The 1975 Woolwich West by-election was a parliamentary by-election held on 26 June 1975 for the British House of Commons constituency of Woolwich West in South East London. The seat had become vacant when the constituency's

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

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 ...

(MP), William Hamling died on 20 March 1975. He had held the seat since winning it from the

Conservatives 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 in ...

at the 1964 general election. It was the first by election since the general election the previous October.

Results

The result of the contest was a victory for the Conservative candidate,

Peter Bottomley Sir Peter James Bottomley (born 30 July 1944) is a British Conservative Party politician who has served as a Member of Parliament (MP) since 1975 when elected for Woolwich West, serving until it was abolished before the 1983 general election. ...

, who held the seat until its abolition for the 1983 general election; he had contested the seat in both 1974 general elections. He then sat for Eltham, the successor seat and since 1997 has represented Worthing West, a safe Tory seat in Sussex. As the result of the by-election was a Conservative gain from Labour, the result reduced the Labour majority in the House of Commons from 3 seats to 1 seat as their number of seats fell from 319 to 318 in a House of 635 members. However the position of the Labour Government was made worse by the fact one of its MPs

John Stonehouse John Thomson Stonehouse (28 July 192514 April 1988) was a British Labour and Co-operative Party politician and cabinet minister under Prime Minister Harold Wilson. Stonehouse is remembered for his unsuccessful attempt at faking his own death i ...

, was absent from the country. This was the first by-election the Conservatives fought under the leadership of

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime ...

, who abandoned a precedent that party leaders did not campaign in by-elections, by personally canvassing in support of Bottomley. Writing in ''The

Glasgow Herald ''The Herald'' is a Scottish broadsheet newspaper founded in 1783. ''The Herald'' is the longest running national newspaper in the world and is the eighth oldest daily paper in the world. The title was simplified from ''The Glasgow Herald'' in ...

'' political correspondent John Warden stated that the victory would boost Mrs Thatcher by silencing "mutterings about her leadership" for at least a few months.

Votes

References

{{By-elections to the 47th UK Parliament Woolwich West,1975 Woolwich West by-election History of the Royal Borough of Greenwich Woolwich West,1975 Woolwich West by-election Woolwich Woolwich West by-election

Results

Votes

See also

References