The Weston-super-Mare by-election of 27 March 1969 was held after the death of Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) David Webster. The seat was retained by the Conservatives with an increased majority. [1]
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | David Webster | 27,733 | 52.08 | ||
Labour | Melvyn E. Butcher | 15,340 | 28.81 | ||
Liberal | Ian D. McDonald | 10,173 | 19.11 | ||
Majority | 12,393 | 23.27 | |||
Turnout | 53,246 | 79.06 | |||
Conservative hold | Swing |
The Conservative candidate was 32 year-old Alfred William (Jerry) Wiggin. Educated at Eton College and Trinity College, Cambridge, he was a farmer with holdings in Worcestershire and Peeblesshire. [2] He had previously stood as the party's candidate in Montgomeryshire in 1964 and 1966. [3]
The Liberals selected a new candidate, 43 year-old Edward Deal. He was a local solicitor, who was a member of The Law Society and the British Legal Association. He had been educated at Uppingham School and Clare College, Cambridge. He was standing for Parliament for the first time. [4]
The Labour Party selected 27 year-old Nicholas Bosanquet, an economic adviser at the National Board of Prices and Incomes. He was educated at Winchester College and Clare College, Cambridge. [5]
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Jerry Wiggin | 29,211 | 65.71 | +13.63 | |
Liberal | Edward Richard F. Deal | 8,739 | 19.66 | +0.55 | |
Labour | Nicholas Bosanquet | 6,504 | 14.63 | −14.18 | |
Majority | 20,472 | 46.05 | +22.78 | ||
Turnout | 44,454 | ||||
Conservative hold | Swing |
The result was one of three Conservative wins in by-elections held that day, with the party also retaining Brighton Pavilion and gaining Walthamstow East from Labour. Across the three contests there was an average swing of 16% from Labour to Conservative, which Conservative Shadow Home Secretary Quintin Hogg noted would give his party a comfortable majority in the House of Commons if repeated at the next general election. [7] The next day's Glasgow Herald reported that the "dispiriting performance" by Labour in these first by-elections of 1969 raised questions as to when the tide would turn for the party and noted that "some Labour MPS feel in their bones" that the party could not recover to win the general election which would come within the next two years. [8]
Sir Edward MacMillan Taylor, known as Teddy Taylor, was a British Conservative Party politician who was a Member of Parliament (MP) for forty years, from 1964 to 1979 for Glasgow Cathcart and from 1980 to 2005 for Southend East.
Neil Murray Tosh is a retired Scottish Conservative Party politician who served as a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the South of Scotland region (1999–2003) and the West of Scotland region (2003–07).
Sir Alfred William Wiggin, known as Jerry Wiggin, was a British Conservative Party politician.
A by-election was held for the British House of Commons constituency of Vale of Glamorgan on 4 May 1989 following the death of Conservative MP Sir Raymond Gower.
Anna Anderson McCurley was a Scottish politician.
David William Ernest Webster was a British Conservative Party politician.
Goronwy "Ronw" Moelwyn Hughes, KC, known as Moelwyn Hughes was a Welsh lawyer and a Liberal and Labour politician who was elected to two short terms as a Member of Parliament (MP).
The 1922 Cambridge by-election was a by-election held on 16 March 1922 for the British House of Commons constituency of Cambridge.
Ian Winterbottom, Baron Winterbottom, was a Labour Party politician in the United Kingdom.
Sir Percy Alfred Harris, 1st Baronet, PC was a British Liberal Party politician. He was Liberal Chief Whip and Deputy Leader of the Liberal Parliamentary Party.
The 1972 Uxbridge by-election was held on 7 December 1972 after Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) Charles Curran had died on 16 September of the same year. The seat was retained for the Conservatives by Michael Shersby. Shersby would hold the seat until his sudden death just days after the 1997 general election.
Sir Sydney Walter John Robinson JP was an English farmer, building contractor and Liberal politician.
The 1928 Carmarthen by-election was a parliamentary by-election held for the British House of Commons constituency of Carmarthen in West Wales on 28 June 1928.
The 1967 Cambridge by-election of 21 September 1967 was held after the premature death of Cambridge's Labour MP (MP) Robert Davies in June 1967.
The Brighton Pavilion by-election of 27 March 1969 was held after Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) William Teeling resigned from the House of Commons due to health problems. The seat was retained by the Conservatives. The successful Conservative candidate was Julian Amery, a former government minister who had lost his seat at Preston North at the last general election.
The Walthamstow East by-election of 27 March 1969 was held following the death of Labour Member of Parliament (MP) William Robinson. The seat was won by the opposition Conservative Party.
The 1969 Swindon by-election of 30 October 1969 was held after Labour Member of Parliament (MP) Francis Noel-Baker resigned from the House of Commons. The seat was won by the Conservative Party in a defeat for Harold Wilson's government.
A 1939 parliamentary by-election was held on 30 March 1939 for the British House of Commons constituency of Kincardine and Western Aberdeenshire.
Nicholas Bosanquet is a British health economist and former political activist.
His Honour Sir Samuel Ronald Courthope Bosanquet, QC was a British barrister who served as an Official Referee of the Supreme Court from 1931 to 1943.