Ronnie Carroll, a former UK Eurovision contestant who was due to stand in the 2015 general election, has died at the age of 80. Born in Belfast in 1934, his biggest hit was Roses are Red.
He represented the UK in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1962 and 1963 with Ring-A-Ding Girl and Say Wonderful Things, finishing fourth both times.All of which would be of interest only to collectors of musical trivia were it not for one fact.
Ronnie Carroll had just got himself nominated as an independent candidate for the general election in the Hampstead and Kilburn constituency.
This is a key Labour/Liberal Democrat marginal where Maajid Nawaz is the high-profile Lib Dem candidate.
It was suggested on Twitter that this means the poll in this constituency will have to be postponed. And I posted something to that effect.
But I have now rewritten this post because David Boothroyd has posted a link to the official guidance. And it shows - see p.27 - that the death of an independent general election candidate does not delay the contest poll in that seat
So what can I say but...? Take it away, Ronnie.
Why does the death of an independent not trigger a delay? Is it because unlike with a party there won't be anyone trying to find a replacement for him?
ReplyDeleteI'm puzzled because the guidance linked to in the post (issued by the Electoral Commission) doesn't seem to be in accord with the relevant legislation (Rep of the People Act 1983 Sched 1 Rule 60) which says that the election must be delayed (countermaned) if ANY candidate dies.
ReplyDeleteThough I would agree that in the circumstances it would be sensible not to countermand.