The 1965 Hove by-election was a parliamentary by-election for the British House of Commons constituency of Hove held on 22 July 1965.

Vacancy

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The by-election was caused by the resignation of Conservative MP Anthony Marlowe. Marlowe had had a heart attack in June 1965. He had been MP here since winning the seat in 1950.

Election history

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Hove had been won by the Conservatives at every election since 1950 when the seat was created. The result at the last General election was as follows;

General election 1964: Hove [1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Anthony Marlowe 32,923 68.4 −6.4
Labour Thomas James Marsh 15,214 32.3 +6.4
Majority 17,709 36.8 –12.8
Turnout 48,137 69.6 −2.6
Conservative hold Swing -6.4

Candidates

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  • The Conservatives selected 44-year-old former MP Martin Maddan. He had sat for Hitchin, Hertfordshire from 1955 to 1964. He had been defeated at the general election the previous year.
  • Labour re-selected 50-year-old Thomas James Marsh who had stood here at the previous general election when he came second. Marsh was a company secretary and accountant. He had been educated at Worthing High School, West Sussex. He had been a member of Southwick Urban Council since 1948 and of West Sussex County Council from 1952 to 1955 and since 1958. He was a member of the executive committee of the Southern Regional Labour Party.[2]
  • The Liberals selected 43-year-old Oliver Moxon. He had been educated at Gresham's School, Holt. He was an author[1] who was standing for parliament for the first time. The Liberals had not fielded a candidate since 1950 when their candidate polled just 9.7%. Moxon was the brother of actor Timothy Moxon with whom, after the war, he founded the New Torch Theatre in London.
  • An Independent candidate, 64-year-old Max Cossman, put himself forward. He was a Company secretary who had been raised in Austria where he became a graduate in law and economics at Vienna University.[1]

Campaign

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Result

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It was won by the Conservatives' Martin Maddan. There was a 6.2% swing against the Conservatives;

1965 Hove by-election [1][3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative William Francis Martin Maddan 25,339 62.0 −6.4
Labour Thomas James Marsh 8,387 21.0 −10.6
Liberal Oliver Charles Napier Moxon 6,867 16.7 New
Independent Max Cossman 121 0.3 New
Majority 16,952 41.0 +4.2
Turnout 40,714 58.2 −11.4
Conservative hold Swing +2.1

Aftermath

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The result at the 1966 general election;

General election 1966: Hove [1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative William Francis Martin Maddan 28,799 57.2 −4.8
Labour Trevor Williams 12,909 25.7 +4.7
Liberal Oliver Charles Napier Moxon 8,037 16.0 −0.7
Independent Max Cossmann 574 1.1 +0.8
Majority 15,890 31.6 −9.5
Turnout 50,319 72.1 +13.9
Conservative hold Swing -4.7

Moxon contested Brighton Kemptown in 1970[4] Sidcup, against Prime Minister Edward Heath, before moving to Jamaica. Marsh did not stand again.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e The Times House of Commons, 1966
  2. ^ The Times House of Commons, 1964
  3. ^ "1965 By Election Results". Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
  4. ^ The Times House of Commons, 1970

See also

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