1968 Sheffield Brightside by-election

The 1968 Sheffield Brightside by-election of 13 June 1968 was held following the death of Labour MP Richard Winterbottom. ^[1] The seat was very safe, having been won by Labour at the 1966 general election by over 19,000 votes ^[2]

Candidates

• Labour chose Edward Griffiths to defend their seat, who was an industrial chemist and a worker director at the British Steel Corporation ^[3]
• Colin Renfrew, for the Conservatives, was lecturer in the Department of Prehistory and Archaeology at the University of Sheffield
• Robert Wilkinson was chosen as the candidate for the Communists
• Ronald Guest, and Lt-Col H L Lambert, stood as independents.

Result of the previous general election

General election 1966: Sheffield Brightside

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Richard Winterbottom	26,653	75.90	+5.2
	Conservative	Raymond Hadfield	7,476	21.29	−4.5
	Communist	Howard Hill	989	2.82	−0.7
Majority			19,177	54.61	+9.7
Turnout			35,118	66.2	−4.1
	Labour hold		Swing

Result of the by-election

The Labour Party held the seat with a much diminished majority.

By-election 1968: Sheffield Brightside ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Edward Griffiths	14,179	55.21	−20.69
	Conservative	Colin Renfrew	8,931	34.77	+13.48
	Communist	Robert Wilkinson	1,069	4.16	+1.34
	Independent	Ronald Guest	918	3.60	New
	Independent	H. L. Lambert	586	2.30	New
Majority			5,248	20.44	−34.17
Turnout			25,683
	Labour hold		Swing

References

1. Craig, F.W.S. (1987). Chronology of British Parliamentary By-elections 1833–1987. Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 230.
2. Archived 11 August 2011 at the Wayback Machine PoliticsResources.net
3. OBITUARY – Eddie Griffiths Independent.co.uk
4. "1968 By Election Results". British Elections Ephemera Archive. Archived from the original on 25 March 2012. Retrieved 21 August 2015.