1968 Nelson and Colne by-election

UK Parliamentary by-election August 2019 August 2019 The 1968 Nelson and Colne by-election was a by-election held for the British House of Commons constituency of Nelson and Colne on 27 June 1968, following the death of Labour Member of Parliament (MP) Sydney Silverman. The constituency was considered usually safe, having been won by Labour at the 1966 general election by over 4,500 votes. https://web.archive.org/web/20150616093353/http://www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/ge66/i14.htm 16 June 2015 PoliticsResources.net Candidates Betty Boothroyd, at the time a Hammersmith councillor, was chosen to represent Labour. She would eventually go on to become the first female Speaker of the House of Commons. David Waddington was the Conservative candidate. He had been called to the Bar in 1951. The local Liberal association nominated David Chadwick. In March, when it was first known that there would be a by-election, the Liberal Party approached Sir Learie Constantine to stand as its candidate. Constantine was a former West Indies cricketer who had played professionally in Lancashire and lived in London. He had spoken out against the Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1968, and Liberal Leader Jeremy Thorpe thought that he would be an ideal candidate to make a stand against racism in society."People in the News." Illustrated London News [London, England] 9 Mar. 1968: 12+. Illustrated London News. Web. 28 Jan. 2014. Document URL However, Constantine declined the offer. Brian Tattersall stood as a candidate with the label "English Nationalist". Result of the previous general election General election 1966: Nelson and Colne Labour Party (UK) Sydney Silverman 18,406 49.28 Conservative Party (UK) Peter Davies 13,829 37.02 Independent Patrick Downey 5,117 13.70 4,577 12.26 37,352 81.0 +0.2 Labour Party (UK) +2.3 Result of the by-election Nelson and Colne by-election, 27 June 1968http://www.by-elections.co.uk/68.html https://web.archive.org/web/20120325095551/http://www.by-elections.co.uk/68.html 1968 By Election Results 2012-03-25 dead British Elections Ephemera Archive 2015-08-21 Conservative Party (UK) David Waddington 16,466 48.89 +11.87 Labour Party (UK) Betty Boothroyd 12,944 38.43 -10.85 Liberal Party (UK) David Chadwick 3,016 8.95 -4.75 English Nationalist Brian Tattersall 1,255 3.73 New 3,522 10.46 N/A 33,681 Conservative Party (UK) Labour Party (UK) +11.4 References Nelson and Colne Nelson and Colne Category:1960s in Lancashire Nelson and Colne 1968 Nelson and Colne 1968 Nelson and Colne