1969 Brighton Pavilion by-election

The Brighton Pavilion by-election of 27 March 1969 was held after Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) William Teeling resigned from the House of Commons due to health problems. The seat was retained by the Conservatives.^[1] The successful Conservative candidate was Julian Amery, a former government minister who had lost his seat at Preston North at the last general election.^[2]

Results

Brighton Pavilion, 1969^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Julian Amery	17,636	70.54	+12.40
	Labour	Thomas Skeffington-Lodge	4,654	18.62	−23.24
	Liberal	Nesta Wyn Ellis	2,711	10.84	New
Majority			12,982	51.92	+35.64
Turnout			25,001
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1966: Brighton Pavilion

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Teeling	22,687	58.14
	Labour	J.A. Graham	16,333	41.86
Majority			6,354	16.28
Turnout			39,020	70.27
	Conservative hold		Swing

Aftermath

The result was won of three Conservative wins in by-elections held that day, with the party also retaining Weston-super-Mare and gaining Walthamstow East from Labour. Across these three contests there was an average swing of 16% from Labour to Conservative. Conservative Shadow Home Secretary Quintin Hogg noted this would give his party a comfortable majority in the House of Commons if it were repeated at the next general election. His colleague, Anthony Barber, the Chairman of the Conservative Party, reacting to the results, called on the Labour Government to "throw in the towel."^[4] The next day's Glasgow Herald reported that the "dispiriting performance" by Labour in these first by-elections of 1969 raised questions as to when the tide would turn for the party and noted that "some Labour MPS feel in their bones" that the party could not recover to win the next general election which would have to be held sometime in the next two years.^[5] However the same article also noted that the low turnouts in Brighton and Walthamstow East had distorted the results and allowed Labour to claim that as its supporters had stayed at home and were reserving their judgement on the Government.^[5]

Amery easily held the seat at the next year's general election with a majority of over 10,000 votes.^[2]

References

1. "Result from previous election". Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 4 January 2011.
2. The Times Guide to the House of Commons 1970. London: Times Newspapers Ltd. 1970. pp. 65–66.
3. "1969 By Election Results". British Elections Ephemera Archive. Archived from the original on 14 March 2012. Retrieved 21 August 2015.
4. "By-election treble for the Tories". The Glasgow Herald. 28 March 1969. p. 1. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
5. "Labour still seeking turn of the tide". The Glasgow Herald. 28 March 1969. p. 1. Retrieved 7 February 2021.