City of London and Westminster South by-election, 1977
Encyclopedia
The City of London and Westminster South by-election
on 24 February 1977 was held after Conservative
Member of Parliament
(MP) Christopher Tugendhat
resigned the seat upon his appointment to the European Commission
. A safe Conservative seat, it was won by their candidate, Peter Brooke
.
. This total was topped at the Lambeth Central by-election, 1978
. The candidates were:
, and hold it until his retirement at the 2001 general election (it reverted to its former name of Cities of London and Westminster in 1997). He held a number of front-bench Government posts during his tenure, including Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
.
By-election
A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....
on 24 February 1977 was held after Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(MP) Christopher Tugendhat
Christopher Tugendhat, Baron Tugendhat
Christopher Samuel Tugendhat, Baron Tugendhat is a British politician belonging to the Conservative party, businessman, company director and chairman, and journalist/author.-Family background:...
resigned the seat upon his appointment to the European Commission
European Commission
The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union....
. A safe Conservative seat, it was won by their candidate, Peter Brooke
Peter Brooke
Peter Leonard Brooke, Baron Brooke of Sutton Mandeville, CH, PC , is a British politician. A member of the Conservative Party, he served in the Cabinet under Prime Ministers Margaret Thatcher and John Major, and was a Member of Parliament representing the Cities of London and Westminster from...
.
Candidate
The election was contested by a record ten candidates, beating the nine who had contested the Walsall North by-election, 1976Walsall North by-election, 1976
The Walsall North by-election on 4 November 1976 was held after the resignation of sitting Member of Parliament John Stonehouse. Elected as a Labour candidate, Stonehouse was a member of the English National Party when he resigned, after an interlude in which he faked his own death...
. This total was topped at the Lambeth Central by-election, 1978
Lambeth Central by-election, 1978
The Lambeth Central by-election was held on 20 April 1978, following the death of Labour Party Member of Parliament for Lambeth Central Marcus Lipton....
. The candidates were:
- Bill BoaksBill BoaksLieutenant Commander William George Boaks DSC was a British Royal Navy officer who became an eccentric political campaigner for road safety. He died at the age of 81 as a result of a road traffic accident...
stood under the title "Air, Road, Public Safety, White Resident". Boaks was a road safety campaigner and serial by-election candidate. - Peter Brooke, a graduate of Harvard Business SchoolHarvard Business SchoolHarvard Business School is the graduate business school of Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts, United States and is widely recognized as one of the top business schools in the world. The school offers the world's largest full-time MBA program, doctoral programs, and many executive...
was the Conservative PartyConservative Party (UK)The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
candidate. - Dennis Delderfield was the candidate for the New Britain PartyNew Britain PartyNew Britain was a minor British right wing political party founded by Dennis Delderfield in 1976. The party was de-registered in November 2008.-Founding:...
, of which he was founder and leader. Delderfield was also a common councilman of the Corporation of LondonCorporation of LondonThe City of London Corporation is the municipal governing body of the City of London. It exercises control only over the City , and not over Greater London...
. - Ralph Herbert was an independentIndependent (politician)In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...
who stood under the title "Christ, Crown, Country, Commonwealth, Christian Constitution". - Paul Kavanagh was the candidate for the National FrontBritish National FrontThe National Front is a far right, white-only political party whose major political activities took place during the 1970s and 1980s. Its popularity peaked in the 1979 general election, when it received 191,719 votes ....
. - Michael Lobb was the candidate for the National PartyNational Party (UK, 1976)The National Party was a short-lived British far right political party formed on 6 January 1976 and which dissolved before the 1979 general election...
, a splinter group of the National Front. He was candidate for the National Front in Newham South in the February 1974 general electionUnited Kingdom general election, February 1974The United Kingdom's general election of February 1974 was held on the 28th of that month. It was the first of two United Kingdom general elections held that year, and the first election since the Second World War not to produce an overall majority in the House of Commons for the winning party,...
and the subsequent by-electionNewham South by-election, 1974The Newham South by-election was a by-election held on 23 May 1974 for the British House of Commons constituency of Newham South. It was triggered when Elwyn Jones, the constituency's Labour Party Member of Parliament , was appointed as Lord Chancellor and subsequently awarded a life peerage.The...
in the same seat. - Peter Mitchell stood under the banner "Pro-Homosexual Civil Rights". He was involved in the Campaign for Homosexual EqualityCampaign for Homosexual EqualityThe Campaign for Homosexual Equality is one of the oldest gay rights organisations in the United Kingdom. It is a membership organisation which aims to promote legal and social equality for lesbians, gay men and bisexuals in England and Wales...
pressure group. - Malcolm Noble was the Labour PartyLabour Party (UK)The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
candidate. - Angus Scrimgeour was the Liberal PartyLiberal Party (UK)The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
candidate. - William Thompson was an independent who stood under the title "Christian Outreach to Britain, Anti-Pornography".
Aftermath
Brooke would retain the seat at the 1979 general electionUnited Kingdom general election, 1979
The United Kingdom general election of 1979 was held on 3 May 1979 to elect 635 members to the British House of Commons. The Conservative Party, led by Margaret Thatcher ousted the incumbent Labour government of James Callaghan with a parliamentary majority of 43 seats...
, and hold it until his retirement at the 2001 general election (it reverted to its former name of Cities of London and Westminster in 1997). He held a number of front-bench Government posts during his tenure, including Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, informally the Northern Ireland Secretary, is the principal secretary of state in the government of the United Kingdom with responsibilities for Northern Ireland. The Secretary of State is a Minister of the Crown who is accountable to the Parliament of...
.