Beaconsfield by-election, 1982

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

You have new messages (last change).

The Beaconsfield by-election, 1982 was a parliamentary by-election held on 27th May 1982 for the British House of Commons constituency of Beaconsfield in Buckinghamshire.

Contents

[edit] Previous MP

The seat had become vacant on 27th February 1982, when the constituency's Conservative Member of Parliament (MP), Sir Ronald Bell, had died at the age of 67. He been Beaconsfield's MP since the constituency was created for the February 1974 general election, having previously been MP for South Buckinghamshire since 1950. Bell had first entered Parliament at the Newport by-election in 1945, but had held lost that seat at the 1945 general election.

[edit] Candidates

The Conservative candidate was Tim Smith, who had been the surprise winner of the 1977 Ashfield by-election, where he overturned a Labour Party majority of nearly 23,000 votes. However, he lost the Ashfield at the 1979 general election, and was seeking to return to Parliament.

The SDP-Liberal Alliance chose Paul Tyler, who had been Liberal Party MP for Bodmin from February 1974 to October 1974.

The Labour Party selected as its candidate an unknown and untested young barrister called Tony Blair, an aspiring politician who had been advised by Labour MP Tom Pendry, Baron Pendry to seek the party's nomination to gain political experience.

Three other candidates stood, including Tom Keen, from the Campaign for a More Prosperous Britain, who held the record for the most candidacies in a single general election, and the by-election veteran Bill Boaks, an eccentric campaigner for road safety, who usually described himself as "Air, Road, Public Safety, White Resident" or "Democratic Monarchist, Public Safety, White Resident". On this occasion, he chose the latter label.

[edit] Result

Beaconsfield has always been one of the safest seats held by the Conservative Party, and a Conservative victory was expected. The real fight was for second place; the Liberal candidate had finished a close third in 1979, and the Alliance was seeking to establish itself as the main challenger to the Consevatives, while Labour fought to defends its position as the main opposition party.

On a slightly reduced turnout, the result was a win for the Tim Smith, with a fractional increase in the Conservative share of the vote. Tyler increased the Alliance's share from 17.1% to 26.8%, a a significant gain, but still a disappointment when compared with the beakthroughs seen in previous by-elections.

Labour's vote was nearly halved from 20.2% in 1979, down to 10.4%, and Blair lost his deposit.

[edit] Aftermath

Smith held the seat until the 1997 general election, when he was forced to stand down at the last minute over the cash-for-questions affair.

Tyler was a senior campaign organiser for the Alliance at further elections in the 1980s, and returned to Parliament at the 1992 general election, as MP for North Cornwall. He stood down in 2005, and was made a life peer.

Despite the party's poor showing Blair's was regarded as having fought a good campaign, and he was selected as Labour candidate for the newly-created safe seat of Sedgefield in County Durham. He won Sedgefield at the 1983 general election, and after a successful career in opposition he won the Labour Party leadership election in 1994. He led Labour to a landslide victory at the 1997 general election, and became Prime Minister on 2 May 1997.

[edit] Votes

Beaconsfield by-election, 27th May 1982
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Tim Smith 23,049 61.8 +0.1
Liberal Paul Tyler 9,996 26.8 +8.7
Labour Tony Blair 3,886 10.4 −9.8
New Britain Michael Byrne 225 0.6 −
Democratic Monarchist, Public Safety, White Resident Bill Boaks 99 0.3 N/A
Benn in Ten Unless Proportional Representation Thomas Keen 51 0.1 N/A
Majority 13,053 35.0 −8.2
Turnout 37,306
Conservative hold Swing

[edit] See also

[edit] References

« 47th Parliament «   By-elections to the 48th Parliament of the United Kingdom   » 49th Parliament »
1979

September: Manchester Central | December: South West Hertfordshire
1980

March: Southend East | June: Glasgow Central
1981

April: Fermanagh and South Tyrone | July: Warrington | August: Fermanagh and South Tyrone | October: Croydon North West | November: Crosby
1982

March: Belfast South | Glasgow Hillhead | May: Beaconsfield | June: Merton, Mitcham and Morden | Coatbridge and Airdrie | September: Gower | October: Birmingham Northfield | Southwark Peckham | December: Glasgow Queens Park
1983

February: Bermondsey | March: Darlington
 This article related to the politics of the United Kingdom, or its predecessor or constituent states, is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../b/e/a/Beaconsfield_by-election%2C_1982.html"