1973 West Bromwich by-election

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1973 West Bromwich by-election
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg
  1970 24 May 1973

Constituency of West Bromwich
 First partySecond party
  Official portrait of Baroness Boothroyd (3x4 crop).jpg
Con
Candidate Betty Boothroyd David Bell
Party Labour Conservative
Popular vote15,9077,582
Percentage53.21%25.36%
SwingDecrease2.svg 2.02%Decrease2.svg 19.41%

 Third partyFourth party
 
NF
Ind.
Candidate Martin Webster Joshua Churchman
Party National Front Independent
Popular vote4,7891,616
Percentage16.02%5.41%
SwingN/AN/A

MP before election

Maurice Foley
Labour

Subsequent MP

Betty Boothroyd
Labour

The West Bromwich by-election of 24 May 1973 was held after the appointment of Labour Member of Parliament (MP) Maurice Foley to the European Commission. The constituency, held continuously by Labour since 1935, was retained in this by-election.

Contents

Campaign

The election campaign was noted for the refusal of Enoch Powell, MP for neighbouring Wolverhampton South West, to endorse Conservative candidate David Bell; he felt that Bell was too far removed from his own policies on immigration and United Kingdom membership of the European Communities. [1] Although Powell did not endorse any candidate, the National Front (NF) claimed that Powell's refusal to support Bell represented tacit endorsement of itself. On polling day Martin Webster captured 16% of the vote, an all-time high for the NF, which thereby saved its deposit.

In common with a number of by-elections at the time, the Liberal Party did not compete for this seat.

Results

West Bromwich by-election, 1973 [2]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Betty Boothroyd 15,90753.21−2.02
Conservative David Bell7,58225.36−19.41
National Front Martin Webster 4,78916.02New
Independent Joshua Churchman1,6165.41New
Majority8,32527.85
Turnout 29,89443.6
Labour hold Swing

See also

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References

  1. Simon Heffer, Like the Roman: The Life of Enoch Powell , London, 1998. ISBN   0-297-84286-2, pp. 667–668
  2. "1973 By Election Results". Archived from the original on 14 March 2012. Retrieved 17 September 2015.