UK presidential election 2015

The 2015 United Kingdom Presidential election was held on August 7, 2015. It was the fifth presidential election to be held in the United Kingdom, following the abolition of the monarchy in 1998. It was the last presidential election to be held before the constitutional reforms of 2015. It was the second election that was won by the Labour Party.

The Labour Party nominated Joanne Rowling, the author of the critically acclaimed Harry Potter series, as their candidate. Throughout the campaign she distanced herself from the Labour Party and refused to campaign with any Labour Party members of parliament. However, when it came to the live television debate she began her opening remarks by bashing Conservative candidate, Michael Portillo, when she said 'Michael Portillo is here under the banner of "Conservatives Now", but I assure you it's the same old Tories'.

The Conservative party nominated veteran Tory MP Michael Portillo for the presidency. Portillo tried, unlike Rowling, to stay away from the details of politics for the duration of the campaign. Like the Labour candidate, he attempted to distance himself from the parliamentary Conservative party by running under the party name of Conservatives Now rather than the Conservative and Unionist party to the dismay of the mayor of London Jacob Reese-Mogg and home Secretary Boris Johnson. Portillo campaigned alongside Tory leader Alan Duncan.

The Liberal Democrats nominated Menzies Campbell for the presidency. The Liberal Democrats, having won the 2003, 2007 and 2011 presidential elections were hoping to maintain their position as the "Party of the Presidency". President Ashdown was, as the sitting president, not allowed to openly campaign for any party but many supporters of Menzies Campbell claimed that his tweet where he wrote that "Menzies Campbell is an honourable and statesmanlike politician who I enjoyed working with in my time as leader of the Liberal Democrats. I wish him the best of luck in the election next year" as confirmation of the president's support for the Lib Dem candidate.

The UK Independence Party nominated William Legge as their candidate. William Legge and Nigel Farage, the leader of UKIP, campaigned closely together. UKIP's campaign slogan was "For a New Britain". They were, at one point, polling higher than the conservatives. However they lost that poll jump after allegations of racism came out against a UKIP local councillor, and William Legge refused to apologise on behalf of the party.

Joanne Rowling won the election with a clear majority in the electoral college. She became the second female president of the United Kingdom on 8th August, 2015. In accordance with the constitutional reforms of 2015, she is expected to serve the new 10 year term and is barred from running for re-election in 2025.