1976 Workington by-election

UK by-election April 2022 1976 Workington by-election parliamentary United Kingdom Constituency of Workington no October 1974 United Kingdom general election Oct. 1974 1979 United Kingdom general election 1979 4 November 1976 Richard Page Con Conservative Party (UK) 19,396 48.2% 15.9% Dale Campbell-Savours x160px Labour Party (UK) 18,331 45.6% 10.4% Bernard Wates Lib Liberal Party (UK) 2,480 6.2% 5.6% MP Fred Peart Labour Party (UK) Richard Page Conservative Party (UK) The 1976 Workington by-election was a parliamentary by-election held in England for the House of Commons constituency of Workington in Cumbria on 4 November 1976. It was won by the Conservative Party candidate Richard Page, who became the first non-Labour MP in the constituency’s history. Vacancy The seat had become vacant when the Labour Member of Parliament (MP), Fred Peart had been elevated to the peerage in order to serve as Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal. He had held the seat since the 1945 general election, and had served in previous Cabinets under Harold Wilson and James Callaghan. Candidates The Labour candidate was 33-year-old Dale Campbell-Savours, the Managing Director of a clock company who had fought Darwen in both the FebruaryFebruary 1974 general election results https://web.archive.org/web/20031027172649/http://www.psr.keele.ac.uk/area/uk/ge74a/i21.htm 27 October 2003 at Richard Kimber's political science resources and October elections of 1974. The Conservative Party candidate was Richard Page, who was 35 and had contested the Workington seat against Peart in both 1974 general elections. Result The result was a surprise victory for Page and the Conservatives, with a majority of 1,065 votes. Workington had been a safe Labour seat, held even in the landslide defeat of 1931. Both the main contenders in this by-election would go on to long Parliamentary careers. Campbell-Savours defeated Page for the Workington seat at the 1979 election, and would represent it until standing down at the 2001 election, when he was elevated to the Lords. After his defeat, Page soon returned to the House of Commons at a 1979 by-election for the constituency of South West Hertfordshire, which he would represent until the 2005 election. Votes Workington by-election, 1976http://by-elections.co.uk/76.html https://web.archive.org/web/20120314034528/http://by-elections.co.uk/76.html 1976 By Election Results 2012-03-14 dead 2015-09-17 Conservative Party (UK) Richard Page 19,396 48.2 +15.9 Labour Party (UK) Dale Campbell-Savours 18,331 45.6 -10.4 Liberal Party (UK) Bernard Wates 2,480 6.2 −5.6 1,065 2.6 N/A 40,207 Conservative Party (UK) Labour Party (UK) +13.2 Previous election General election October 1974: WorkingtonOctober 1974 general election results at Richard Kimber's political science resources Labour Party (UK) Fred Peart 22,539 56.0 -3.7 Conservative Party (UK) Richard Page 12,988 32.3 -8.0 Liberal Party (UK) J. Burns 4,728 11.7 New 9,551 23.7 +4.4 40,255 75.8 -0.6 Labour Party (UK) +2.2 See also Cumbria Workington constituency List of United Kingdom by-elections (1950-1979) 2017 Copeland by-election References Workington by-election Workington by-election Category:1970s in Cumbria Category:By-elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom in Cumbria constituencies Category:Politics of Allerdale Workington by-election