Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government written question – answered at on 10 July 2026.
Paul Holmes
Opposition Whip (Commons), Shadow Parliamentary Under Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate his Department has made of the cost of (a) the Makerfield Parliamentary By-election and (b) Parliamentary by-elections in general; and what information his Department holds on the cost of (i) the Greater Manchester mayoralty by-election and (ii) combined authority mayoral by-elections in general.
Samantha Dixon
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The estimated costs of parliamentary by-elections, including the Makerfield parliamentary By-election, are set out in the relevant schedule of The Parliamentary Elections (Returning Officers’ Charges) Order 2024.
Local elections, including the costs of mayoral elections are met by local authorities and are not held centrally, with each authority responsible for managing and retaining its own election cost data. The Government is therefore unable to provide this information.
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Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
A by-election occurs when a seat in the House of Commons becomes vacant during the lifetime of a Parliament (i.e. between general elections) because the sitting MP dies, resigns, is elevated to the peerage, or becomes ineligible to sit for some other reason. If a vacancy occurs when the House is in session, the Chief Whip of the Party that formerly held the seat moves a Motion for a new writ. This leads to the by-election taking place. Prior notice does not have to be given in the Order Paper of the House. There is no time limit in which a new writ has to be issued, although by convention it is usually done within three months of a seat becoming vacant. There have been times when seats have remained empty for more than six months before a by-election was called. The sitting party will obviously choose a time when they feel confident of success. Seats are often left vacant towards the end of a Parliament to be filled at the General Election though this is not always the case and by-elections have sometimes occurred just before the dissolution of Parliament. While a vacancy exists a member of the same party in a neighbouring constituency handles constituency matters. When the new Member is elected in the by-election, all outstanding matters are handed back. Further information can be obtained from factsheet M7 at the UK Parliament site.
