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Constituency of Eastbourne | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Turnout | 60.7% (![]() | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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![]() | This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations .(July 2009) |
The 1990 Eastbourne by-election was a by-election held on 18 October 1990 for the House of Commons constituency of Eastbourne in East Sussex.
The by-election was caused by the death of the town's Conservative Party Member of Parliament (MP) Ian Gow, who was killed on 30 July 1990 by a bomb placed under his car by the Provisional IRA.
The result was a victory for the Liberal Democrat candidate David Bellotti, who defeated former Conservative MP Richard Hickmet by a majority of 4,550 votes and with more than half the votes cast. The loss came as a shock to many Conservatives who had expected (not least given the circumstances under which the by-election was held, as well as the fact that it had been retained by a majority of more than 16,000 votes in 1987) that they would retain the seat. Conservative MP Ann Widdecombe sent a message to voters saying that the IRA would be "toasting their success". [1]
It was a welcome success for the Liberal Democrats, formed in March 1988, after some disastrous early local and European election showings, as well as dismal showings in opinion polls. It came at a time when Conservative support was slumping and Labour was enjoying a comfortable lead in the opinion polls, largely due to the unpopular introduction of poll tax by the Conservative government. [2]
The Liberal Democrats, whose newly adopted party emblem was a 'bird of liberty', had been compared by Margaret Thatcher in a Conservative party conference speech on 12 October to a "dead parrot". [3] The shock defeat contributed to the end of Thatcher's premiership in November 1990 as Conservative MPs worried if they could hold their seats at a general election if she remained prime minister. [4]
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Liberal Democrats | David Bellotti | 23,415 | 50.8 | +21.1 | |
Conservative | Richard Hickmet | 18,865 | 41.0 | −18.9 | |
Labour | Charlotte Atkins | 2,308 | 5.0 | −3.8 | |
Green | David Aherne | 553 | 1.2 | −0.4 | |
Liberal | Theresia Williamson | 526 | 1.1 | New | |
Corrective Party | Lady Whiplash | 216 | 0.5 | New | |
National Front | John McAuley | 154 | 0.3 | New | |
Ironside Party | Eric Page | 35 | 0.1 | New | |
Majority | 4,550 | 9.8 | N/A | ||
Turnout | 46,072 | 60.7 | −14.9 | ||
Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative | Swing | +20.0 |
Sir John Major is a British retired politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1997. He previously held Cabinet positions under Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, his last as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1989 to 1990. Major was Member of Parliament (MP) for Huntingdon, formerly Huntingdonshire, from 1979 to 2001. Since stepping down as an MP in 2001, Major has focused on writing and his business, sporting, and charity work, and has occasionally commented on political developments in the role of an elder statesman.
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