David Austick was a British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 Liberal Party

Liberal Party (UK)

The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...

 politician and bookshop owner.

At a by-election in July 1973

Ripon by-election, 1973

The Ripon by-election, 1973 was a parliamentary by-election held on 26 July 1973 for the British House of Commons constituency of Ripon.The by-election took place during the 1970s Liberal revival. This seat and Isle of Ely were gained on the same day, the third and fourth Liberal gains during the...

 caused by the death of the sitting Conservative MP Sir Malcolm Stoddart-Scott, Austick was elected Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 (MP) for Ripon

Ripon (UK Parliament constituency)

Ripon was a constituency sending members to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom until 1983, centred on the city of Ripon in North Yorkshire.-History:...

 in North Yorkshire

North Yorkshire

North Yorkshire is a non-metropolitan or shire county located in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England, and a ceremonial county primarily in that region but partly in North East England. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972 it covers an area of , making it the largest...

, gaining the seat from the Conservatives

Conservative Party (UK)

The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...

 by a majority of 946 votes. However, it was a short-lived success. In the February 1974 general election

United Kingdom general election, February 1974

The United Kingdom's general election of February 1974 was held on the 28th of that month. It was the first of two United Kingdom general elections held that year, and the first election since the Second World War not to produce an overall majority in the House of Commons for the winning party,...

, Austick lost by 4,335 votes to the new Conservative candidate Keith Hampson

Keith Hampson

Keith Hampson is a former Conservative party politician in the United Kingdom.Hampson was educated at King James I Grammar School, Bishop Auckland, where he was head boy, the University of Bristol and Harvard and was a university lecturer by profession...

 after seven months as an MP.

Austick was never again elected an MP, but he also served as a district and county councillor in Yorkshire

Yorkshire

Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...

 and was one time Chairman of the Liberal Candidates' Association. He later became Executive Chairman of the Electoral Reform Society

Electoral Reform Society

The Electoral Reform Society is a political pressure group based in the United Kingdom which promotes electoral reform. It is believed to be the oldest organisation concerned with electoral systems in the world.-Aims:...

.

External links

• Examples of Austick's election material