A by-election was called to take place on 27 July 1995 in the constituency of Littleborough and Saddleworth in Greater Manchester, England, following the death of Conservative Party MP Geoffrey Dickens on 17 May of that year.
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| Turnout | 64.5% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The contest was a win for the Liberal Democrat candidate Chris Davies. The result was notable, for the incumbent Conservative Party fell from first to third place, coming behind both the Labour Party and the Liberal Democrats. Davies' conduct during the by-election was controversial owing to his openly campaigning while the sitting MP Geoffrey Dickens was dying from liver cancer.[1]
The second-placed Labour candidate, Phil Woolas, defeated Davies at the 1997 general election in the successor seat of Oldham East and Saddleworth. He held the seat until 2010. Davies went on to represent the North West England region in the European Parliament from 1999 to 2014.
Result
edit| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal Democrats | Chris Davies | 16,231 | 38.5 | +2.7 | |
| Labour | Phil Woolas | 14,238 | 33.8 | +14.9 | |
| Conservative | John Hudson | 9,934 | 23.6 | –20.6 | |
| Monster Raving Loony | Screaming Lord Sutch | 782 | 1.9 | New | |
| UKIP | John Whittaker | 549 | 1.3 | New | |
| Conversative Party | Peter Douglas | 193 | 0.5 | New | |
| Independent | Mr Blobby | 105 | 0.2 | New | |
| Socialist (GB) | Andrew Pitts | 46 | 0.1 | New | |
| Independent | Lawson McLaren | 33 | 0.1 | New | |
| Independent | Colin Palmer | 25 | 0.1 | New | |
| Majority | 1,993 | 4.7 | N/A | ||
| Turnout | 42,136 | 64.5 | –17.1 | ||
| Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative | Swing | –6.0 | |||
Notes on candidates
edit- Mr Blobby was a character on the British television show Noel's House Party. The candidate had changed his name from John McLagan for the purposes of the election.[3] The candidate was not officially endorsed by the BBC, nor was McLagan the actual actor of Mr Blobby.
- The candidate L. McLaren used the party description "Probity for Imposed Candidates"
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "The Economist". Charles Reynell. 18 March 1995 – via Google Books.
- ^ Boothroyd, David. "Results of Byelections in the 1992-97 Parliament". United Kingdom Election Results. Archived from the original on 20 July 2017. Retrieved 1 October 2015.
- ^ "(Source)". Archived from the original on 20 July 2017. Retrieved 18 June 2006.