The

City of London and Westminster South Cities of London and Westminster (also known as City of London and Westminster South from 1974 to 1997) is a constituency returning a single Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons in the United Kingdom Parliament. It is a borough co ...

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 ...

on 24 February 1977 was held 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)

Christopher Tugendhat Christopher Samuel Tugendhat, Baron Tugendhat (born 23 February 1937) is a British Conservative Party politician, businessman, company director, journalist and author. He was a Member of Parliament from 1970 to 1977, then a member of the Europ ...

resigned the seat upon his appointment to the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body o ...

. A safe Conservative seat, it was won by their candidate, Peter Brooke.

Candidates

The election was contested by a record ten candidates, beating the nine who had contested the 1976 Walsall North by-election. This total was topped at the 1978 Lambeth Central by-election. The candidates were: *

Bill Boaks Lieutenant Commander William George Boaks (25 May 1904 – 4 April 1986) was a British Royal Navy officer who became a political campaigner for road safety. A pioneer of British eccentric political campaigning, he jointly held the record for t ...

stood under the title "Air, Road, Public Safety, White Resident". Boaks was a road safety campaigner and serial by-election candidate. * Peter Brooke, a graduate of

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate business school of Harvard University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top business schools in the world and offers a large full-time MBA p ...

was 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 ...

candidate. * Dennis Delderfield was the candidate for the

New Britain Party New Britain was a minor British right-wing political party founded by Dennis Delderfield in 1976.Boothroyd, David, ''Politicos Guide to the History of British Political Parties'' (2001), p. 207. The party was de-registered in November 2008. Fo ...

, of which he was founder and leader. Delderfield was also a common councilman of the

Corporation of London The City of London Corporation, officially and legally the Mayor and Commonalty and Citizens of the City of London, is the municipal governing body of the City of London, the historic centre of London and the location of much of the United King ...

. * Ralph Herbert was 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 ...

who stood under the title "Christ, Crown, Country, Commonwealth, Christian Constitution". * Paul Kavanagh was the candidate for the National Front. * Michael Lobb was the candidate for the National Party, a splinter group of the National Front. He was candidate for the National Front in Newham South in the February 1974 general election and the subsequent by-election in the same seat. * Peter Mitchell stood under the banner "Pro-Homosexual Civil Rights". He was involved in the

Campaign for Homosexual Equality The Campaign for Homosexual Equality (CHE) is a membership organisation in the United Kingdom with a stated aim from 1969 to promote legal and social equality for lesbians, gay men and bisexuals in England and Wales. Active throughout the 1970s ...

pressure group. * Malcolm Noble was the Labour Party candidate. * Angus Scrimgeour was 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. * William Thompson was an independent who stood under the title "Christian Outreach to Britain, Anti-Pornography".

Aftermath

Brooke would retain the seat at the 1979 general election, and hold it until his retirement at the 2001 general election (it reverted to its former name of Cities of London and Westminster in 1997). He held a number of front-bench Government posts during his tenure, including

Secretary of State for Northern Ireland A secretary, administrative professional, administrative assistant, executive assistant, administrative officer, administrative support specialist, clerk, military assistant, management assistant, office secretary, or personal assistant is a w ...

Results

The results for the previous election were:

References

{{By-elections to the 47th UK Parliament City of London and Westminster South by-election City of London and Westminster South,1977 City of London and Westminster South,1977 City of London and Westminster South,1977 City of London and Westminster South by-election City of London and Westminster South by-election 1970s in the City of Westminster

Candidates

Aftermath

Results

See also

References