[1] The sitting Member of Parliament (MP) Mark Reckless called it on joining the UK Independence Party (UKIP), from the Conservatives.

The other ten candidates lost their deposits, including the Liberal Democrats whose 0.87% vote share was a record low for them, and the lowest ever for a party in government.

The constituency comprised the cathedral town of Rochester, Strood, parts of Chatham, Brompton, St Mary's Island as well as the rural Hoo Peninsula and outlying villages.

[4] Reckless's announcement followed that of his parliamentary colleague and close friend,[5][6] Douglas Carswell, who defected to UKIP on 28 August 2014, resigning and subsequently being returned as MP for Clacton, in north Essex.

The Conservative Party fielded Kelly Tolhurst[11] as its candidate[12][13] selected by a postal open primary;[14] Anna Firth was the other candidate, and both were serving Councillors: (Tolhurst representing Rochester West Ward on Medway Council, and Firth representing Brasted, Chevening & Sundridge Ward on Sevenoaks Council).

Four independent candidates also declared their candidature: Mike Barker MBE, Christopher "JustQCharley" Challis, Stephen Goldsbrough and Charlotte Rose.

[27] The Conservatives, being in Government and previous holders of the seat opted for a later election[28] giving time for a longer campaign and to select its candidate by a local primary.

Irvine promptly resigned as a Conservative Party member[30] on the news of the Reckless defection and sat as an Independent Councillor citing Medway Council's decision to approve planning permission to develop Lodge Hill as his primary reason for leaving.

[37] The Trust's chair, Shena Winning, complained to UKIP, pointing out that public bodies cannot be associated with any politically biased information that could be seen to give any party an electoral advantage and that he had not asked permission to use the picture.

[28] At a hustings meeting on 18 November, televised by ITV Meridian, Reckless gave an answer to a question from the floor in which he appeared to suggest that EU migrants could, in future, be subject to deportation.

[41] On polling day, Shadow Attorney General Emily Thornberry tweeted a picture of a house (in Strood) adorned with England flags with a white van parked outside, which drew accusations of liberal elitism including from her fellow Labour Party MP Simon Danczuk among others.

[42] Shortly after close of polls, Thornberry resigned from Ed Miliband's Shadow Cabinet in response to the controversy the tweet generated.