The 1973 Isle of Ely by-election was a parliamentary by-election held on 26 July 1973 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, ...

Isle of Ely The Isle of Ely () is a historic region around the city of Ely in Cambridgeshire, England. Between 1889 and 1965, it formed an administrative county. Etymology Its name has been said to mean "island of eels", a reference to the creatures that ...

. The by-election took place during the 1970s

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 ...

revival. This seat and

Ripon Ripon () is a cathedral city in the Borough of Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England. The city is located at the confluence of two tributaries of the River Ure, the Laver and Skell. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, the city ...

were gained on the same day, the third and fourth Liberal gains during the Parliament. This was the first time since 1899 that the Liberal Party had made two by-election gains on the same day, when it won both seats in a two-member constituency at the Oldham by-election. The last time the party had gained two seats, in different constituencies on the same day, was on 2 June 1896, at the

Frome Frome ( ) is a town and civil parish in eastern Somerset, England. The town is built on uneven high ground at the eastern end of the Mendip Hills, and centres on the River Frome. The town, about south of Bath, is the largest in the Mendip d ...

and the Wick Burghs by-elections.

Previous MP

The seat had become vacant on the death of the constituency's

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), Major Sir

Harry Legge-Bourke Major Sir Edward Alexander Henry Legge-Bourke, (16 May 1914 – 21 May 1973), was a British politician, and a Member of Parliament for Isle of Ely from 1945 until his death in 1973. Early life Legge-Bourke was born as the only child of Lt. Ni ...

KBE (16 May 1914 – 21 May 1973). Legge-Bourke, a

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 ...

, had gained the seat from the Liberal Party in the 1945 general election.

Candidates

Three candidates were nominated. The list below is set out in descending order of the number of votes received at the by-election. The Liberal Party candidate was

Clement Freud Sir Clement Raphael Freud (24 April 1924 – 15 April 2009) was a German-born British broadcaster, writer, politician and chef. The son of Ernst L. Freud and grandson of Sigmund Freud, Clement moved to the United Kingdom from Nazi Germany as a ...

. He was the grandson of

Sigmund Freud Sigmund Freud ( , ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating psychopathology, pathologies explained as originatin ...

and a well-known writer and broadcaster. Freud won the by-election, in a seat which his party had not contested in the 1970 general election. He retained the constituency until it was renamed in 1983, with most of the territory incorporated into the constituency of

North East Cambridgeshire North East Cambridgeshire is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Steve Barclay, a Conservative. Constituency profile This large and rural seat is in The Fens and has a significant farming and ...

. Freud retained that seat until he was defeated in the 1987 general election. The Conservative candidate was J. B. Stevens, who had contested Birmingham Stechford in the 1970 general election. Stevens again lost to Clement Freud, in Ely, at the February 1974 general election. The Labour Party was represented by B. A. Young.

Votes

References

* ''British Parliamentary Election Results 1950-1973'', compiled and edited by F. W. S. Craig (Parliamentary Research Services 1983) * ''Chronology of British Parliamentary By-Elections 1833-1987'', compiled and edited by F. W. S. Craig (Parliamentary Research Services 1987) * ''Twentieth-Century British Political Facts 1900-2000'', by David Butler and Gareth Butler (Eighth edition: Macmillan Press 2000) * ''Who's Who of British Members of Parliament, Volume IV 1945-1979'', edited by M. Stenton and S. Lees (Harvester Press 1981) {{By-elections to the 45th UK Parliament Isle of Ely by-election Isle of Ely by-election Isle of Ely by-election By-elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom in Cambridgeshire constituencies Ely, Cambridgeshire 20th century in Cambridgeshire

Previous MP

Candidates

Votes

See also

References