1983 Darlington by-election

The 1983 Darlington by-election was a parliamentary by-election held on 24 March 1983 for the British House of Commons constituency of Darlington in County Durham.

1983 Darlington by-election

24 March 1983
Constituency of Darlington
First party Second party Third party   Lab SDP Candidate Ossie O'Brien Michael Fallon Anthony Cook Party Labour Conservative SDP Popular vote 20,544 18,132 12,735 Percentage 39.5% 34.9% 24.5% Swing 6.0% 8.5% 14.3%
MP before election Edward Fletcher Labour Elected MP Ossie O'Brien Labour

The seat had become vacant when the constituency's Labour Member of Parliament (MP), Edward Fletcher had died on 13 February 1983, at age 71. He had held the seat since the 1964 general election.

The result of the contest was a victory for the Labour candidate, Oswald O'Brien, who won with a majority of 2,412 over the Conservative Party candidate Michael Fallon. O'Brien only held the seat for three months, however, as it fell to Fallon at the general election in June 1983.

The by-election campaign is regarded by many former SDP members, including Bill Rodgers, as having been one that destroyed the SDP's momentum. Tony Cook, a local television celebrity, was the candidate and appeared to know very little about public issues and made a poor impression. At one point the SDP had been leading in the polls, but in part due to Cook's poor performance as a candidate, highlighted by the coverage from journalist Vincent Hanna, they finished third.

Votes

Darlington by-election, 1983

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Oswald O'Brien	20,544	39.5	−6.0
	Conservative	Michael Fallon	18,132	34.9	−8.5
	SDP	Anthony Cook	12,735	24.5	+14.3
	Monster Raving Loony	David Sutch	374	0.7	New
	Independent	Arthur Clark	164	0.3	New
	Tactical Voting Annihilates Bennite Tatchellites	Thomas Keen	27	0.1	New
	Yoga and Meditation	Jitendra Bardwaj	15	0.0	New
	Republican	Peter Smith	10	0.0	New
Majority			2,412	4.6	+2.5
Turnout			52,001
	Labour hold		Swing	+1.25

General election, 1979: Darlington

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Edward Fletcher	22,565	45.52	+0.03
	Conservative	Timothy Kirkhope	21,513	43.39	+5.77
	Liberal	K. Walker	5,054	10.19	−6.44
	National Front	H. Outhwaite	444	0.90	New
Majority			1,052	2.12	−5.81
Turnout			49,576	78.40	+13.43
	Labour hold		Swing	−2.82

See also

• Darlington (UK Parliament constituency)
• Darlington
• 1923 Darlington by-election
• 1926 Darlington by-election
• List of United Kingdom by-elections