Honiton by-election, 1967
Encyclopedia
The Honiton by-election, 1967 was a by-election
By-election
A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....

 held for the British House of Commons
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...

 constituency
United Kingdom constituencies
In the United Kingdom , each of the electoral areas or divisions called constituencies elects one or more members to a parliament or assembly.Within the United Kingdom there are now five bodies with members elected by constituencies:...

 of Honiton
Honiton (UK Parliament constituency)
Honiton was a parliamentary constituency centred on the town of Honiton in east Devon, formerly represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It sent members intermittently from 1300, consistently from 1640. It elected two Members of Parliament until it was...

in Devon
Devon
Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...

 on 16 March 1967. It was won by the Conservative Party
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...

 candidate Peter Emery
Peter Emery
Sir Peter Frank Hannibal Emery was a Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom.Emery was born in London, but was evacuated to the United States during World War II. He was educated at Scotch Plains High School, New Jersey before serving with the Royal Air Force. He attended Oriel...

.

Vacancy

The seat had become vacant when the 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), Robert Mathew
Robert Mathew
Robert Mathew TD was a British Barrister and politician.From a military family , Mathew went to Eton College and Trinity College, Cambridge. He read for the Bar and was called in 1937...

 had died on 8 December 1966. He had held the seat since the 1955 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1955
The 1955 United Kingdom general election was held on 26 May 1955, four years after the previous general election. It resulted in a substantially increased majority of 60 for the Conservative government under new leader and prime minister Sir Anthony Eden against Labour Party, now in their 20th year...

 and had served as Parliamentary Private Secretary
Parliamentary Private Secretary
A Parliamentary Private Secretary is a role given to a United Kingdom Member of Parliament by a senior minister in government or shadow minister to act as their contact for the House of Commons; this role is junior to that of Parliamentary Under-Secretary, which is a ministerial post, salaried by...

 to Derek Walker-Smith
Derek Walker-Smith
Derek Colclough Walker-Smith, Baron Broxbourne PC, TD, QC, Bt. , known as Sir Derek Walker-Smith, Bt., from 1960 to 1983, was a British Conservative Party politician....

.

Result

The result was a clear victory for Emery, who returned to the Commons after losing his seat at Reading
Reading (UK Parliament constituency)
Reading was a parliamentary borough, and later a borough constituency, represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It comprised the town of Reading in the county of Berkshire....

 in 1966
United Kingdom general election, 1966
The 1966 United Kingdom general election on 31 March 1966 was called by sitting Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson. Wilson's decision to call an election turned on the fact that his government, elected a mere 17 months previously in 1964 had an unworkably small majority of only 4 MPs...

.

Emery held the seat, and its successor East Devon
East Devon (UK Parliament constituency)
East Devon is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.- Boundaries :...

 until the 2001 general election
United Kingdom general election, 2001
The United Kingdom general election, 2001 was held on Thursday 7 June 2001 to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. It was dubbed "the quiet landslide" by the media, as the Labour Party was re-elected with another landslide result and only suffered a net loss of 6 seats...

.

Votes

See also

  • Honiton constituency
    Honiton (UK Parliament constituency)
    Honiton was a parliamentary constituency centred on the town of Honiton in east Devon, formerly represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It sent members intermittently from 1300, consistently from 1640. It elected two Members of Parliament until it was...

  • List of United Kingdom by-elections
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