The Manchester Central by-election was a by-election for the House of Commons constituency of Manchester Central held on Thursday 15 November 2012. Lucy Powell of the Labour Party won with 69% of the vote (it has historically been a safe Labour seat), with the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives losing significant numbers of votes compared with the 2010 general election (with the Conservatives losing their deposit). In terms of loss of share of the vote it was the Lib Dems' worst result in a parliamentary by-election since the Second World War. There was an unusually low turnout of just 18.2%, the lowest in a Parliamentary by-election since the War.