1987 Truro by-election

UK parliamentary by-election 1987 Truro by-election parliamentary United Kingdom Constituency of Truro no 1983 United Kingdom general election 1983 12 March 1987 Matthew Taylor x160px Liberal Party (UK) 30,599 60.4% 3.1% Nick St Aubyn Con Conservative Party (UK) 15,982 31.5% 6.6% John King Lab Labour Party (UK) 3,603 7.1% 2.6% MP Subsequent MP David Penhaligon Liberal Party (UK) Matthew Taylor Liberal Party (UK) 70.2% ( 9.4%) 1987 United Kingdom general election 1987 August 2017 August 2017 The 1987 Truro by-election was caused by the death of David Penhaligon, the Liberal Member of Parliament (MP) for Truro on 22 December 1986 in a car crash near the city. The election was held on 12 March 1987. The constituency was renamed Truro and St Austell in 1997. The Liberal Party, standing with the backing of the Social Democratic Party as part of the SDP–Liberal Alliance, formed a shortlist of five candidates: Matthew Taylor (Penhaligon's economic policy assistant), Paul Tyler (outgoing chair of the Liberal Party and former MP for Bodmin), Doris Ansari (chair of Cornwall County Council's planning and employment committee), Malcolm Brown (Penhaligon's part-time constituency agent), and Philip Beckerlegge (solicitor and Liberal candidate for Cirencester and Tewkesbury in 1983 and 1987).Dennis Johnson Liberals' Truro list https://www.proquest.com/docview/186724579 11 June 2022 The Guardian 7 February 1987 3 186724579 subscription Taylor was the favourite and was chosen to be the Liberal candidate. The Conservative candidate was Nick St Aubyn who would go on to become member for Guildford. The Labour Party and Green Party put forward candidates. The only other candidate was Helen Anscomb, who represented Death off Road: Freight on Rail. Anscomb had previously taken part in four other by-elections of the 49th Parliament and on this occasion focused her campaign on the issue of road safety as Penhaligon had been killed in a car accident. After the election, Anscomb lodged an election petition against the return of Taylor on the grounds that he had appeared on Channel Four News and BBC Newsnight without the other candidates, in breach of election law. The petition was stayed and eventually withdrawn due to her ill-health. This election is notable for being the last by-election during that term of parliament, as a general election (which saw the Tories achieve a third successive win) was called three months later. Result Truro by-election, 1987http://www.election.demon.co.uk/by1983.html Results of Byelections in the 1983–87 Parliament Boothroyd David 2015-09-19 United Kingdom Election Results 5 April 2018 https://web.archive.org/web/20180405203844/http://www.election.demon.co.uk/by1983.html dead SDP–Liberal Alliance Liberal Party (UK) Matthew Taylor 30,599 60.4 +3.1 Conservative Party (UK) Nick St Aubyn 15,982 31.5 −6.6 Labour Party (UK) John King 3,603 7.1 +2.5 Green Party (UK) Howard Hoptrough 403 0.8 New Death off Road: Freight on Rail Helen Anscomb 75 0.1 New 14,617 28.9 +9.7 50,662 70.2 −9.4 SDP-Liberal Alliance +4.8 References External links Cornwall House of Commons Information Office 1983–1987 Truro by-election Truro by-election Truro Category:1980s in Cornwall Category:By-elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom in Cornish constituencies Category:Politics of Truro