The 1979 Liverpool Edge Hill by-election was a parliamentary
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 ...
held in
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
on 29 March 1979 to elect a new
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) for the
House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...
constituency
An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger State (polity), state (a country, administrative region, ...
of
Liverpool Edge Hill.
Polling in the by-election took place one day after 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 ...
had
lost a vote of no confidence in parliament and slightly over a month before the
1979 general election. The seat had become vacant on the death the previous December of the constituency's
Labour Party MP
Sir Arthur Irvine, who had held the seat since a
by-election in 1947.
The result was a gain 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 ...
, represented by
David Alton
David Patrick Paul Alton, Baron Alton of Liverpool, (born 15 March 1951) is a British politician.
He is a former Liberal Party and later Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament who has sat as a crossbench member of the House of Lords since 1997 ...
. Having made his maiden speech on 3 April, just before the house rose for the election, he was re-elected a few weeks later and from 1983 held the
Mossley Hill
Mossley Hill is a suburb of Liverpool and a Liverpool City Council ward. Located to the south of the city, it is bordered by Aigburth, Allerton, Childwall, and Wavertree. At the 2001 Census, the population was 12,650, increasing to 13,816 at t ...
seat until he stood down from the commons in 1997, 18 years after the by-election.
Votes
See also
*
Liverpool Edge Hill (UK Parliament constituency)
Liverpool Edge Hill was a borough constituency within the city and metropolitan borough of Liverpool, in the English county of Merseyside, centred on Edge Hill. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament ...
*
1947 Liverpool Edge Hill by-election
The 1947 Liverpool Edge Hill by-election was a parliamentary by-election held in England to elect a new Member of Parliament (MP) for the British House of Commons constituency of Liverpool Edge Hill on 11 September 1947. The seat became vacan ...
*
List of United Kingdom by-elections
The list of by-elections in the United Kingdom is divided chronologically by parliament:
Parliament of the United Kingdom
*List of United Kingdom by-elections (1801–1806)
* List of United Kingdom by-elections (1806–1818)
*List of United Kingd ...
*
List of parliamentary constituencies in Merseyside
The ceremonial county, county of Merseyside created in 1974 has 15 United Kingdom constituencies, parliamentary constituencies
— (sub-classified into 12 of Borough constituency, borough type and three of County constituency, county status a ...
References
External links
David Alton's account of the by-election
1979 elections in the United Kingdom
1979 in England
1970s in Liverpool
Edge Hill, 1979
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