1984 Enfield Southgate by-election

UK parliamentary by-election April 2022 1984 Enfield Southgate by-election presidential United Kingdom Enfield Southgate parliamentary seat no 1983 United Kingdom general election 1983 1987 United Kingdom general election 1987 13 December 1984 Michael Portillo   Conservative Party (UK) 16,684 49.6% Timothy Slack   Liberal Party (UK) 11,973 35.6% Peter Hamid   Labour Party (UK) 4,000 11.9% MP Subsequent MP Anthony Berry Conservative Party (UK) Michael Portillo Conservative Party (UK) The 1984 Enfield Southgate by-election was a parliamentary by-election held on 13 December 1984 for the UK House of Commons constituency of Enfield Southgate. Previous MP The seat had become vacant on 12 October 1984, when the constituency's Member of Parliament (MP) was killed by the Irish Republican Army in the Brighton hotel bombing. Sir Anthony George Berry (12 February 1925 – 12 October 1984) was a Conservative MP for Enfield Southgate, and a Whip in Margaret Thatcher's government. Sir Anthony Berry had been Southgate's MP since the 1964 general election. The constituency had been renamed Enfield Southgate in 1983. Candidates Given the reason for the by-election, there was some discussion about the Labour Party and the Alliance not contesting the poll. However, in the end both opposition forces were represented in the list of candidates. Nine candidates were nominated. The list below is set out in descending order of the number of votes received at the by-election. The Conservative candidate was Michael Denzil Xavier Portillo. Born in 1953, Portillo was a Special Adviser to the Chancellor of the Exchequer. He had contested Birmingham Perry Barr in the 1983 general election.Portillo won the by-election and went on to become a prominent political figure. He was serving as Secretary of State for Defence, when defeated in this seat at the 1997 general election. Portillo subsequently represented Kensington and Chelsea (1999-2005) and was an unsuccessful candidate for the Conservative Party leadership (2001), before retiring from politics to pursue a media career. The Liberal Party candidate, representing the SDP–Liberal Alliance, was Timothy Willatt Slack. He was a former headmaster, born in 1928, who was Director of the Foreign Office International Conference Centre. Slack had contested the seat of Petersfield at both general elections in 1974. Representing the Labour Party was Winston Farouk Hamid (known as Peter Hamid). The Trinidad born Hamid was aged 52. He had lived in the UK for 31 years and was a member of Enfield Borough Council to which he had been elected in 1982. Andreas Polydorou was an Independent, who ran as a Turkish Troops Out of Cyprus candidate. Industrial chemist and Royal Navy veteran (1943-1946), James Wilfred Kershaw, stood on behalf of a far right group known as the Nationalist Party. CraigOctober 2020 regarded Kershaw as a party candidate rather than an Independent. Raymond Edwin Shenton was an English National Party candidate, who advocated a far right policy. Craig regarded Shenton as an Independent. Iain Innes Burgess was an Independent candidate, whose ballot paper label was Abolish Greater London - Restore Middlesex Shire. George Weiss stood for Captain Rainbow's Universal Party. Craig considered him an Independent. Miss Helen Mary Anscomb was an Independent who used the label Death off Roads: Freight on Rail. Result 1984 Enfield Southgate by-electionhttp://www.election.demon.co.uk/by1983.html Results of Byelections in the 1983-87 Parliament Boothroyd David 2015-09-19 United Kingdom Election Results 2018-04-05 https://web.archive.org/web/20180405203844/http://www.election.demon.co.uk/by1983.html dead Conservative Party (UK) Michael Portillo 16,684 49.6 −8.5 Liberal Party (UK) Timothy Slack 11,973 35.6 +12.2 Labour Party (UK) Peter Hamid 4,000 11.9 −6.0 Turkish Troops Out of Cyprus Andreas Polydrou 687 2.0 New Nationalist Party (UK) James Kershaw 80 0.2 New English National Party Raymond Shenton 78 0.2 New Abolish Greater London, Restore Middlesex Iain Burgess 50 0.2 New Captain Rainbow's Universal Party George Weiss 48 0.2 New Death off Roads: Freight on Rail Helen Anscomb 45 0.1 New 4,711 14.0 -20.7 33,645 50.6 -19.0 66,473 Conservative Party (UK) −10.3 Previous result General Election 1983: Enfield SouthgateElection Data 1983 http://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/electdata_1983.txt Electoral Calculus 18 October 2015 https://web.archive.org/web/20111015054231/http://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/electdata_1983.txt 15 October 2011 Conservative Party (UK) Anthony Berry 26,451 58.1 −3.5 Liberal Party (UK) D Morgan 10,632 23.3 +9.3 Labour Party (UK) Mary Honeyball 8,132 17.9 −4.7 British National Party M Braithwaite 318 0.7 New 15,819 34.8 -4.3 51,365 69.6 -6.7 65,438 Conservative Party (UK) See also Enfield Southgate constituency List of United Kingdom by-elections (1979–2010) United Kingdom by-election records References Sources Britain Votes/Europe Votes By-Election Supplement 1983-, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Parliamentary Research Services 1985) Category:1984 elections in the United Kingdom Category:1984 in London Category:December 1984 in the United Kingdom Category:By-elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom in London constituencies Category:Elections in the London Borough of Enfield