Edward Griffiths (7 March 1929 – 18 October 1995) was a British Labour politician and director of the British Steel Association. Griffiths was elected

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 o ...

(MP) for Sheffield Brightside in a 1968 by-election. In September 1974, he was deselected as a candidate by his local

Constituency Labour Party __NOTOC__ A constituency Labour Party (CLP) is an organisation of members of the British Labour Party who live in a particular parliamentary constituency. In England and Wales, CLP boundaries coincide with those for UK parliamentary constituenc ...

in favour of Joan Maynard one month before a general election, and then decided to stand against Maynard as an Independent Labour candidate. He lost by a margin of 7,926 votes (22%), although he polled 28% of the vote and finished in second place. However, he was never elected an MP again. In 1979 Griffiths switched sides and supported the

Conservatives 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 in ...

in the 1979 General Election held in May. His defection was announced at an election rally for trade unionists who supported the Conservatives held in London on 29 April 1979.

References

*''Times Guide to the House of Commons October 1974'' *

External links

* 1929 births 1995 deaths Independent politicians in England Iron and Steel Trades Confederation-sponsored MPs Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1966–1970 UK MPs 1970–1974 UK MPs 1974 Conservative Party (UK) politicians {{England-Labour-UK-MP-stub