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Is the by-election likely to be this year or next year? PatGallacher (talk) 17:06, 7 November 2017 (UTC)[reply]
Could be either - the standard countdown is 35 days once the by-election is called, but it's customary to wait until after a funeral has been held. By that point it'll be near the Christmas period so discretion may be exercised to delay it a bit. There was a long delay between the death of Jo Cox last year and the subsequent by-election in Batley and Spen. I am not an expert in Welsh Assembly elections but I believe discretion still applies for the local returning officer and whoever is in charge of moving the writs of election. Maswimelleu (talk) 11:53, 8 November 2017 (UTC)[reply]
If so then the earliest it could happen is now 3 days before Christmas, it's not going to happen this year. PatGallacher (talk) 14:53, 17 November 2017 (UTC)[reply]
There are UK by-elections for council seats expected on the 28th December, so it's not completely impossible. You are however right that it will probably take place in January 2018. Any such speculation should not be included in the article itself, although we can delete the reference to an election potentially being held in 2017 once it becomes legally impossible for that to be the case. Maswimelleu (talk) 15:16, 17 November 2017 (UTC)[reply]
I agree that a 2017 poll is unlikely. I've followed the by-election article to keep an eye on what happens there. doktorbwordsdeeds 20:24, 17 November 2017 (UTC)[reply]