The 1982 Beaconsfield by-election was a
parliamentary by-election held on 27 May 1982 for the
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England.
The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 mem ...
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
Beaconsfield
Beaconsfield ( ) is a market town and civil parish within the unitary authority of Buckinghamshire, England, west-northwest of central London and south-southeast of Aylesbury. Three other towns are within : Gerrards Cross, Amersham and High W ...
in
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...
.
Previous MP
The seat had become vacant on 27 February 1982, when the constituency's
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), Sir
Ronald Bell, died at the age of 67. He had been Beaconsfield's MP since the constituency was created for the
February 1974 general election, having previously been MP for
South Buckinghamshire
South Bucks was one of four local government districts in the non-metropolitan county of Buckinghamshire, in South East England.
The district was formed on 1 April 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972, by the amalgamation of the area of Bea ...
since
1950
Events January
* January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed.
* January 5 – 1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash, Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 cr ...
. Bell had first entered
Parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
at the
Newport by-election in 1945, but lost that seat two months later at the
1945 general election.
Candidates
The Conservative candidate was
Tim Smith Tim, Timothy or Timmy Smith may refer to:
Musicians
*T. V. Smith (born 1956), British singer and songwriter
*Tim Smith (Cardiacs) (1961–2020), English singer-songwriter and frontman of Cardiacs
*Timmy Trumpet (born 1982), Australian DJ and produ ...
, aged 34, who had been the surprise winner of the
1977 Ashfield by-election
The Ashfield by-election was held on 28 April 1977 in the Ashfield constituency in the coal mining area of Nottinghamshire, following the resignation of Labour Member of Parliament David Marquand. Conservative candidate Tim Smith was the narro ...
, where he overturned a
Labour Party majority of nearly 23,000 votes. However, he lost the
Ashfield seat at the
1979 general election, and was seeking to return to Parliament.
The
SDP-Liberal Alliance chose 40-year-old
Paul Tyler
Paul may refer to:
*Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name)
*Paul (surname), a list of people
People
Christianity
* Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...
, who had been
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 ...
MP for
Bodmin
Bodmin () is a town and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated south-west of Bodmin Moor.
The extent of the civil parish corresponds fairly closely to that of the town so is mostly urban in character. It is bordere ...
from
February 1974
The following events occurred in February 1974:
February 1, 1974 (Friday)
*Joelma fire, A fire killed 177 people and injured 293 others in the 23-story Joelma Building at São Paulo in Brazil. Another 11 later died of their injuries. The bl ...
to
October 1974.
The
Labour Party selected as its candidate an unknown and untested 29-year-old barrister called
Tony Blair
Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of th ...
, an aspiring politician who had been advised by Labour MP
Tom Pendry
Thomas Pendry, Baron Pendry, (born 10 June 1934) is a Labour Party politician and member of the House of Lords. He was previously the Labour member of parliament for Stalybridge and Hyde from 1970 to 2001. In 2000, prior to his retirement as a ...
to seek the party's nomination to gain political experience.
Three other candidates stood, including Tom Keen, from the
Campaign for a More Prosperous Britain, who held the record for the most candidacies in a single general election, and 78-year-old by-election veteran
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 ...
, an eccentric campaigner for road safety, who usually described himself as "Air, Road, Public Safety, White Resident" or "Democratic Monarchist, Public Safety, White Resident". On this occasion, he chose the latter label.
Result
Beaconsfield had been one of the
safest seats held by the Conservative Party, and a Conservative victory was expected. The real fight was for second place; the Liberal candidate had finished a close third in 1979. Labour fought to remain the main opposition party for the seat.
In the March
1982 Glasgow Hillhead by-election
A Glasgow Hillhead by-election was held on 25 March 1982. The by-election was caused by the death of the Conservative Party Member of Parliament for Glasgow Hillhead Tam Galbraith on 2 January 1982.
Hillhead had been held by the Conservatives ...
, the SDP's
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 ...
won a traditionally Conservative seat for the Alliance, with Labour, previously the main challengers in
Hillhead
Hillhead ( sco, Hullheid, gd, Ceann a' Chnuic) is an area of Glasgow, Scotland. Situated north of Kelvingrove Park and to the south of the River Kelvin, Hillhead is at the heart of Glasgow's fashionable West End, with Byres Road forming the w ...
, in third place. With the SDP winning three of four by-elections since its formation in March 1981, ''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 ...
'' speculated that the new party threatened the Conservatives' hold on Beaconsfield.
However, in the intervening weeks the
Falklands War
The Falklands War ( es, link=no, Guerra de las Malvinas) was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and its territorial de ...
began.
The 53% turnout was almost 20 percentage points below 1979's, and unusually low for a by-election. Smith held the seat for the Conservatives, with a share of the vote comparable to the general election. ''The Glasgow Herald''s William Russell stated that the outcome "firmly endorsed" the
First Thatcher Ministry
Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 4 May 1979 to 28 November 1990, during which time she led a Conservative Party (UK), Conservative majority government. She was the first woman to hold that office. During her prem ...
's conduct of the war. Party chairman
Cecil Parkinson
Cecil Edward Parkinson, Baron Parkinson, (1 September 1931 – 22 January 2016) was a British Conservative Party politician and cabinet minister. A chartered accountant by training, he entered Parliament in November 1970, and was appointed a ...
claimed that the result was better than he had expected.
Tyler increased the Alliance's share from 17.1% for Liberals in 1979 to 26.8%. Russell agreed with Liberal
Whip
A whip is a tool or weapon designed to strike humans or other animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain. They can also be used without inflicting pain, for audiovisual cues, such as in equestrianism. They are generally e ...
Alan Beith
Alan James Beith, Baron Beith, (born 20 April 1943) is a British Liberal Democrat politician who represented Berwick-upon-Tweed as its Member of Parliament (MP) from 1973 to 2015.
From 1992 to 2003 he was Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrat ...
's claim that the more than 9% increase was much better than expected, writing that "the Alliance bandwagon may have been temporally stalled" during the war, but the result had some positives for the Alliance.
Labour's vote was nearly halved from 20.2% in 1979 to 10.4%, and Blair lost his
deposit. Russell described Blair ("a very good candidate") finishing in third place "a disaster" for Labour. The journalist attributed the poor outcome to "
internal squabbling of the past year between Left and Right".
Aftermath
Smith held the seat until the
1997 general election, when in March 1997 he was forced to stand down at the last minute over the
cash-for-questions affair
The "cash-for-questions affair" was a political scandal of the 1990s in the United Kingdom.
It began in October 1994 when ''The Guardian'' newspaper alleged that London's most successful parliamentary lobbyist, Ian Greer of Ian Greer Associates ...
. He was replaced by
Dominic Grieve
Dominic Charles Roberts Grieve (born 24 May 1956) is a British barrister and former politician who served as Shadow Home Secretary from 2008 to 2009 and Attorney General for England and Wales from 2010 to 2014. He served as the Member of Parl ...
.
Tyler was a senior campaign organiser for the Alliance at further elections in the 1980s, and returned to Parliament at the
1992 general election, as MP for
North Cornwall
North Cornwall ( kw, An Tiredh Uhel) is an area of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is also the name of a former local government district, which was administered from Bodmin and Wadebridge . Other towns in the area are Launceston, Bude, P ...
. He stood down in
2005
File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...
, and was made a
life peer
In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages ...
.
Despite the party's poor showing Blair was regarded as having fought a good campaign, and he was selected as Labour candidate for the newly created safe seat of
Sedgefield
Sedgefield is a market town and civil parish in County Durham, England. It had a population of 5,211 as at the 2011 census. It has the only operating racecourse in County Durham.
History Roman
A Roman 'ladder settlement' was discovered by C ...
in
County Durham
County Durham ( ), officially simply Durham,UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. is a ceremonial county in North East England.North East Assembly â€About North East E ...
. He won Sedgefield at the
1983 general election, and after a successful career in opposition he won the
Labour Party leadership election in 1994. He led Labour to a landslide victory at the
1997 general election, and became
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
on 2 May 1997, a position he held until 27 June 2007.
Votes
See also
*
Beaconsfield constituency
*
Beaconsfield
Beaconsfield ( ) is a market town and civil parish within the unitary authority of Buckinghamshire, England, west-northwest of central London and south-southeast of Aylesbury. Three other towns are within : Gerrards Cross, Amersham and High W ...
*
Lists 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 ...
*
United Kingdom by-election records
Parliamentary by-elections in the United Kingdom occur when a Member of Parliament (MP) vacates a House of Commons seat (due to resignation, death, disqualification or expulsion) during the course of a parliament.
Scope of these records
Altho ...
References
Beaconsfield by-election
Beaconsfield by-election
Tony Blair
By-elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom in Buckinghamshire constituencies
South Bucks District
20th century in Buckinghamshire
Beaconsfield
Beaconsfield by-election