The result is in, Tory MP Chris Davies has been unseated by a recall petition so there will be a by-election in Brecon and Radnorshire in the coming weeks.
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Not another election, I hear you sigh.
Conservative Party MP for Brecon and Radnorshire, Chris Davies, was convicted earlier this year of a false expenses claim.
This triggered the same recall procedure that cut short the political career of the former Labour MP, Fiona Onasanya.
To force a by-election, more than ten percent of the electorate in the constituency have to vote for it and in Brecon and Radnorshire it reached 19%.
The news so far is that the Lib Dems will be fielding their Welsh leader, Jane Dodds and Labour's candidate will be Tom Davies.
A spokesman for Welsh Labour said:
"The recall result is another huge blow to Chris Davies' credibility to serve as Member of Parliament. This is a mess all of his making."
It is not yet clear if Chris Davies will be standing again himself, which he is at liberty to do, or whether the Tories will be changing candidate.
It is also understood that The Brexit Party will be putting a candidate forward and David Rowlands, a Brexit Party Assembly Member said that the recall petition result was "…a loud and clear message that those electors want trustworthy politicians".
According to the BBC, this came about because Mr Davies "…had tried to split the cost of £700 worth of photographs between two office budgets by creating fake invoices, when he could have claimed the amount by other means."
He was fined £1,500 and told to do 50 hours of community service.
And now he's been removed from office too.
Now, this is the largest constituency by area in the UK with a population of 69,000 and an electorate of 53,000.
So, it will very much suit those political parties who have a strong history in the area and will therefore have the ability and knowledge to carry out an effective ground campaign. In the past this has been swinging between the Tories and the Lib Dems since about 1987.
It may therefore prove to be very challenging turf for The Brexit Party, which is still finding its feet.
And, even though it was a Leave voting area, the split was 51.86% for leave and 48.14% for remain.
Then there is the matter that, due to its own leadership election, the Tories might not be in the usual rush to get this by-election process going.
Normally the party holding the seat would want to control the situation and have the by-election held as quickly as possible.
The by-election process starts by the chief whip of the party whose MP held the now vacant seat doing what is called 'moving the Writ'.
This requests that the Speaker issues a warrant to the Clerk of the Crown for a new Writ for an election. This is put to MPs to vote on and if they agree it is so ordered.
According to the parliament website, a new Writ is usually issued within three months of the vacancy. With the by-election taking place between 21 and 27 days after the Writ is issued.
But the Tories might be tempted to hold on until their new leader is well established.
On this, the Labour spokesman said that the Tories 'must not drag their feet' and that they should call the by-election immediately.
With recent National polling putting The Brexit Party ahead and the Lib Dems in second, this could prove to be another interesting by-election.
Sources:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-48720176
https://news.sky.com/story/convicted-tory-mp-chris-davies-loses-seat-triggering-by-election-11746258
https://www.parliament.uk/about/how/elections-and-voting/by-elections/
