UK parliamentary by-elections in 2023

The Elections Act 2022 made significant changes to the UK’s electoral processes. The local elections in May 2023 were the first elections where some of the changes from the Act were in place. In September 2023, we published our reports on these elections in England and Northern Ireland.

To add to the evidence and analysis in these reports, and to support the ongoing understanding of the implementation of the voter ID and accessibility changes, we are collecting and reporting data on UK parliamentary by-elections taking place after May 2023.

There is no legal duty or explicit power for Returning Officers to report data for future elections until the next UK parliamentary general election, which must be held by January 2025. We believe there is a value in Returning Officers continuing to report this data for other future elections and will continue to work with them to collect it.

We conducted interviews with Electoral Services Managers and Returning Officers across the six constituencies which held UK Parliamentary by-elections since May  2023: Selby and Ainsty; Somerton and Frome; Uxbridge and South Ruislip; Rutherglen and Hamilton West; Mid-Bedfordshire; and Tamworth.

We analysed data collected by polling station staff and reported to the Returning Officer for each constituency. Electoral Commission representatives observed the voting process in a selection of polling stations in each constituency.

From May 2023, voters need to show photographic identification (ID) to vote at polling stations at UK parliamentary by-elections in Great Britain. Voters at polling stations in Northern Ireland have needed to show photographic ID since 2003.

Our interim analysis of the new ID requirement highlighted key findings about the impact of the new voter ID requirement at the May 2023 elections. Our research found that at least 0.25% of people who tried to vote at a polling station in May 2023 were not able to because of the voter ID requirement.

Research set out in our report on the May 2023 elections in England indicated that the voter ID requirement is likely to have a larger impact at higher turnout elections such as a UK general election, where people who do not always vote at local elections may want to take part. 

Turnout at these UK parliamentary by-elections was higher than at the local elections, but not as high as at previous general elections. Across the six by-elections, although most voters were able to meet the requirements, 0.74% of voters were initially turned away, with 0.21% not returning. This represents a slightly lower proportion than at the local elections in May.

Returning Officers did not identify any significant problems with delivering the voter ID requirement. They have, however, continued to highlight concerns about the potential impact for polling station staff at a general election with higher turnout, particularly in relation to managing queues and ensuring voters are not discouraged from voting. 

As we set out in our report on the May 2023 elections in England, polling station staff should continue to collect data on the impact of voter ID at future elections, including UK parliamentary by-elections. There is no legal duty or explicit power for Returning Officers to report data for future elections until the next UK parliamentary general election, which must be held by January 2025.

It would be a significant missed opportunity to learn and identify further improvements if Returning Officers did not collect and report data at the scheduled May 2024 elections, which will cover all areas of England and Wales. We have previously recommended that the UK Government should ensure that Returning Officers are able to collect and report monitoring data on the impact of voter ID at future elections. 'In its response to our report on the May 2023 elections, the UK Government stated that ongoing data collection at future polls, while beneficial, should remain at the discretion of the Returning Officer, where they deem it appropriate and manageable. We will continue to work with Returning Officers to collect data at polling stations for future elections.

Following changes in the Elections Act, Returning Officers now have increased flexibility about what support and equipment they can provide at the polling station to enable, or make it easier for, disabled people to vote independently and in secret.

We published guidance for Returning Officers to support them to remove the barriers and challenges disabled voters face when voting at the polling station. Returning Officers were required to take this guidance into account when planning for and running the elections.

Returning Officers provided different levels of equipment and support at these by-elections, but all told us that they had met the minimum requirements for equipment and support as set out in our guidance, and that polling station staff had received specific training on accessibility. However, we observed in some polling stations that equipment was not always visible and readily available to voters.

This was the first year Returning Officers had to take our guidance into account when planning and running the elections, and we will continue to work with them to ensure they understand what equipment and support they should make available so that elections are accessible. This should include pro-actively ensuring voters are aware of the support and assistance that is available to help them vote, and how they can make a request for additional equipment or support.