist Labour Party (Scargill's bunch) got 14% against Micheal Martin

Did the SocLab candidate even break 20 votes at the by-election in 2009?

Yes; they polled a massive 47 votes.