From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Croydon
North West by-election took place on 22 October 1981. It was
caused by the death of Conservative Member of
Parliament Robert Taylor on 18 June
1981.
The Conservative Party selected John Butterfill, then vice-chairman of
Guildford Conservative
Association. The Labour Party, the runners-up at the
1979 general
election, selected a local councillor, Stanley Boden.
The Liberal Party had come a distant
third in 1979, but the by-election came shortly after the formation
of the Social Democratic Party
(SDP), with whom the Liberals had entered into an electoral pact,
the SDP-Liberal Alliance. It was
therefore expected that the election would provide a platform for
Shirley Williams of the SDP to return to
Parliament, having lost her seat in 1979. However, the Liberal
Party insisted on their own candidate and selected the lesser known
Bill Pitt who had stood
in the seat for the previous three general elections and at the
time was the London Regional Party Chair.
Nick Griffin
stood in his first election in Croydon North West, representing the
National Front. In total, a record twelve
candidates stood, one more than in the Lambeth Central
by-election, 1978. This record would be broken at the Chesterfield by-election,
1984.
Pitt duly won the seat on the surge of support for the Alliance
and a 24% swing, strengthening the Liberals' hand in negotiations
with the SDP.
Results
General Election result,
1979
External
links
See also
Wikis
Map
Search
