William Oscar James Robinson (20 March 1909 – 18 October 1968) was a British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 Labour Party

Labour 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...

 politician.

He was elected at the 1966 general election

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...

 as 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) for Walthamstow East

Walthamstow East (UK Parliament constituency)

Walthamstow East was a parliamentary constituency in what was then the Municipal Borough of Walthamstow in east London. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first-past-the-post voting system.The constituency was...

, winning the seat with a majority of 1,807 over the sitting 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...

 MP John Harvey

John Harvey (UK politician)

John Edgar Harvey CBE was a British Conservative Party politician.Harvey was born in Derry. He attended Xavierian College in Bruges and Lyme Regis Grammar School...

. Robinson served only two years in Parliament

Parliament of the United Kingdom

The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...

, dying in office two years later aged 59.

The resulting by-election

Walthamstow East by-election, 1969

The Walthamstow East by-election of 27 March 1969 was held following the death of Labour Member of Parliament William Robinson. The seat was won by the opposition Conservative Party.-Results:...

 was held in March 1969 and won with a 5,479-vote majority by the Conservative Michael McNair-Wilson

Michael McNair-Wilson

Sir Robert Michael Conal McNair-Wilson was a Conservative politician and a Member of Parliament .In 1969 he stood as the Conservative candidate in the Walthamstow East by-election, defeating the Labour Party...

, whose brother Patrick

Patrick McNair-Wilson

Sir Patrick Michael Ernest David McNair-Wilson is a British Conservative politician.McNair-Wilson was educated at Eton College and was commissioned in the Coldstream Guards 1947-52, serving in Palestine and North Africa...

 had won 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....

in 1968.