East Fife by-election, 1961
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The East Fife by-election, 1961 was a by-election held for the British House of Commons constituency of East Fife in Scotland on 9 November 1961. It was won by the Conservative and National Liberal candidate Sir John E. Gilmour.
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[edit] Vacancy
The seat had become vacant when the sitting National Liberal Member of Parliament (MP), Sir James Henderson-Stewart had died at the age of 63 on 3 September 1961. He had held the seat since a by-election in 1933.
[edit] Candidates
The Conservative and National Liberal candidate was 49-year-old Sir John E. Gilmour, an Eton and Cambridge-educated baronet who was a local farmer and land-owwner, and a decorated war-hero.[1] His father John had been an MP for thirty years, serving as a minister in the 1920s and 30s, including a period as Home Secretary. Gilmour was a reluctant by-election candidate; he had stood unsuccessfully at the 1945 general election in Clackmannan and Eastern Stirlingshire, but preferred local politics and had been a member of Fife County Council since 1955. However, he was pressured to stand to avoid by a constituency association fearing the imposition of an unpopular Conservative candidate.[2]
The Labour Party candidate was John Smith, a 23-year-old law student at Glasgow University, who later became leader of the party.
The Liberal Party candidate was D. Leach.
[edit] Result
After a campaign notable for a large influx of students supporting the Labour candidate, Gilmour was elected with a reduced but still large majority, with nearly 50% of the votes. Labour narrowly pushed the Liberals into third place.
Gilmour was re-elected at the 1964 general election, with an increased majority over Smith,[3] and held the seat until he stepped down at the 1979 general election.
[edit] Votes
| East Fife by-election, 1961 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| National Liberal and Conservative | Sir John E. Gilmour | 15,948 | 47.4 | −22.2 | |
| Labour | John Smith | 8,882 | 26.4 | −3.6 | |
| Liberal | D. Leach | 8,786 | 26.2 | N/A | |
| Majority | 7,066 | 21.02 | −18.9 | ||
| Turnout | 33,616 | ||||
| National Liberal and Conservative hold | Swing | −9.3 | |||
| General Election 1959: East Fife | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| National Liberal and Conservative | Sir James Henderson-Stewart | 26,585 | 69.95 | −0.65 | |
| Labour | J. Nicol | 11,421 | 30.05 | +0.65 | |
| Majority | 15,164 | 39.90 | −1.30 | ||
| Turnout | 38,006 | 75.20 | +2.01 | ||
| National Liberal and Conservative hold | Swing | −0.65 | |||
[edit] See also
- East Fife (UK Parliament constituency)
- Fife
- East Fife by-election, 1933
- List of United Kingdom by-elections (1950–1979)
[edit] Notes
- ^ Obituary of Sir John Gilmour, in The Independent
- ^ Obituary of Sir John E. Gimour, in The Times
- ^ * 1964 general election results at Richard Kimber's political science resources
[edit] References
- British Parliamentary by-elections: East Fife 1961
- 1959 general election results at Richard Kimber's political science resources
- 1955 general election results at Richard Kimber's political science resources
- Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs.
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