On 20 November 1997, Liberal Democrat candidate Mark Oaten won the Winchester by-election with a towering majority of 21,556 votes, defeating Gerry Malone, the Conservative candidate and former minister.

The by-election result represented the final act in a protracted political drama, which began with the 1997 general election.

***

In May 1997, as Labour returned to power with a landslide majority of 179 seats, Oaten was declared as the new MP for Winchester by two votes. Oaten secured 26,100 votes (42.1%), ostensibly outperforming Malone, who won 26,098 votes (42.1%). The Winchester seat was among the 28 nominal gains by the Liberal Democrats under the leadership of Paddy Ashdown.

Oaten’s triumph came 20 hours after counting began, thanks to a series of recounts and challenges. The count, according to reports, was briefly interrupted by a wedding reception.

His majority – just two votes – was the slightest margin of victory in the country. Oaten believed he had overturned a Conservative majority of 8,121.

This result, however, was contested by Malone, who lodged an election petition in the high court. The Tory candidate argued that 55 ballot papers had been wrongly rejected by the constituency’s returning officer for lacking the official perforated mark – a technical error caused by polling station staff failing to stamp the papers properly.

In a statement, Malone said: “My purpose is to dispel, once and for all, the doubt surrounding the outcome of the election and ensure that the result properly reflects the intentions of voters.”

He added: “I rest on the principle that the result of the election should reflect the intentions of those who voted. It is not in the interests of any of the candidates, or voters in the Winchester constituency, that the doubts hanging over this election remain unresolved.”

Hampshire police also launched a separate investigation into two votes that may have been cast illegally.

Moreover, the original May election was complicated by the presence of a mischief-making spoiler candidate, Richard Huggett. Huggett stood under the label “Liberal Democrat – Top Choice for Parliament”, and secured 640 votes (1.0%).

Oaten delivered his maiden speech in the House of Commons on 4 June. He referenced the tradition “that in a maiden speech it is normal for the new member to praise his or her predecessor”.

But he added: “To praise my predecessor might be perceived as insulting him, because it is clear that he has yet to admit that he is my predecessor…

“I can certainly say that the former MP for Winchester is an individual who never gives up.”

***

On 6 October, Lord Justice Brooke ruled that the election was void because of the inclusion of rejected ballots that would have changed the result.

The commons speaker, Betty Boothroyd, informed MPs of the high court’s verdict on 27 October, when the House reconvened from parliamentary recess.

She said that the court’s judgement was that “there were breaches by the returning officer’s agent of rules 20 and 37, as set out in schedule 1 to the [Representation of the People Act 1983]; that the result of the election was affected thereby; that Mark Oaten was not duly elected and returned as Member of Parliament for Winchester; and that the election on 1 May 1997 is void.”

She added: “The next step is for a writ to be issued for a new election, and I hope that the necessary notice will be brought before the House in the very near future.”

The writ for the new election was moved on the following day, 28 October 1997.

The Liberal Democrats condemned Malone’s challenge as unsporting. Their unofficial slogan, reported in the press, was: “When the umpire gives you out, you should walk”.

Oaten’s campaign also produced badges, declaring: “I’m One of the Winchester 2”.

One local Conservative activist told the Independent: “It’s just not very English. [Malone] should have lost gracefully. The chance of winning a by-election now the entire country has gone lovey-dovey with Labour is probably nil.”

The electorate responded by emphatically rejecting Malone’s candidacy. Oaten secured 37,006 votes (68.0%); Malone placed second with 15,450 (28.4%).

The swing to the Liberal Democrats from the May result was 19.8 points.

Huggett stood again, this time as a “Literal Democrat Mark Here to Win” candidate. He won 59 votes (0.1%).

Labour, focused on a separate by-election in Beckenham held on the same day, hardly campaigned in Winchester. The party received just 1.6% of the vote, which remained Labour’s worst-ever parliamentary result until the 2021 Chesham and Amersham by-election.

The by-election in Beckenham, which followed the resignation of incumbent Tory MP Piers Merchant, went rather better from a Conservative perspective. The party’s candidate, Jacqui Lait, won with a majority of 1,227 votes.

***

On 17 December, Oaten delivered his first commons speech following the Winchester by-election.

He jokingly thanked the speaker for sparing him the embarrassment of “having to praise my predecessor, who was me.”

He raised the issue of “rogue candidates”.

Oaten said: “In the general election, we had the interference of a candidate who stood as a ‘Liberal Democrat – Top Choice for Parliament’.

“He secured 640 votes, whereas I won by only two votes. All honourable members will realise that that candidate’s interference caused mayhem, and that the subsequent Winchester by-election can be attributed largely to him.”

The Liberal Democrat MP concluded: “I am grateful to the people of Winchester that the story had a happy ending for me. Nevertheless, I remain committed to the principle that we need to look at the entire election process.

“My personal experience suggests that it is not as robust and healthy as it needs to be for the future of our democracy.”

Huggett’s mission to mislead the electorate directly influenced the passage of the Registration of Political Parties Act 1998, which established a register of political parties to prevent similar tactics in future elections. The legislation therefore also prevented individuals from standing as ‘Conversative’ or ‘Labor’ candidates.

Huggett had stood in the 1994 European elections as a ‘Literal Democrat’ for the Devon and East Plymouth seat. He won 10,203 votes – far more than the 700-vote majority the Conservative candidate secured over the Liberal Democrat.

***

The 1997 Winchester by-election also marked the last contest in which Screaming Lord Sutch, founder of the Official Monster Raving Loony Party, stood. He died by suicide in June 1999.

Oaten served as Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesperson from 2003 to 2006.

He stood in the 2006 Liberal Democrat leadership contest.

Oaten stood down from parliament at the 2010 general election. He was succeeded as the MP for Winchester by Steve Brine of the Conservative Party.

Winchester returned to the Liberal Democrat column, entirely uncontroversially, at the 2024 general election.