1981 Warrington by-election
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The 1981 Warrington by-election was held on 16 July 1981. The by-election was caused by the appointment of Thomas Williams, Labour Party Member of Parliament (MP) for
Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...
, as a High Court Judge. Warrington had been held by the Labour Party since the
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, and by Williams since the
1961 Warrington by-election The 1961 Warrington by-election was held on 20 April 1961 when the incumbent Labour MP, Dr Edith Summerskill became a Life Peer. The seat was retained by the Labour candidate Thomas Williams. Candidates The local Liberals selected 39 year old ...
. It had long been regarded as a safe seat for the party, and even in
1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the '' International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the '' Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the so ...
, generally a year of poor results for Labour, Williams won with a majority of 32.8%.UK General Election Results: May 1979
/ref> Labour expected to hold the seat comfortably, and selected Doug Hoyle, the former MP for
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, who had lost his seat in 1979. The
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(SDP) was formed by prominent figures on the right of the Labour Party in early 1981, known as the " Gang of Four" –
Shirley Williams Shirley Vivian Teresa Brittain Williams, Baroness Williams of Crosby, (' Catlin; 27 July 1930 – 12 April 2021) was a British politician and academic. Originally a Labour Party Member of Parliament (MP), she served in the Labour cabinet from ...
, Roy Jenkins, David Owen and Bill Rodgers. Of the four, Williams and Jenkins lacked Parliamentary seats, and were keen to stand in by-elections as candidates under their new party label. Following the agreement of an
electoral pact An electoral alliance (also known as a bipartisan electoral agreement, electoral pact, electoral agreement, electoral coalition or electoral bloc) is an association of political parties or individuals that exists solely to stand in elections. Ea ...
with the
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exactly a month earlier, who had come a distant third in Warrington in 1979, with less than 10% of the vote, the two parties agreed to support Jenkins as the SDP's first Parliamentary candidate. 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 ...
had taken second place in Warrington in 1979, with 28.8% of the votes cast. In mid-term government and behind in the polls, they did not expect to advance and stood Stanley Sorrell, a London-based bus driver, and unusually for a Conservative, an active
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. Curiously, a member of an unconnected
Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Fo ...
, founded in Manchester by Donald Kean, had contested the seat in 1979. Lacking any profile, he won only 0.5% of the vote. However, the party determined to stand again, against the better known SDP, which they were hoping to force to change their name. Several other candidates stood. The then little-known
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stood Neil Chantrell. Perennial by-election candidate Bill Boaks stood as a Democratic Monarchist. Iain Leslie, an administrator for the
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, stood on a platform of legalised
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. Tom Keen stood for the Campaign for a More Prosperous Britain. John Fleming stood on a platform opposing immigration and the
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nuclear weapon system, while also calling for British troops to withdraw from Northern Ireland. Daniel Hussey stood as the "United Democratic Labour Party" candidate and Harry Wise stood as the "English Democratic Party" candidate. With eleven candidates, this equalled the most for any British by-election, set at the
1978 Lambeth Central by-election The Lambeth Central by-election was held on 20 April 1978, following the death of Labour Party Member of Parliament for Lambeth Central Marcus Lipton. While the seat had seen significant Labour majorities at the February and October 1974 UK g ...
.


Result

Hoyle only narrowly held the seat for the Labour Party. Jenkins came from nowhere to win 42.4% of the vote, taking a close second place. Sorrell dropped to a distant third, losing three-quarters of the Conservative vote. None of the minor candidates were able to make an impact, all winning less than 1% of the vote, and Keen equalled the record low of only ten votes. According to the next day's edition of ''
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'' Roy Jenkins had "emerged as a triumphant loser", coming close to victory and taking votes from both the Conservatives and Labour. Reacting to the result Jenkins noted that in his career he had fought 12 election and this was the first that he had lost in 35 years. However he said "But in losing, it is by far the greatest victory in which I have participated" going on to claim that the figures made it possible that an SDP-Liberal government would be returned at the next election with a large majority. Jenkins returned to Parliament at the
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 (UK), Conservative Party Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament for Glasgow Hillhead (UK Parliament ...
, subsequently becoming the SDP party leader. The Warrington seat was split at the 1983 general election. Hoyle won Warrington North, holding the seat until his retirement in
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, while a Conservative won
Warrington South Warrington South is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Andy Carter, a Conservative Party politician. Constituency profile Warrington South is one of two seats covering the Borough of Warri ...
.


References


External links


Campaign literature from the by-election
{{By-elections to the 48th UK Parliament Warrington by-election Warrington by-election Warrington by-election By-elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom in Cheshire constituencies Politics of Warrington 20th century in Cheshire