The

Uxbridge Uxbridge () is a suburban town in west London and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Hillingdon. Situated west-northwest of Charing Cross, it is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. Uxbrid ...

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

was held on 7 December 1972 after

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP) Charles Curran had died on 16 September of the same year. The seat was retained by the Conservatives by Michael Shersby. Shersby would hold the seat until his sudden death just days after the 1997 general election.

Candidates

The by-election was contested by seven candidates, with each of the three major parliamentary parties offering candidates, three others coming from extra-parliamentary right-wing groups and a final candidate who was effectively an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

. John Clifton was the candidate for the

far-right Far-right politics, also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism, are political beliefs and actions further to the right of the left–right political spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of being ...

National Front. He was the party's organiser for South-West London and was also close to the local branch of the

Monday Club The Conservative Monday Club (usually known as the Monday Club) is a British political pressure group, aligned with the Conservative Party, though no longer endorsed by it. It also has links to the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and Ulster Unioni ...

. Dennis Herbert Harmston ran for the

Union Movement The Union Movement (UM) was a far-right political party founded in the United Kingdom by Oswald Mosley. Before the Second World War, Mosley's British Union of Fascists (BUF) had wanted to concentrate trade within the British Empire, but the Unio ...

, a far-right pro-European unity party led by

Oswald Mosley Sir Oswald Ernald Mosley, 6th Baronet (16 November 1896 – 3 December 1980) was a British politician during the 1920s and 1930s who rose to fame when, having become disillusioned with mainstream politics, he turned to fascism. He was a member ...

. Known as "Big Dan", Harmston, who worked in the management of

Smithfield Market Smithfield, properly known as West Smithfield, is a district located in Central London, part of Farringdon Without, the most westerly ward of the City of London, England. Smithfield is home to a number of City institutions, such as St Bartho ...

, was a long-term supporter of Mosley. He later became known as a supporter of

Enoch Powell John Enoch Powell, (16 June 1912 – 8 February 1998) was a British politician, classical scholar, author, linguist, soldier, philologist, and poet. He served as a Conservative Member of Parliament (1950–1974) and was Minister of Health (1 ...

, leading the Smithfield porters in a pro-Powell march following the

Rivers of Blood speech The "Rivers of Blood" speech was made by British Member of Parliament (MP) Enoch Powell on 20 April 1968, to a meeting of the Conservative Political Centre in Birmingham, United Kingdom. His speech strongly criticised mass immigration, especi ...

. Another fringe rightist party, the National Independence Party, also stood with Clare Macdonald as their candidate. Macdonald had been a member of the National Front but had switched allegiance when former Front leader John O'Brien was forced out of the group.

Michael Shersby Sir Julian Michael Shersby (17 February 1933 – 8 May 1997) was a British Conservative Party politician who was the Member of Parliament for Uxbridge from 1972 until his death. Early life Shersby was born to William and Elinor Shersby (Nora, ...

was the candidate for the Conservative Party. He had worked in industry for a number of years with the sugar company

Tate & Lyle Tate & Lyle PLC is a British-headquartered, global supplier of food and beverage ingredients to industrial markets. It was originally a sugar refining business, but from the 1970s it began to diversify, eventually divesting its sugar business i ...

whilst also serving as a Conservative member of

Westminster City Council Westminster City Council is the local authority for the City of Westminster in Greater London, England. The city is divided into 20 wards, each electing three councillors. The council is currently composed of 31 Labour Party members and 23 Cons ...

. Reginald Simmerson ran under the title "Democratic Conservative against the Common Market". Simmerson was a regular by-election candidate who campaigned against British membership of the

European Community The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organization created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisbo ...

. Following his death in 1998 the

Anti-Common Market League Get Britain Out is a United Kingdom based independent cross-party grassroots Eurosceptic Group which campaigned for the United Kingdom to leave the European Union. The campaign is still in operation and is pushing for the UK to break away from ...

established a prize in his memory. Ian Stuart was the candidate for the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

. A cargo-handler by profession and the chairman of the Joint Shop Stewards Liaison Committee, he was educated at

Lewes Old Grammar School Lewes Old Grammar School (LOGS) in Lewes, East Sussex, is an independent co-educational day school accredited by the Independent Schools Council. History An educational trust was established in the will of Agnes Morley who died in 1512; Lewes O ...

Manuela Sykes Audrey Manuela Penelope Heather Sykes (24 January 1925 – 19 September 2017) was a British Liberal Party politician who later joined the Labour Party. Background and early life Born to Arthur Darrel Sykes and Baroness Manuela Ottilie Von Hunde ...

was chosen as the candidate for the Labour Party. Sykes had been a long-standing member of the Liberal Party and had been a candidate for them in a number of parliamentary elections before defecting to Labour. She too served as a member of Westminster Council.

Results

The Conservatives retained the seat, albeit with a reduced majority and vote share. However the by-election was more noted for the comparatively high share won by the National Front in what was their "first dramatic by-election result".Walker, ''The National Front'', p. 138 The party had campaigned at unprecedented levels, bringing in as any as 100 canvassers to get their message out to voters.Walker, ''The National Front'', p. 139

References

{{By-elections to the 45th UK Parliament Uxbridge by-election Uxbridge by-election Uxbridge by-election Uxbridge,1972 Uxbridge,1972 Uxbridge