The Hove by-election was held on 8 November 1973 for the British House of Commons constituency of

Hove Hove is a seaside resort and one of the two main parts of the city of Brighton and Hove, along with Brighton in East Sussex, England. Originally a "small but ancient fishing village" surrounded by open farmland, it grew rapidly in the 19th c ...

in East Sussex. The by-election was caused by the death of

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

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 o ...

Martin Maddan (William Francis) Martin Maddan (4 October 1920 – 22 August 1973) was a British Conservative Party politician. He was elected as Member of Parliament (MP) for Hitchin in the 1955 general election but was defeated in 1964. He returned for H ...

. Hove was a safe Conservative seat, having been held by the party since its creation for the 1950 general election. At the 1970 general election, the Conservatives had won over two-thirds of the votes cast. The Conservative candidate was

Tim Sainsbury Sir Timothy Alan Davan Sainsbury (born 11 June 1932) is a Conservative politician and businessman in the United Kingdom. Early life Sainsbury is the youngest son of Alan Sainsbury, Baron Sainsbury, and his wife Doreen. His elder brothers are ...

, a member of the board of supermarket chain

J Sainsbury plc J Sainsbury plc, trading as Sainsbury's, is the second largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom, with a 14.6% share of UK supermarket sales. Founded in 1869 by John James Sainsbury with a shop in Drury Lane, London, the company ...

. Former Labour Party MP

Desmond Donnelly Desmond Louis Donnelly (16 October 1920 – 3 April 1974) was a British politician, author and journalist who was a member of four political parties during the course of his career, and moved between parties on five occasions. Origins Donn ...

was unsuccessful in getting the Conservative nomination. Labour, who had put up the only other candidate in 1970, stood Ronald Wallis. 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 ...

, who had not stood a candidate in 1970, but had won 16% of the vote in 1966, stood

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

-born

Des Wilson Des Wilson (born 5 March 1941) is a New Zealand-born British campaigner, political activist, businessman, sports administrator, author and poker player. He was one of the founders of the British homelessness charity Shelter and was for a while an ...

, one of the founders of

Shelter Shelter is a small building giving temporary protection from bad weather or danger. Shelter may also refer to: Places * Port Shelter, Hong Kong * Shelter Bay (disambiguation), various locations * Shelter Cove (disambiguation), various locatio ...

. Two other candidates stood. The far right National Front stood John Harrison-Broadley, a former

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

Squadron Leader Squadron leader (Sqn Ldr in the RAF ; SQNLDR in the RAAF and RNZAF; formerly sometimes S/L in all services) is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence. It is als ...

National Front candidate Sqn. - Ldr. John Harrison-Broadley
/ref> and

bobsleigh Bobsleigh or bobsled is a team winter sport that involves making timed runs down narrow, twisting, banked, iced tracks in a gravity-powered sleigh. International bobsleigh competitions are governed by the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Feder ...

champion, while the

Maoist Maoism, officially called Mao Zedong Thought by the Chinese Communist Party, is a variety of Marxism–Leninism that Mao Zedong developed to realise a socialist revolution in the agricultural, pre-industrial society of the Republic of Ch ...

Communist Party of England (Marxist-Leninist) stood Carole Reakes.

Results

Sainsbury held the seat for the Conservatives, although the party now gained less than half of the votes cast. This was largely due to a strong result for Wilson, who took the Liberals into second place, while the Labour vote fell sharply; Labour in fact lost their deposit. Sainsbury held the seat until he stood down at the 1997 general election. Wilson became the Vice Chair of the

, and later the Campaign Director for the Liberal Democrats at the 1992 general election.

External links

UK General Election Results 1970

References

{{By-elections to the 45th UK Parliament Hove by-election Hove by-election Hove by-election 20th century in Sussex By-elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom in East Sussex constituencies Politics of Brighton and Hove