South Ayrshire by-election, 1970
Encyclopedia
The South Ayrshire
by-election
of 19 March 1970 was held after the death of Labour
Member of Parliament
(MP) Emrys Hughes
on 18 October 1969. The seat was retained by the Labour Party.
In what was a fairly common occurrence at the time the Scottish Liberal Party
did not run a candidate for the by-election. However in this case the move had been in part instigated by former party leader Jo Grimond who had privately mooted the idea of an electoral pact with the Scottish National Party
. Whilst Grimond's idea was rejected by the Scottish Liberal Party as they opposed Scottish independence
they did nonetheless agree to give the SNP a free run in this instance.
South Ayrshire (UK Parliament constituency)
South Ayrshire was a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1868 until 1983, when it was abolished...
by-election
By-election
A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....
of 19 March 1970 was held after the death of Labour
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...
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) Emrys Hughes
Emrys Hughes
Emrys Hughes was a Welsh Labour politician, best known for being the biographer and son-in-law of Keir Hardie, the Scottish Labour politician.Hughes was born in Tonypandy, Wales, the son of the Reverend J. R. Hughes...
on 18 October 1969. The seat was retained by the Labour Party.
In what was a fairly common occurrence at the time the Scottish Liberal Party
Scottish Liberal Party
The Scottish Liberal Party was the dominant political party of Victorian Scotland, and although its importance declined with the rise of the Labour and Unionist parties during the 20th century, it was still a significant force when it finally merged with the Social Democratic Party in Scotland, to...
did not run a candidate for the by-election. However in this case the move had been in part instigated by former party leader Jo Grimond who had privately mooted the idea of an electoral pact with the Scottish National Party
Scottish National Party
The Scottish National Party is a social-democratic political party in Scotland which campaigns for Scottish independence from the United Kingdom....
. Whilst Grimond's idea was rejected by the Scottish Liberal Party as they opposed Scottish independence
Scottish independence
Scottish independence is a political ambition of political parties, advocacy groups and individuals for Scotland to secede from the United Kingdom and become an independent sovereign state, separate from England, Wales and Northern Ireland....
they did nonetheless agree to give the SNP a free run in this instance.