Sheffield by-election: Everything you need to know

Candidates standing in the Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough by-election clockwise l-r: Christine Gilligan Kubo (Green), Steven Winstone (UKIP), Gill Furniss (Labour), Bobby Smith (Give Me Back Elmo), Shaffaq Mohammed (Liberal Democrat), Spencer Pitfield (Conservative) Stevie Manion (Yorkshire First)

Labour

Gill Furniss, the wife of the late MP Harry Harpham who died earlier this year from cancer was selected by the local party earlier this Spring to contest the seat. She has been a party member for 25 years and is Sheffield City Councillor for the Southey ward as well as a shop steward for NALGO, now part of Unison.

If elected she said she would like to take forward the work that her late husband Harry began - campaigning against the Conservative Party's agenda of austerity.

She will naturally want to cling on to her husband's 13,807 strong majority and ensure the area remains Labour, as it has been since 1935. Her husband's predecessor Lord David Blunkett held Sheffield Brightside between 1987 and 2010.

Conservative

Spencer Pitfield OBE is the Director of Conservative Trade Unionists and has said he is passionate about promoting the voice of the true Workers’ Party, the Conservatives. He is a familiar face having previously contested the 2005 General Elections in Sheffield Hallam against Nick Clegg MP and Penistone and Stocksbridge, South Yorkshire’s only target seat, in 2010. He began his Ph.D in British Clarinet Music in Sheffield and now leads the instrumental department at the city's Birkdale School.

UKIP

Steven Winstone is a local metal trader and businessman. He will focus his campaign on protecting jobs in the local steel industry. He stood for the party in Sheffield South East in the 2015 election where he came second against Labour MP Clive Betts. He said his campaign is based on “fighting for steel jobs”, “tackling local issues” and “fighting to bring real change to the area”.

Green

Christine Gilligan Kubo is a lecturer at Sheffield Business School and also ran in the 2015 General Election. She has lived in the constituency since 1993 and said if she wins the seat she wants to encourage businesses to pay the living wage, protect workers rights and safeguard our future. She is also a non-executive director of Sheffield Renewables - a social enterprise dedicated to increasing renewable energy in the city.

Yorkshire First

Stevie Manion's big focus is on devolution and better transport infrastructure. He does not think Yorkshire, and Sheffield specifically, have been given a decent devolution proposal by the Government, describing it as a cynical attempt to move power away from Whitehall. If he is elected as the constituency's MP he said he will demand a devo deal which is "inclusive and democratic and which can make a real impact on people's lives." The 25-year-old works for Wabtec Rail Ltd as a Production Planner and is from Conisbrough.

Liberal Democrats

Shaffaq Mohammed MBE is a city councillor for the Eccleshall Ward and joined the council 11 years ago. He came to the city from Kashmir aged four, and his father was a steel worker, later made redundant under Margaret Thatcher's Government. He said he will fight to bring jobs to Sheffield and give people employment opportunities so residents can stay and work in the city.

Give Me Back Elmo

Bobby Smith is a member of the New Fathers 4 Justice campaign and had previously stood in the General Election in 2015 in Witney, David Cameron's seat in Oxfordshire. He is campaigning for dads he believes have been adversely affected by family law rulings in the UK.