![]() | |||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||
|
The 1984 Enfield Southgate by-election was a parliamentary by-election held on 13 December 1984 for the House of Commons constituency of Enfield Southgate.
The seat had become vacant on 12 October 1984, when the constituency's Member of Parliament (MP) was killed by the Irish Republican Army in the Brighton hotel bombing.
Sir Anthony George Berry (12 February 1925 – 12 October 1984) was a Conservative MP for Enfield Southgate, and a Whip in Margaret Thatcher's government.
Sir Anthony Berry had been Southgate's MP since the 1964 general election. The constituency had been renamed Enfield Southgate in 1983.
Given the reason for the by-election, there was some discussion about the Labour Party and the Alliance not contesting the poll. However, in the end both opposition forces were represented in the list of candidates.
Nine candidates were nominated. The list below is set out in descending order of the number of votes received at the by-election.
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Michael Portillo | 16,684 | 49.6 | −8.5 | |
Liberal | Timothy Slack | 11,973 | 35.6 | +12.2 | |
Labour | Peter Hamid | 4,000 | 11.9 | −6.0 | |
Turkish Troops Out of Cyprus | Andreas Polydrou | 687 | 2.0 | New | |
Nationalist Party | James Kershaw | 80 | 0.2 | New | |
English National | Raymond Shenton | 78 | 0.2 | New | |
Abolish Greater London, Restore Middlesex | Iain Burgess | 50 | 0.2 | New | |
Captain Rainbow's Universal Party | George Weiss | 48 | 0.2 | New | |
Death off Roads: Freight on Rail | Helen Anscomb | 45 | 0.1 | New | |
Majority | 4,711 | 14.0 | -20.7 | ||
Turnout | 33,645 | 50.6 | -19.0 | ||
Registered electors | 66,473 | ||||
Conservative hold | Swing | −10.3 | |||
Previous general election result:
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Anthony Berry | 26,451 | 58.1 | −3.5 | |
Liberal | D Morgan | 10,632 | 23.3 | +9.3 | |
Labour | Mary Honeyball | 8,132 | 17.9 | −4.7 | |
BNP | M Braithwaite | 318 | 0.7 | New | |
Majority | 15,819 | 34.8 | -4.3 | ||
Turnout | 51,365 | 69.6 | -6.7 | ||
Registered electors | 65,438 | ||||
Conservative hold | Swing | ||||
Sir Anthony George Berry was a British Conservative politician. He served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Enfield Southgate and a whip in Margaret Thatcher's government.
Stephen Twigg is a British Labour Co-op politician who has served as the 8th Secretary-General of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association since August 2020. He served as Member of Parliament for Enfield Southgate from 1997 to 2005, and for Liverpool West Derby from 2010 to 2019.
Edmonton is a constituency in Greater London, created in 1918 and represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2015 by Kate Osamor, who was elected for the Labour Co-operative party but has since lost the Labour whip. Edmonton is a North London constituency based around district of Edmonton in the London Borough of Enfield.
Enfield Southgate is a constituency in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. It was created in 1950 as Southgate, and has been represented since 2017 by Bambos Charalambous, a member of the Labour Party.
Kensington and Chelsea was a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom 1997–2010. It was one of the safest Conservative seats in the United Kingdom, and since its creation in 1997 became a prestigious seat, with MP Alan Clark, the former Defence Secretary Michael Portillo and the former Foreign Secretary Malcolm Rifkind all holding the seat for the Conservatives. The seat was abolished for the 2010 election, when the 1974–1997 Kensington constituency was recreated and Chelsea formed a new constituency together with the southern part of the former Hammersmith and Fulham constituency, called the Chelsea and Fulham constituency.
The 2005 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 5 May 2005, to elect 646 members to the House of Commons. The governing Labour Party, led by Tony Blair, won its third consecutive victory, with Blair becoming the second Labour leader after Harold Wilson to form three majority governments. However, its majority fell to 66 seats; the majority it won four years earlier had been of 167 seats. This was the first time the Labour Party had won a third consecutive election, and as of 2024 remains the party's most recent general election victory.
The region of Greater London, including the City of London, is divided into 73 parliamentary constituencies which are sub-classified as borough constituencies, affecting the type of electoral officer and level of expenses permitted.
Isle of Ely was a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, centred on the Isle of Ely in Cambridgeshire. Until its abolition in 1983, it elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.
John Leslie Marshall is a British Conservative politician.
The 1984 South West Surrey by-election was a parliamentary by-election held on 3 May 1984 for the British House of Commons constituency of South West Surrey.
The 1940 Newcastle upon Tyne North by-election was a parliamentary by-election held on 7 June 1940 for the British House of Commons constituency of Newcastle upon Tyne North.
The 1985 Brecon and Radnor by-election was a parliamentary by-election held on 4 July 1985 for the House of Commons constituency of Brecon and Radnor.
The 1962 Montgomeryshire by-election was a parliamentary by-election held on 15 May 1962 for the British House of Commons constituency of Montgomeryshire.
The 1973 Ripon by-election was a parliamentary by-election held on 26 July 1973 for the British House of Commons constituency of Ripon.
The 1986 Knowsley North by-election was a parliamentary by-election held on 13 November 1986 for the British House of Commons constituency of Knowsley North.
The 1984 Stafford by-election was a parliamentary by-election held on 3 May 1984 for the British House of Commons constituency of Stafford.
The 1984 Cynon Valley by-election was a parliamentary by-election held on 3 May 1984 for the British House of Commons constituency of Cynon Valley.
The Glasgow Queen's Park by-election, 1982 was a parliamentary by-election held on 2 December 1982 for the House of Commons constituency of Glasgow Queen's Park.
The Portillo moment was the declaration of the result for the Enfield Southgate constituency in the 1997 general election, at around 3:10am on 2 May 1997. The Labour Party candidate Stephen Twigg defeated the sitting MP, Conservative cabinet minister Michael Portillo. The result was perceived as a pivotal indication that the Conservatives would be voted out of office after 18 years, and that Labour would win the election by a substantial majority.
The constituency of Enfield Southgate returned a memorable result in the United Kingdom 1997 general election, when the seat was unexpectedly lost by the incumbent, the Conservative's Michael Portillo, to Labour's Stephen Twigg.