The 1968 Sheffield Brightside by-election of 13 June 1968 was held following the death of Labour MP Richard Winterbottom.[1] The seat was very safe, having been won by Labour at the 1966 general election by over 19,000 votes[2]
Candidates
edit- Labour chose Edward Griffiths to defend their seat, who was an industrial chemist and a worker director at the British Steel Corporation[3]
- Colin Renfrew, for the Conservatives, was lecturer in the Department of Prehistory and Archaeology at the University of Sheffield
- Robert Wilkinson was chosen as the candidate for the Communists
- Ronald Guest, and Lt-Col H L Lambert, stood as independents.
Result of the previous general election
editParty | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Richard Winterbottom | 26,653 | 75.90 | +5.2 | |
Conservative | Raymond Hadfield | 7,476 | 21.29 | −4.5 | |
Communist | Howard Hill | 989 | 2.82 | −0.7 | |
Majority | 19,177 | 54.61 | +9.7 | ||
Turnout | 35,118 | 66.2 | −4.1 | ||
Labour hold | Swing |
Result of the by-election
editThe Labour Party held the seat with a much diminished majority.
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Edward Griffiths | 14,179 | 55.21 | −20.69 | |
Conservative | Colin Renfrew | 8,931 | 34.77 | +13.48 | |
Communist | Robert Wilkinson | 1,069 | 4.16 | +1.34 | |
Independent | Ronald Guest | 918 | 3.60 | New | |
Independent | H. L. Lambert | 586 | 2.30 | New | |
Majority | 5,248 | 20.44 | −34.17 | ||
Turnout | 25,683 | ||||
Labour hold | Swing |
References
edit- ^ Craig, F.W.S. (1987). Chronology of British Parliamentary By-elections 1833–1987. Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 230.
- ^ [1] Archived 11 August 2011 at the Wayback Machine PoliticsResources.net
- ^ OBITUARY – Eddie Griffiths Independent.co.uk
- ^ "1968 By Election Results". British Elections Ephemera Archive. Archived from the original on 25 March 2012. Retrieved 21 August 2015.