1972 Rochdale by-election

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1972 Rochdale by-election
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg
 197226 October 1972 Feb. 1974  

Constituency of Rochdale
Turnout69.10% (Decrease2.svg 3.70%)
 First partySecond party
  Cyril Smith (3x4 crop).jpg
Lab
Candidate Cyril Smith Lawrence Cunliffe
Party Liberal Labour
Popular vote19,29614,203
Percentage42.29%31.12%
SwingIncrease2.svg11.89%Decrease2.svg10.45%

 Third partyFourth party
 
Con
Ind.
Candidate David Trippier Jim Merrick
Party Conservative Independent
Popular vote8,0604,074
Percentage17.66%8.93%
SwingDecrease2.svg10.37%N/A

MP before election

Jack McCann
Labour

Subsequent MP

Cyril Smith
Liberal

The 1972 Rochdale by-election, was a parliamentary by-election held on 26 October 1972 for the House of Commons constituency of Rochdale.

Contents

The by-election took place during the 1970s Liberal revival, in one of the few Labour-held seats in which the Liberal Party was in second place. This was the first Liberal gain during the 1970–1974 Parliament.

Previous MP

The seat had become vacant when the constituency's Labour Member of Parliament (MP), John "Jack" McCann (4 December 1910 16 July 1972), died.

McCann first contested the Rochdale seat for Parliament in 1955 without success. He was first elected in a 1958 by-election following the death of the sitting Conservative MP Wentworth Schofield. In that by-election the Liberal candidate had finished second, during the late 1950s Liberal revival that culminated in the victory at the 1958 Torrington by-election, the next month. The Liberals had finished second to McCann in three out of the four subsequent general elections, including that of 1970.

Candidates

Four candidates were nominated. The list below is set out in descending order of the number of votes received at the by-election.

The Liberal Party candidate was Cyril Smith (28 June 1928 – 3 September 2010). He was a prominent local politician, who had been a Labour Mayor of the town in 1966–67. Smith joined the Liberal Party in 1967. He had finished second in the seat at the 1970 general election. Smith won the by-election and retained the constituency until he retired from Parliament in 1992. He was the Liberal Chief Whip 1975–76.

Representing the Labour Party was Lawrence Cunliffe (born 25 March 1929). He again contested Rochdale in the February 1974 general election. Cunliffe was elected MP for Leigh in 1979 and sat for the seat until he retired in 2001.

The Conservative candidate was David Trippier, born in 1946. He was a stockbroker and Rochdale councillor. He contested Oldham West in both 1974 general elections. Trippier became the Member of Parliament for Rossendale from 1979 to 1983, and for Rossendale and Darwen from 1983 until he lost his seat in 1992.

Jim Merrick, the chairman of the British Campaign to Stop Immigration, was from Bradford and issued leaflets headed "Enoch is right".

Results

1972 by-election: Rochdale [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Liberal Cyril Smith 19,296 42.29 +11.89
Labour Lawrence Cunliffe 14,20331.12−10.45
Conservative David Trippier 8,06017.66−10.37
Independent Jim Merrick4,0748.93New
Majority5,09311.17N/A
Turnout 45,63369.10−3.70
Registered electors 66,081
Liberal gain from Labour Swing

See also

References

  1. "1972 By Election Results". Archived from the original on 14 March 2012. Retrieved 8 September 2015.