A by-election was called in the

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, ...

Littleborough and Saddleworth Littleborough and Saddleworth was a parliamentary constituency in Greater Manchester, 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 ...

in Greater Manchester, England, on 27 July 1995 following the death of

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 ...

Geoffrey Dickens Geoffrey Kenneth Dickens (26 August 1931 – 17 May 1995) was a British Conservative politician. He was MP for Huddersfield West from 1979 until the seat was abolished in 1983. He was then elected for Littleborough and Saddleworth and held t ...

on 17 May of that year. The contest was a win for the Liberal Democrat candidate Chris Davies. The result was notable as the defending

dropped from first to third place, coming behind both the Labour Party and the Liberal Democrats. Davies' conduct during the by-election was controversial owing to him openly campaigning while the sitting MP Geoffrey Dickens was dying from

liver cancer Liver cancer (also known as hepatic cancer, primary hepatic cancer, or primary hepatic malignancy) is cancer that starts in the liver. Liver cancer can be primary (starts in liver) or secondary (meaning cancer which has spread from elsewhere to th ...

. The second-placed

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

candidate, Phil Woolas, defeated Davies at the 1997 general election in the successor seat of Oldham East and Saddleworth. He held the seat until 2010. Davies went on to represent the

North West England North West England is one of nine official regions of England and consists of the ceremonial counties of England, administrative counties of Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside. The North West had a population of ...

region in the European Parliament from

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

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Results

Notes on candidates

*Mr Blobby was a character on the British television show '' Noel's House Party''. The candidate had changed his name from John McLagan for the purposes of the election. The candidate was not officially endorsed by the BBC, nor was McLagan the actual actor of Mr Blobby. *The candidate L. McLaren used the party description "Probity for Imposed Candidates"

References

External links

Campaign literature from the by-election
{{By-elections to the 51st UK Parliament Littleborough and Saddleworth by-election Littleborough and Saddleworth by-election 1990s in Greater Manchester Littleborough and Saddleworth by-election By-elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom in Greater Manchester constituencies Elections in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham Elections in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale

Results

Notes on candidates

See also

References

External links