Hove by-election, 1973
Encyclopedia
The Hove by-election was held on 8 November 1973 for the British House of Commons
constituency of Hove
in East Sussex
.
The by-election was caused by the death of Conservative Party
Member of Parliament
Martin Maddan
.
Hove was a safe Conservative seat, having been held by the party since its creation for the 1950 general election
. At the 1970 general election
, the Conservatives had won over two-thirds of the votes cast.
The Conservatives stood Tim Sainsbury
, a member of the board of supermarket
chain J Sainsbury plc. Former Labour Party
MP Desmond Donnelly
was unsuccessful in getting the Conservative nomination.
Labour, who had put up the only other candidate in 1970, stood Ronald Wallis. The Liberal Party
, who had not stood a candidate in 1970, but had won 16% of the vote in 1966
, stood New Zealand
-born Des Wilson
, the founder of Shelter
.
Two other candidates stood. The far right
National Front stood John Harrison-Broadley, a former Royal Air Force
Squadron Leader
and bobsleigh
champion, while the Maoist Communist Party of England (Marxist-Leninist) stood Carole Reakes.
Sainsbury held the seat until he stood down at the 1997 general election
. Wilson became the Vice Chair of the Liberal Party, and later the Campaign Director for the Liberal Democrats
at the 1992 general election
.
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
constituency of Hove
Hove (UK Parliament constituency)
Hove is a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election...
in East Sussex
East Sussex
East Sussex is a county in South East England. It is bordered by the counties of Kent, Surrey and West Sussex, and to the south by the English Channel.-History:...
.
The by-election was caused by the death of Conservative Party
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...
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,...
Martin Maddan
Martin Maddan
Martin Maddan was a British Conservative Party politician. He was elected as Member of Parliament for Hitchin in the 1955 general election but was defeated in 1964. He returned for Hove at a 1965 by-election, and served until his death at the age of 52 in 1973.- External links :...
.
Hove was a safe Conservative seat, having been held by the party since its creation for the 1950 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1950
The 1950 United Kingdom general election was the first general election ever after a full term of a Labour government. Despite polling over one and a half million votes more than the Conservatives, the election, held on 23 February 1950 resulted in Labour receiving a slim majority of just five...
. At the 1970 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1970
The United Kingdom general election of 1970 was held on 18 June 1970, and resulted in a surprise victory for the Conservative Party under leader Edward Heath, who defeated the Labour Party under Harold Wilson. The election also saw the Liberal Party and its new leader Jeremy Thorpe lose half their...
, the Conservatives had won over two-thirds of the votes cast.
The Conservatives stood Tim Sainsbury
Tim Sainsbury
Sir Timothy Alan Davan Sainsbury is a politician and businessman in the United Kingdom.-Early life:Sainsbury is the youngest son of Lord Sainsbury and his wife Doreen...
, a member of the board of supermarket
Supermarket
A supermarket, a form of grocery store, is a self-service store offering a wide variety of food and household merchandise, organized into departments...
chain J Sainsbury plc. Former Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
MP Desmond Donnelly
Desmond Donnelly
Desmond Louis Donnelly was a British politician, author and journalist who was a member of four different political parties during the course of his career, and moved between parties on five occasions.- Origins :...
was unsuccessful in getting the Conservative nomination.
Labour, who had put up the only other candidate in 1970, stood Ronald Wallis. The 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...
, who had not stood a candidate in 1970, but had won 16% of the vote in 1966
United Kingdom general election, 1966
The 1966 United Kingdom general election on 31 March 1966 was called by sitting Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson. Wilson's decision to call an election turned on the fact that his government, elected a mere 17 months previously in 1964 had an unworkably small majority of only 4 MPs...
, stood New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
-born Des Wilson
Des Wilson
Des Wilson is a New Zealand born British campaigner, political activist, businessman, sports administrator, author and Poker player. He was instrumental in the 1960s as a founder of the pivotal British homelessness charity Shelter and was for a while an activist in, and President of, the British...
, the founder of Shelter
Shelter (charity)
Shelter is a registered charity in England and Scotland that campaigns to end homelessness and bad housing. It gives advice, information and advocacy to people in need, and tackles the root causes of bad housing by lobbying government and local authorities for new laws and policies to improve the...
.
Two other candidates stood. The far right
Far right
Far-right, extreme right, hard right, radical right, and ultra-right are terms used to discuss the qualitative or quantitative position a group or person occupies within right-wing politics. Far-right politics may involve anti-immigration and anti-integration stances towards groups that are...
National Front stood John Harrison-Broadley, a former Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
Squadron Leader
Squadron Leader
Squadron Leader is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence. It is also sometimes used as the English translation of an equivalent rank in countries which have a non-English air force-specific rank structure. In these...
and bobsleigh
Bobsleigh
Bobsleigh or bobsled is a winter sport in which teams of two or four make timed runs down narrow, twisting, banked, iced tracks in a gravity-powered sled that are combined to calculate the final score....
champion, while the Maoist Communist Party of England (Marxist-Leninist) stood Carole Reakes.
Results
Sainsbury held the seat for the Conservatives, despite being reduced to less than half the votes cast. This was largely due to a strong result for Wilson, who took the Liberals into second place, while the Labour vote fell sharply.Sainsbury held the seat until he stood down at the 1997 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1997
The United Kingdom general election, 1997 was held on 1 May 1997, more than five years after the previous election on 9 April 1992, to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party ended its 18 years in opposition under the leadership of Tony Blair, and won the general...
. Wilson became the Vice Chair of the Liberal Party, and later the Campaign Director for the Liberal Democrats
Liberal Democrats
The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...
at the 1992 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1992
The United Kingdom general election of 1992 was held on 9 April 1992, and was the fourth consecutive victory for the Conservative Party. This election result was one of the biggest surprises in 20th Century politics, as polling leading up to the day of the election showed Labour under leader Neil...
.