1983 Darlington by-election

UK parliamentary by-election April 2022 1983 Darlington by-election parliamentary United Kingdom Constituency of Darlington no 1979 United Kingdom general election 1979 1983 United Kingdom general election June 1983 24 March 1983 Ossie O'Brien Lab Labour Party (UK) 20,544 39.5% 6.0% Michael Fallon x160px Conservative Party (UK) 18,132 34.9% 8.5% Anthony Cook SDP Social Democratic Party (UK) 12,735 24.5% 14.3% MP Edward Fletcher Labour Party (UK) Ossie O'Brien Labour Party (UK) The 1983 Darlington by-election was a parliamentary by-election held on 24 March 1983 for the UK House of Commons constituency of Darlington in County Durham. The seat had become vacant when the constituency's Labour Member of Parliament (MP), Edward Fletcher had died on 13 February 1983, at age 71. He had held the seat since the 1964 general election. The result of the contest was a victory for the Labour candidate, Ossie O'Brien, who won with a majority of 2,412 over the Conservative Party candidate Michael Fallon. O'Brien only held the seat for three months, however, as it fell to Fallon at the general election in June 1983. The by-election campaign is regarded by many former SDP members, including Bill Rodgers, as having been one that destroyed the SDP's momentum. Anthony Cook, a local television celebrity, was the candidate and appeared to know very little about public issues and made a poor impression. At one point the SDP had been leading in the polls, but in part due to Cook's poor performance as a candidate, highlighted by the coverage from journalist Vincent Hanna, they finished third. Result Darlington by-election, 1983http://www.election.demon.co.uk/by1979.html https://web.archive.org/web/20000609021725/http://www.election.demon.co.uk/by1979.html dead 9 June 2000 Results of Byelections in the 1979-83 Parliament Boothroyd David 2015-09-19 United Kingdom Election Results Labour Party (UK) Ossie O'Brien 20,544 39.5 −6.0 Conservative Party (UK) Michael Fallon 18,132 34.9 −8.5 Social Democratic Party (UK) Anthony Cook 12,735 24.5 +14.3 Official Monster Raving Loony Party David Sutch 374 0.7 New Independent politician Arthur Clark 164 0.3 New Tactical Voting Annihilates Bennite Tatchellites Thomas Keen 27 0.1 New Yoga and Meditation Jitendra Bardwaj 15 0.0 New Republican Peter Smith 10 0.0 New 2,412 4.6 +2.5 52,001 Labour Party (UK) +1.25 Previous election General election, 1979: Darlington Labour Party (UK) Edward Fletcher 22,565 45.52 +0.03 Conservative Party (UK) Timothy Kirkhope 21,513 43.39 +5.77 Liberal Party (UK) K. Walker 5,054 10.19 −6.44 National Front (UK) H. Outhwaite 444 0.90 New 1,052 2.12 −5.81 49,576 78.40 +13.43 Labour Party (UK) −2.82 See also Darlington (UK Parliament constituency) Darlington 1923 Darlington by-election 1926 Darlington by-election Lists of United Kingdom by-elections Further reading Kevin Swaddle. 1985. The Darlington by-election of 24 March 1983. Durham: University College, 70 pp. References Darlington Darlington by-election Darlington by-election Darlington by-election Category:Politics of Darlington Darlington by-election, 1983