The
Birmingham Stechford by-election, in
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
, on 31 March 1977 was held after
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 (MP)
Roy Jenkins
Roy Harris Jenkins, Baron Jenkins of Hillhead, (11 November 1920 – 5 January 2003) was a British politician who served as President of the European Commission from 1977 to 1981. At various times a Member of Parliament (MP) for the Lab ...
resigned his seat following his appointment as
President of the European Commission
The president of the European Commission is the head of the European Commission, the executive branch of the European Union (EU). The President of the Commission leads a Cabinet of Commissioners, referred to as the College, collectively account ...
. A seat that had been solidly Labour since its formation in 1950, it was won by
Andrew MacKay
Andrew James MacKay (born 27 August 1949) is a British Conservative Party politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Birmingham Stechford from 1977 to 1979, East Berkshire from 1983 to 1997 and for Bracknell in Berkshire fro ...
of the
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 ...
, before being regained by Labour in 1979. The by-election was noted for the strong performance of the
National Front candidate and the presence of two far left candidates.
Background
As a leading Labour sitting MP
Roy Jenkins
Roy Harris Jenkins, Baron Jenkins of Hillhead, (11 November 1920 – 5 January 2003) was a British politician who served as President of the European Commission from 1977 to 1981. At various times a Member of Parliament (MP) for the Lab ...
had hoped to become
Foreign Secretary
The secretary of state for foreign, Commonwealth and development affairs, known as the foreign secretary, is a minister of the Crown of the Government of the United Kingdom and head of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Seen as ...
in the government of
James Callaghan
Leonard James Callaghan, Baron Callaghan of Cardiff, ( ; 27 March 191226 March 2005), commonly known as Jim Callaghan, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1976 to 1979 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1976 to 1980. Callaghan is ...
but was overlooked in favour of
Anthony Crosland
Charles Anthony Raven Crosland (29 August 191819 February 1977) was a British Labour Party politician and author. A social democrat on the right wing of the Labour Party, he was a prominent socialist intellectual. His influential book '' The ...
. Following this Jenkins was nominated as President of the European Commission in succession to
François-Xavier Ortoli
François-Xavier Ortoli (; 16 February 1925 – 30 November 2007) was a French politician who served as the 5th President of the European Commission from 1973 to 1977. He served as Minister of the Economy of France from 1968 to 1969.
Ortoli ...
, a move which necessitated his departure from Parliament.
Candidates
With the seat being solid Labour Party territory the by-election presented the possibility of a return to Parliament for
Terry Davis, who had served as member for the defunct
Bromsgrove
Bromsgrove is a town in Worcestershire, England, about northeast of Worcester and southwest of Birmingham city centre. It had a population of 29,237 in 2001 (39,644 in the wider Bromsgrove/Catshill urban area). Bromsgrove is the main town in the ...
seat from
a by-election in 1971 until its abolition in 1974. Davis however failed to take the seat and began a pattern for the ailing Labour government who also lost
the next by-election in Ashfield when
David Marquand
David Ian Marquand (born 20 September 1934) is a British academic and former Labour Party Member of Parliament (MP).
Background and political career
Marquand was born in Cardiff; his father was Hilary Marquand, also an academic and former La ...
followed Jenkins to a role in the Commission.
It also left the governing Labour Party without a majority and resulted in a vote of no confidence being issued, although the government won and was able to cling onto power by forming a
pact
A pact, from Latin ''pactum'' ("something agreed upon"), is a formal agreement between two or more parties. In international relations, pacts are usually between two or more sovereign states. In domestic politics, pacts are usually between two or ...
with the
Liberals.
The Conservative candidate
Andrew MacKay
Andrew James MacKay (born 27 August 1949) is a British Conservative Party politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Birmingham Stechford from 1977 to 1979, East Berkshire from 1983 to 1997 and for Bracknell in Berkshire fro ...
won the election with a majority of nearly 2000, although ultimately he would only hold the seat until
1979 when it was regained for Labour. MacKay would go on to enjoy a long parliamentary career representing a number of constituencies.
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 ...
candidate was Graham Gopsill, a
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
councillor who finished the by-election in a lowly fourth place. Gopsill would later serve the
Liberal Democrats in
Droitwich Spa
Droitwich Spa (often abbreviated to Droitwich ) is an historic spa town in the Wychavon district in northern Worcestershire, England, on the River Salwarpe. It is located approximately south-west of Birmingham and north-east of Worcester, Engl ...
until his death in 2009. He was beaten into fourth by
National Front candidate
Andrew Brons
Andrew Henry William Brons (born 3 June 1947) is a British politician and former MEP. Long active in far-right politics in Britain, he was elected as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for Yorkshire and the Humber for the British National ...
, a veteran of a number of far right movements and member of the NF National Directorate who eventually became NF chairman in 1980.
[Duncan Campbell]
'Andrew Brons, the genteel face of neo-fascism'
''The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' 8 June 2009 Other candidates to appear on the ballot were leftists Brian Heron of the
International Marxist Group
:''See also the International Marxist Group (Germany).
The International Marxist Group (IMG) was a Trotskyist group in Britain between 1968 and 1982. It was the British Section of the Fourth International. It had around 1,000 members and supporte ...
and journalist
Paul Foot for the
Socialist Workers Party.
Results
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Birmingham Stechford By-Election, 1977
1977 elections in the United Kingdom
Stretchford, 1977
1977 in England
1970s in Birmingham, West Midlands