WHILE there have been mounting calls for a General Election as another new Prime Minister is confirmed this week, voters in Chester will be going to the polls soon regardless.

That is because a by-election is likely to be called for the City of Chester constituency, following the shock resignation of Labour's Chris Matheson following an independent panel's findings of "serious sexual misconduct".

While Mr Matheson continues to dispute the sexual misconduct, he announced his resignation shortly after the panel's findings were made public on Friday, October 21. In any event, the Labour Party had withdrawn the whip from him immediately prior to the resignation.

So that will mean – unless a General Election is called very soon – that Chester will be holding its first by-election since 1956.

That was when Conservative MP Sir Basil Nield – who had held the seat since 1940 – stepped down from the role as he had been appointed Recorder of Manchester.

The process of a by-election does not have a timescale that is set in stone. Firstly, in this case, the Chief Whip of the Labour Party, Alan Campbell, starts the process by 'moving the Writ'.

In practical terms, this means Mr Campbell issues a motion requesting "that the Speaker do issue his Warrant to the Clerk of the Crown to make out a new Writ for the electing of a Member to serve in this present Parliament for the constituency of City of Chester."

Sir Lindsay Hoyle, the Speaker of the House, then puts the question to MPs to decide whether to agree to the motion. If MPs agree, it becomes an Order for the Speaker, who then issues a Warrant to the Clerk of the Crown who then sends the writ to the Returning Officer.

Such a Writ is usually issued within three months of the vacancy, although it has been known for a by-election to be held up to six months later. If a General Election is declared imminently, then the seat is left vacant until that time.

During that time, there is no constituency MP for the City of Chester.

After the Writ is issued, a by-election is then held between 21 and 27 working days later, and voting in by-elections, like General Elections, is typically held on a Thursday.

The history of the electoral seat has been dominated by two parties for most of the past century. From 1931 until 1997, the City of Chester constituency was held by Conservative MPs. Since then, apart from 2010-2015 when Stephen Mosley held the seat for the Tories, it has been Labour which held the seat, via Christine Russell (MP in 1997-2010) and Chris Matheson (2015-2022).

Chris Matheson had won the seat for Labour in 2015 by just 93 votes, but increased that majority to 9,176 just two years later. At the last election, Labour's majority was 6,164, on a turnout of 71.7 per cent.

At this time, no party has officially declared who their candidates will be for any by-election to be held. Labour are likely to choose either a candidate from Cheshire West and Chester Council, or send in a candidate from outside with potential links to the area. It is also likely the candidate picked will have political views in alignment with that of Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer.

The Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats are highly likely to put a candidate forward, while the Green Party – which put forward a candidate in 1992, 2010 and 2019 – might well do so once more.

By-elections, traditionally, have also seen the potential for Independent candidates, or members of fringe parties, to put themselves forward.