Written question asked by Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru) on Tuesday, 7 July 2026, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 9 July 2026. It was answered by Samantha Dixon (Labour) on Tuesday, 14 July 2026 on behalf of the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.
Elections: Local Government
- Question
-
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what is the average cost to the public purse of a parliamentary by-election.
- Answer
-
The estimated cost of the Clacton by-election is set out in The Parliamentary Elections (Returning Officers’ Charges) Order 2024.
The average (mean) cost of a UK parliamentary by-election between 2021 and 2025 was approximately £343,768, including candidate mailing costs. This figure is estimated from final settled expenditure where available and claimed expenditure for by-elections where the claims process has not yet been completed.
Expenditure accounts for the 2026 parliamentary by-elections have not yet been received from the relevant Returning Officers.
Secondary information
- Type
- Written question
- Reference
- 16492
- Session
- 2026-27
- Grouped for answer
- Yes
- Subjects
- Costs Elections Local government
- Contains statistics
- Yes
- Link
- View this Written question on www.parliament.uk
Librarians' tools
- Timestamp
- 2026-07-14 14:44:11 +0100
- URI
- http://data.parliament.uk/writtenparliamentaryquestion/commons/2026-27/16492
- In Indexing
- http://indexing.parliament.uk/Content/Edit/1?uri=http://data.parliament.uk/writtenparliamentaryquestion/commons/2026-27/16492
- In Solr
- https://search.parliament.uk/claw/solr/?id=http://data.parliament.uk/writtenparliamentaryquestion/commons/2026-27/16492