The 1962 South Dorset by-election occurred following the death of George Montagu, 9th Earl of Sandwich on 15 June 1962. His son Viscount Hinchingbrooke, the incumbent MP for the constituency of South Dorset, was subsequently elevated to the peerage, becoming the 10th Earl of Sandwich. Following the Peerage Act 1963, the 10th Earl disclaimed his peerages in 1964, becoming Victor Montagu, but never sat in the House of Commons again.
The campaign coincided with a period when the United Kingdom was negotiating to join the European Communities ("Common Market"). The application was later vetoed by Charles de Gaulle in 1963. Viscount Hinchingbrooke was staunchly against joining the Common Market, while the Conservative candidate, Angus Maude, had to back the official party pro-Common Market policy. The issue resulted in a local Conservative, Sir Piers Debenham, standing as an anti-Common Market candidate with the support of Viscount Hinchingbrooke.
Independent candidates Burn, Fudge and O'Connor were all serving in the British Armed Forces. The law stated that, on standing in a Parliamentary election, they would be released from the Forces; this was, therefore, a way to receive an early honourable discharge, for the cost of a lost deposit. The practice was banned the following year. [1]
A total of seven candidates stood for election; this matched the then by-election record, which had been set at the 1920 Stockport by-election, and was not beaten until the 1976 Walsall North by-election.
The by-election took place on 22 November 1962, and resulted in a gain for the Labour Party from the Conservatives. Guy Barnett was elected with a majority of 704, overturning a 6,693 Conservative majority at the 1959 general election, and with 33.5% of the poll, one of the lowest winning vote-shares at a by-election vote. The 5,000 votes for Piers Debenham proved decisive, although the increase in the Liberal Party vote was also important. Debenham lost his deposit, gaining 12.3% of the votes against the 12.5% required.
Angus Maude was subsequently elected to Parliament in the Stratford by-election in 1963, after the resignation of John Profumo following the Profumo affair. At the 1964 general election Guy Barnett was defeated by the Conservative candidate Evelyn King by 935 votes. He returned to parliament in 1971, for Greenwich, following a by-election there. Piers Debenham died in 1964, just before the 1964 general election.
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Guy Barnett | 13,783 | 33.51 | −1.16 | |
Conservative | Angus Maude | 13,079 | 31.79 | −17.99 | |
Liberal | Lawrence Norbury-Williams | 8,910 | 21.66 | +6.11 | |
Anti Common Market | Piers Debenham | 5,057 | 12.29 | New | |
Independent | Paul Burn | 181 | 0.44 | New | |
Independent | Michael Fudge | 82 | 0.20 | New | |
Independent | Jeremiah O'Connor | 45 | 0.11 | New | |
Majority | 704 | 1.71 | N/A | ||
Turnout | 41,137 | ||||
Labour gain from Conservative | Swing |
Earl of Sandwich is a noble title in the Peerage of England, held since its creation by the House of Montagu. It is nominally associated with Sandwich, Kent. It was created in 1660 for the prominent naval commander Admiral Sir Edward Montagu. He was made Baron Montagu of St Neots, of St Neots in the County of Huntingdon, and Viscount Hinchingbrooke, at the same time, also in the Peerage of England. The viscountcy is used as the courtesy title by the heir apparent to the earldom. A member of the prominent Montagu family, Lord Sandwich was the son of Sir Sidney Montagu, youngest brother of Henry Montagu, 1st Earl of Manchester, and Edward Montagu, 1st Baron Montagu of Boughton.
Duke of Manchester is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain, and the current senior title of the House of Montagu. It was created in 1719 for the politician Charles Montagu, 4th Earl of Manchester. Manchester Parish in Jamaica was named after the 5th Duke, while its capital Mandeville was named after his son and heir. The current Duke is Alexander Montagu, 13th Duke of Manchester, a controversial British and Australian citizen who lives in the United States and has served several prison sentences. He succeeded to the peerage in 2002 following the death of his father Angus Montagu, 12th Duke of Manchester, the last of the dukes to hold a seat in the House of Lords.
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Nicolas Guy Barnett was a British Labour Party politician. He was the Member of Parliament for South Dorset from a by-election victory in 1962 until he was unseated in 1964, and later for Greenwich from a 1971 by-election until his death.
Alexander Victor Edward Paulet Montagu, known as Viscount Hinchingbrooke from 1916 to 1962, as the Earl of Sandwich from 1962 to 1964 and as Victor Montagu from 1964 to 1995, was a British Conservative Member of Parliament (MP). He was usually known to family and friends as 'Hinch Hinchingbrooke' or 'Hinch Sandwich' or, later, as 'Hinch Montagu'. In 2015, it was revealed that he was cautioned for indecently assaulting a child for a period of two years between 31 December 1970 and January 1972.
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Edward George Henry Montagu, 8th Earl of Sandwich KStJ, styled Viscount Hinchingbrooke until 1884, was a British peer, Conservative politician and author.
John William Montagu, 7th Earl of Sandwich PC, styled Viscount Hinchingbrooke from 1814 to 1818, was a British peer and Conservative politician. He served under Lord Derby as Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms in 1852 and as Master of the Buckhounds between 1858 and 1859.
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Montagu is an English surname of Old French origin, a form of Montague. One notable family with this surname is the House of Montagu, who include the Earls of Sandwich. Notable people with the surname include:
Julie Montagu, Viscountess Hinchingbrooke is an American entrepreneur, yoga instructor, blogger, writer and television personality. She is married to Luke Montagu, Viscount Hinchingbrooke, who is the son and heir to John Montagu, 11th Earl of Sandwich. Montagu began her television career as a cast member on the British reality series Ladies of London before hosting her own series on the Smithsonian Channel called An American Aristocrat's Guide to Great Estates. Since 2021 she has run her own series, American Viscountess, on YouTube.
Hon. William Augustus Montagu (1752–1776) was a British politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1774 to 1776.
Lady Mary Faith Culme-Seymour was a British aristocrat and letter writer. The daughter of the 9th Earl of Sandwich and American heiress Alberta Sturges, she grew up at the family's ancestral seat, Hinchingbrooke House in Huntingdon. When her brother, Victor Montagu, 10th Earl of Sandwich, sold the family home in 1955, Lady Faith took her close friend, the novelist E. M. Forster, to see it one last time. Her last tour of the home with Forster was an emotional one, and she documented the experience in her diary and in letters. She and Forster, who initially offered her advice on short story writing, remained friends until his death.