1969 Swindon by-election

UK Parliamentary by-election August 2019 August 2019 The 1969 Swindon by-election of 30 October 1969 was held after Labour Member of Parliament (MP) Francis Noel-Baker resigned from the House of Commons. The seat was won by the Conservative Party in a defeat for Harold Wilson's government.Full result https://web.archive.org/web/20120314034618/http://by-elections.co.uk/69.html#swindon 2012-03-14 Background To defend the seat they had won with a majority of over 10,000 votes at the 1966 general election Labour chose David Stoddart, a member of Reading Borough Council since 1954 and leader of the Labour Party group on that council since 1962. He had previously stood as the Labour candidate for Newbury in the 1959 and 1964 general elections. The Conservatives, who had come second at the last election, chose Christopher Ward, a solicitor and member of Berkshire County Council.The Times Guide to the House of Commons 1970 1970 Times Newspapers Ltd London 213 Result Swindon by-election, 1969http://by-elections.co.uk/69.html https://web.archive.org/web/20120314034618/http://by-elections.co.uk/69.html 1969 By Election Results 2012-03-14 dead British Elections Ephemera Archive 2015-08-27 Conservative Party (UK) Christopher Ward 16,843 41.73 +5.06 Labour Party (UK) David Stoddart 16,365 40.54 -20.81 Liberal Party (UK) Christopher Layton 6,193 15.34 New Communist Party of Great Britain Judith Gradwell 518 1.28 -0.70 Young Socialist Frank Willis 446 1.10 New 478 1.19 N/A 40,365 Conservative Party (UK) Labour Party (UK) +12.9 Previous result General election 1966: Swindon Labour Party (UK) Francis Noel-Baker 25,966 61.35 Conservative Party (UK) NG Reece 15,523 36.67 Communist Party of Great Britain I Gradwell 838 1.98 10,443 24.68 42,357 73.51 Labour Party (UK) Aftermath This was one of five by-elections held on the same day where Labour were trying to retain a seat that they held. While they held the other four seats, with the exception of Glasgow Gorbals, none of them was a comfortable hold, with Labour's majorities being significantly reduced by the Conservatives. The swing to the Conservatives in Swindon was 12.9%, which was much more than the 4% swing the Conservatives required if they were to win the next general election. This was the 14th seat that Labour had lost in a by-election since the 1966 general election.Warden John Tories Gain One Seat in Five By-elections https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=GGgVawPscysC&dat=19691031&printsec=frontpage&hl=en 15 February 2021 The Glasgow Herald 31 October 1969 1 A report in the following day's The Glasgow Herald argued the Liberal Party's "big challenge" in Swindon "possibly contributed to Labour's defeat", but also blamed "the Government's neglect of the constituency, having left it vacant since February." At the following year's general election, Stoddart stood again as Labour's candidate and this time defeated Ward with a majority of 5,576 votes. References Swindon by-election Category:Politics of the Borough of Swindon Swindon by-election Swindon by-election Category:By-elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom in Wiltshire constituencies Category:20th century in Wiltshire