Byelections in the 1979-83 Parliament

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RESULTS OF BYELECTIONS IN THE 1979-83 PARLIAMENT

With regard to the swing, this is the conventional (Conservative/Labour) swing counted using votes as a percentage of all votes. A positive swing is to the Conservatives, negative swings are to Labour.

An asterisk indicates a forfeited deposit (where the candidate fails to poll one-eighth of the total vote, ie 12.5%).

MANCHESTER, CENTRAL [342]

(Elevation of Rt. Hon. Norman Harold Lever to a life Peerage (Lord Lever of Manchester) on 11th June 1979)

Election

Electors

T'out

Candidate

Party

Votes

Ch.%

1979
(27/9)

31,558

33.6

R.K. Litherland
A.T. Parkinson
A.S. Lea
S. Ala-ud-Din
J.M. Foster
W.G. Boaks

Lab
L
C
Ind Lab
EP
Ind

7,494
1,502
1,275
187
129
12
6,992

*
*
*
*

70.7
14.2
12.0
1.8
1.2
0.1
56.5

-0.1
+8.9
-10.1

Swing -5.01: Lab hold

HERTFORDSHIRE, SOUTH WEST [277]

(Resignation of Geoffrey Hugh Dodsworth on 25th October 1979)

Election

Electors

T'out

Candidate

Party

Votes

Ch.%

1979
(13/12)

76,776

48.3

R.L. Page
Mrs. S.A. Reeves
D.S.C. Clouston
N.R. Jeskins
D.W. Bundy
N.Q. Ffooks

C
Lab
L
EP
ACMFTP
Ind

17,031
10,259
8,752
602
288
143
6,772

*
*
*

45.9
27.7
16.2
1.6
0.8
0.4
18.2

-8.8
-0.1
+7.4

Swing -4.35: C hold

Note:-

1979
(13/12):

Ffooks sought election as a 'Father Christmas: Support Southampton University Rag' candidate.

SOUTHEND, EAST [437]

(Death of Sir Stephen James McAdden on 26th December 1979)

Election

Electors

T'out

Candidate

Party

Votes

Ch.%

1980
(13/3)

57,016

62.5

E.M. Taylor
C. George
D.E. Evans
T.A. Robertson
W.O. Smedley
J.W.J. Curry
W.G. Boaks

C
Lab
L
NBP
ACMFTP
Ind L
Ind

13,117
12,687
8,939
532
207
132
23
430

*
*
*
*

36.8
35.6
25.1
1.5
0.6
0.4
0.0
1.2

-19.3
+6.5
+12.0

Swing -12.87: C hold

GLASGOW, CENTRAL [589]

(Death of Thomas McLellan McMillan on 30th April 1980)

Election

Electors

T'out

Candidate

Party

Votes

Ch.%

1980
(26/6)

18,838

42.8

R. McTaggart
G.M. Paterson
Mrs. A.A. McCurley
J. MacKenzie
G. Watson
D.G. Mellor
D.A. Kean

Lab
SNP
C
Ind NF
Ind L
EP
Ind SDP

4,902
2,122
707
148
134
45
10
2,780

*
*
*
*
*

60.8
26.3
8.8
1.8
1.7
0.5
0.1
34.5

-11.7
+15.2
-7.7

Swing +2.02: Lab hold

Notes:-

1980:

MacKenzie's candidature was repudiated by the National Front.

Kean sought election as a candidate of a Social Democratic Party which he had founded in Manchester in July 1979.

FERMANAGH and SOUTH TYRONE [633]

(Death of Meredith Francis Maguire on 5th March 1981)

Election

Electors

T'out

Candidate

Party

Votes

Ch.%

1981
(9/4)

72,283

82.4

R.G. Sands
H.W. West

Anti-H Block
UU

30,492
29,046
1,446

51.2
48.8
2.4

+20.8

No swing calculation: Anti-H Block gain from Ind Rep

WARRINGTON [485]

(Resignation of Sir William Thomas Williams on 1st June 1981, on appointment as a Judge of the South-Eastern Circuit)

Election

Electors

T'out

Candidate

Party

Votes

Ch.%

1981
(16/7)

44,059

67.0

E.D.H. Hoyle
Rt. Hon. R.H. Jenkins
S.J. Sorrell
N.S. Chantrell
D. Hussey
I. Leslie
J.H. Fleming
D.A. Kean
W.G. Boaks
H. Wise
T.L. Keen

Lab
SDP
C
EP
Ind Lab
Ind
Ind Lab
Ind SDP
Ind
Ind Dem
CFMPB

14,280
12,521
2,102
219
149
111
53
38
14
11
10
1,759

*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*

48.4
42.4
7.1
0.8
0.5
0.4
0.2
0.1
0.1
0.0
0.0
6.0

-13.3

-21.7

Swing -4.23: Lab hold

Notes:-

1981:

Hussey sought election as a candidate of the United Democratic Labour Party.

Leslie sought election as a candidate of the Citizens' Band Radio Party.

Kean sought election as a candidate of a Social Democratic Party which he had founded in Manchester in July 1979.

Wise sought election as a candidate of the English Democratic Party which he had founded.

FERMANAGH and SOUTH TYRONE [633]

(Death of Robert George Sands on 5th May 1981)

Election

Electors

T'out

Candidate

Party

Votes

Ch.%

1981
(20/8)

72,834

87.5

O.G. Carron
K.W. Maginnis
S.A. Close
T.O. Moore
M.P. Green
S. Hall-Raleigh

Anti-H Block
UU
APNI
Rep C/TWP
Ind
Ind

31,278
29,048
1,930
1,132
249
90
2,230

*
*
*
*

49.1
45.6
3.0
1.8
0.4
0.1
3.5

+17.6
+1.3

No swing calculation: Anti-H Block gain from Ind Rep

Notes:-

1981:

Green sought election as 'The Peace Lover' candidate.

Hall-Raleigh sought election as the 'General amnesty' candidate.

CROYDON, NORTH WEST [21]

(Death of Robert George Taylor on 18th June 1981)

Election

Electors

T'out

Candidate

Party

Votes

Ch.%

1981
(22/10)

55,009

62.8

W.H. Pitt
J.V. Butterfill
S.J. Boden
N.J. Griffin
Mrs. M. Gillies-Carr
J.M. Foster
Miss S.C. McKenzie
L. Brooks
W.G. Boaks
G. Major
J. Joseph
S.E. Done

L
C
Lab
NF
Ind
EP
NFCM
Ind
Ind
Ind
Ind
ACMFTP

13,800
10,546
8,967
429
340
155
111
81
51
31
20
11
3,254

*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*

40.0
30.5
26.0
1.2
1.0
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.2
0.1
0.1
0.0
9.5

+29.4
-18.9
-14.1

Swing -2.39: L gain from C

Notes:-

1981:

Gillies-Carr sought election as an 'Independent Pro-Life' candidate on an anti-abortion policy.

Brooks sought election on a policy of support for the disabled.

Major sought election on a policy advocating reforms in family law.

Joseph sought election as the nominee of the London Federation of the Self-Employed.

CROSBY [200]

(Death of Rt. Hon. Sir Rodney Graham Page on 1st October 1981)

Election

Electors

T'out

Candidate

Party

Votes

Ch.%

1981
(26/11)

82,687

69.3

Rt. Hon. Mrs. S.V.T.B. Williams
J.V.C. Butcher
J. Backhouse
R.W. Small
T.F.B. Stop F'Tang-F'Tang-
Olé-Biscuit-Barrel
T.L. Keen
W.G. Boaks
J. Kennedy
D.S. Potter

SDP
C
Lab
EP

Ind MRLP
Ind
Ind
Ind
Ind

28,118
22,829
5,450
480

223
99
36
31
31
5,289

*
*

*
*
*
*
*

49.0
39.8
9.5
0.8

0.4
0.2
0.1
0.1
0.1
9.2

+33.8
-17.1
-15.9
-1.6

Swing -0.62: SDP gain from C

Notes:-

1981:

Biscuit-Barrel's real name was John Desmond Lewis, a 22-year-old student from Hayes in Middlesex who changed his name by deed poll to that of a character from the television series 'Monty Python's Flying Circus'. He was President of the Cambridge University Raving Loony Society.

Keen sought election as a 'Conservative/Liberal Alliance' candidate.

Kennedy, a student at Middlesex Polytechnic, campaigned to draw attention to seven fellow students who had been suspended after a sit-in over demands for a college nursery.

Potter described himself as the 'Humanitarian Candidate' and was the founder and organiser of a 'lonely hearts' club.

BELFAST, SOUTH [629]

(Murder of Rev. Robert John Bradford on 14th November 1981)

Election

Electors

T'out

Candidate

Party

Votes

Ch.%

1982
(4/3)

66,219

65.7

Rev. W.M. Smyth
D.S. Cook
Rev. R.T.W. McCrea
Dr. A. McDonnell
J. McMichael
B.P. Caul
J. Narain
S. Hall-Raleigh

UU
APNI
UDUP
SDLP
ULDP
ULP
Ind
Ind

17,123
11,726
9,818
3,839
576
303
137
12
5,397

*
*
*
*
*

39.3
27.0
22.6
8.8
1.3
0.7
0.3
0.0
12.3

-22.4
+1.8

+0.9

No swing calculation: UU hold

Notes:-

1982:

Narain sought election as a 'Peace State' candidate. He withdrew from the election before polling day.

Hall-Raleigh sought election as a 'One Human Family' candidate.

GLASGOW, HILLHEAD [593]

(Death of Hon. Sir Thomas Galloway Dunlop Galbraith on 2nd January 1982)

Election

Electors

T'out

Candidate

Party

Votes

Ch.%

1982
(25/3)

39,626

76.4

Rt. Hon. R.H. Jenkins
G.P. Malone
D.P. Wiseman
G.A. Leslie
Rev. J.T.A. Glass
R.H. Jenkins
Dr. Nicollette A. Carlaw
W.G. Boaks

SDP
C
Lab
SNP
Ind
Ind SDP
EP
Ind

10,106
8,068
7,846
3,416
388
282
178
5
2,038

*
*
*
*
*

33.4
26.6
25.9
11.3
1.3
0.9
0.6
0.0
6.8

+18.9
-14.4
-8.5
+1.2

Swing -2.96: SDP gain from C

Notes:-

1982:

Glass sought election as a 'Protestant Crusade against the Papal Visit' candidate.

R.H. Jenkins had changed his name by deed poll from Douglas Parkin and was the nominee of a Social Democratic Party founded by D.A. Kean in Manchester in July 1979. He had chosen the name Roy Harold Jenkins in order to confuse electors intending to vote for the Social Democratic Party candidate; SDP canvassers were permitted to draw attention to the position of their candidate on the ballot paper.

BUCKINGHAMSHIRE, BEACONSFIELD [112]

(Death of Sir Ronald McMillan Bell on 26th February 1982)

Election

Electors

T'out

Candidate

Party

Votes

Ch.%

1982
(27/5)

69,206

53.9

T.J. Smith
P.A. Tyler
A.C.L. Blair
M.F. Byrne
W.G. Boaks
T.L. Keen

C
L
Lab
Ind C
Ind
CFMPB

23,049
9,996
3,886
225
99
51
13,053

*
*
*
*

61.8
26.8
10.4
0.6
0.3
0.1
35.0

+0.1
+9.7
-9.7

Swing +4.91: C hold

MERTON, MITCHAM and MORDEN [59]

(Decision of Bruce Leslie Home Douglas-Mann to seek re-election on 5th May 1982)

Election

Electors

T'out

Candidate

Party

Votes

Ch.%

1982
(3/6)

63,255

48.5

Mrs. A.C.R. Rumbold
B.L.H. Douglas-Mann
D.G. Nicholas
J.A. Pearce
E.D. Larkin
R. Sawh
W.G. Boaks
J.J.N. Bardwaj
C.D. Farnsworth

C
SDP
Lab
NF
Ind L
Ind
Ind
Ind
Ind Dem

13,306
9,032
7,475
547
123
84
66
22
18
4,274

*
*
*
*
*
*

43.4
29.4
24.4
1.8
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0.0
14.0

-0.5
+20.6
-20.8
-0.2

Swing +10.15: C gain from Lab

Notes:-

1982:

Sawh sought election as an 'Ethnic Minority' candidate.

Farnsworth sought election as a 'Computer Democrat' candidate.

COATBRIDGE and AIRDRIE [569]

(Death of James Demspey on 12th May 1982)

Election

Electors

T'out

Candidate

Party

Votes

Ch.%

1982
(24/6)

61,876

56.3

T. Clarke
H. de Burgh
R. Wyllie
A. Henderson

Lab
C
SNP
L

19.208
9,118
3,652
2,873
10,090

*
*

55.1
26.2
10.5
8.2
28.9

-5.8
-1.3
-1.1

Swing +2.25: Lab hold

GLAMORGANSHIRE, GOWER [537]

(Death of Ifor Davies on 6th June 1982)

Election

Electors

T'out

Candidate

Party

Votes

Ch.%

1982
(16/9)

60,123

65.4

G.L. Wardell
G.G. Jones
T.W. Llewellyn
D.I. Owen
J. Donovan
D.F. Burns

Lab
SDP
C
PC
Ind Dem
Ind

17,095
9,875
8,690
3,431
125
103
7,220

*
*
*

43.5
25.1
22.1
8.7
0.3
0.3
18.4

-9.8
+16.1
-8.4
+1.6

Swing +0.66: Lab hold

Notes:-

1982:

Donovan sought election as a 'Computer Democrat' candidate.

Burns, who claimed to be a member of an organisation called Worker's Army for a Welsh Republic sought election as a Civil Rights/Welsh Political Prisoner candidate. At the time of the election he was in prison on remand from Cardiff Magistrates Court on two charges relating to a bomb explosion at an Army recruitment office in Pontypridd. Ind December 1982 he was sent for trial at Cardiff Crown Court and the trial commenced on September 13, 1983 and lasted two months. He was found not guilty on one charge and acquitted on the other.

SOUTHWARK, PECKHAM [66]

(Death of Henry George [Harry] Lamborn on 21st August 1982)

Election

Electors

T'out

Candidate

Party

Votes

Ch.%

1982
(28/10)

59,260

38.0

Miss H.R. Harman
D. Taverne
J.A. Redwood
M.G.A. Webster
W.G. Boaks

Lab
SDP
C
NF
Ind

11,349
7,418
2,800
874
102
3,931

*
*
*

50.3
32.9
12.4
3.9
0.5
17.4

-9.5
+25.2
-15.7
-0.5

Swing -3.08: Lab hold

BIRMINGHAM, NORTHFIELD [126]

(Suicide of Jocelyn Benedict Laurence Cadbury on 31st July 1982)

Election

Electors

T'out

Candidate

Party

Votes

Ch.%

1982
(28/10)

79,732

55.0

J.F. Spellar
R.J. Gale
S.J. Ridley
I.H.M. Anderson
P.R. Sheppard
R.J. Taylor
W.G. Boaks

Lab
C
L
NF
Com
Ind Prog
Ind

15,904
15,615
11,453
411
349
63
60
289

*
*
*
*

36.3
35.6
26.1
0.9
0.8
0.2
0.1
0.7

-8.8
-9.8
+18.0
-0.2

Swing -0.51: Lab gain from C

Note:-

1982:

Taylor sought election as a People's Progressive Party candidate.

GLASGOW, QUEEN’S PARK [598]

(Death of Francis Patrick McElhone on 22nd September 1982)

Election

Electors

T'out

Candidate

Party

Votes

Ch.%

1982
(2/12)

33,641

47.0

Mrs. H.M. McElhone
P. Mallan
D.J. Carlaw
G. Watson
J.R. Kay
J. Connell
A.H. Tennent

Lab
SNP
C
L
Com
Ind Soc
SRSP

8,851
3,157
1,888
1,487
339
40
39
5,694

*
*
*
*
*

56.0
20.0
12.0
9.4
2.1
0.3
0.2
36.0

-8.3
+10.3
-12.1

+1.0

Swing -1.86: Lab hold

Note:-

1982:

Connell sought election as a 'Peace and Socialist' candidate.

SOUTHWARK, BERMONDSEY [6]

(Resignation of Rt. Hon. Robert Joseph Mellish on 1st November 1982)

Election

Electors

T'out

Candidate

Party

Votes

Ch.%

1983
(24/2)

51,096

57.7

S.H.W. Hughes
P.G. Tatchell
J.H. O'Grady
R.G. Hughes
J.S. Sneath
D.E. Sutch
Dowager Lady Birdwood
M.D. Keulemans
B. Giddings
R. Gordon
G.B. Hannah
Miss F. Eden
Mrs. A.C. King
A.R. Baker
D.D. Wedgwood
E.L. Bevan

L
Lab
Ind Lab
C
NF
MRLP
Ind
NBP
Ind Lab
Com
EP
Rev CP
N Lab P
UDP
ACMFTP
Ind Lab

17,017
7,698
2,243
1,631
426
97
69
62
50
50
45
38
25
15
15
8
9,319

*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*

57.7
26.1
7.6
5.5
1.4
0.3
0.2
0.2
0.2
0.2
0.2
0.1
0.1
0.1
0.1
0.0
31.6

+50.9
-37.5

-19.4
-2.4

Swing +9.04: L gain from Lab

Notes:-

1983:

O'Grady was a Southwark Labour councillor and the former Leader of Southwark Borough Council. He was a supporter of the former MP Robert Mellish and was opposed to the selection of Tatchell as Labour candidate. He was subsequently expelled from the Labour Party.

Birdwood opposed multiracialism.

DARLINGTON [201]

(Death of Edward Joseph Fletcher on 13th February 1983)

Election

Electors

T'out

Candidate

Party

Votes

Ch.%

1983
(24/3)

64,969

80.0

O. O'Brien
M.C. Fallon
A.P. Cook
D.E. Sutch
A.H. Clark
T.L. Keen
J.J.N. Bardwaj
P.R. Smith

Lab
C
SDP
MRLP
Ind
Ind
Ind
Ind

20,544
18,132
12,735
374
164
27
15
10
2,412

*
*
*
*
*

39.5
34.9
24.5
0.7
0.3
0.1
0.0
0.0
4.6

-6.0
-8.5
+14.3

Swing -1.26: Lab hold

Note:-

1983:

Smith sought election as a 'Republican' candidate.

CARDIFF, NORTH-WEST [527]

(Death of Michael Hilary Arthur Roberts on 10th February 1983)

Seat vacant at dissolution (C)

RHONDDA [549]

(Death of Rt. Hon. Trevor Alec Jones on 20th March 1983)

Seat vacant at dissolution (Lab)

May	JUN	Aug
	09
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