Feltham & Heston shares the London Borough of Hounslow with the Brentford and Isleworth parliamentary constituency.

[11][12] Dave Furness was selected by the British National Party on 29 November 2011,[13] the same day as Roger Crouch was confirmed as the Liberal Democrats nominee.

His website explains that his party was created in protest at the capitalist system which turned Elvis Presley "into a fat media joke."

George Hallam stood on a socialist platform against austerity cuts and in favour of high rates of income tax for the highest earners.

He was a candidate at the 2010 general election in the Lewisham East seat under the ballot paper description "Community Need Before Private Greed".

Whilst a low turnout is generally expected at by-elections, such a low turnout surprised many experts who attributed it to a couple of main factors: the relatively short space of time between the death of the sitting MP (Alan Keen) and the by-election, only 35 days in this case when the average since 1979 is 73;[19] and the time of year, as it was held close to Christmas and during the long and cold winter nights.