Commentary on Sections Death of Candidate Section 24 Death of candidate
130.This section replaces rule 60 of Schedule 1 to the Representation of the People Act 1983 (Death of candidate at a Parliamentary Election) with new rules 60 to 65. Following the delay caused by the death of a candidate in the constituency of South Staffordshire at the 5 May 2005 General Election, concerns were raised about the efficacy of the procedure for dealing with the death of a candidate in these circumstances. New rules 60 to 65 address this problem by reducing the delay in rescheduling the date of poll as a result of the death of a candidate, by allowing registered political parties to field an alternative candidate if their candidate dies and by allowing the original election timetable to continue uninterrupted should the deceased candidate be an independent.