1976 Walsall North by-election

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1976 Walsall North by-election
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg
  Oct. 1974 4 November 1976 1979  

Constituency of Walsall North
 First partySecond party
  Official portrait of Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts (3x4 crop).jpg
Lab
Candidate Robin Hodgson David Winnick
Party Conservative Labour
Popular vote16,21211,833
Percentage43.35%31.64%
SwingIncrease2.svg 17.2%Decrease2.svg 27.85%

 Third partyFourth party
 
Ind.
NF
CandidateSidney WrightJoseph Parker
Party Independent National Front
Popular vote4,3742,724
Percentage11.70%7.28%
SwingN/AN/A

MP before election

John Stonehouse
English National

Elected MP

Robin Hodgson
Conservative

The Walsall North by-election on 4 November 1976 was held after the resignation of sitting Member of Parliament (MP) John Stonehouse. Elected as a Labour candidate, Stonehouse was a member of the English National Party when he resigned, after an interlude in which he faked his own death. [1] The English National Party did not contest the by-election, the first occasion on which the incumbent's party did not do so since the 1963 Bristol South East by-election, and the last until the 1995 North Down by-election.

Contents

Amidst the confusion, the Conservative Party gained the seat in the by-election.

The by-election was also noted for the performance of independent candidate Sidney Wright, the debut of the Ecology Party [2] and the split of the far right vote due to the appearance of both the National Front and their splinter group the National Party on the ballots. [3] The Liberal Party could take only fifth place, their worst ever placing in a by-election in England. The party had previously come fifth in Wales in the 1972 Merthyr Tydfil by-election, and next placed so low at the 1989 Glasgow Central by-election.

The by-election also saw a record number of candidates, beating the long-standing record of seven who contested the 1920 Stockport by-election, where two seats were available, a total first reached in a single-member by-election in the 1962 Dorset South by-election. This record was again beaten at the 1977 City of London and Westminster South by-election.

Joseph Parker, the National Front candidate, would go on to be father-in-law to John Tyndall, the leader of the National Front, after Tyndall married Parker's daughter Valerie in 1977.

Results

Walsall North by-Election, 1976 [4]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Robin Hodgson 16,21243.35+17.2
Labour David Winnick 11,83331.64-27.85
Independent Sidney Wright4,37411.70New
National Front Joseph Parker2,7247.28New
Liberal Frances Oborski1,2123.24-13.1
Socialist Workers James McCallum5741.53New
National Party Marian Powell2580.69New
Ecology Jonathan Tyler 1810.48New
Air, Road, Public Safety, White Resident Bill Boaks 300.08New
Majority4,37911.71N/A
Turnout 37,398
Conservative gain from English National Swing

See also

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References

  1. 1976: Government crisis as Stonehouse quits
  2. Green Party history, Derek Wall
  3. M. Walker, The National Front, Glasgow: Fontana Collins, 1977
  4. "1976 By Election Results". Archived from the original on 14 March 2012. Retrieved 17 September 2015.