1968 Sheffield Brightside by-election

The 1968 Sheffield Brightside by-election of 13 June 1968 was held following the death of Labour MP Richard Winterbottom.[1] The seat was very safe, having been won by Labour at the 1966 general election by over 19,000 votes[2]

Candidates

  • Labour chose Edward Griffiths to defend their seat, who was an industrial chemist and a worker director at the British Steel Corporation[3]
  • Colin Renfrew, for the Conservatives, was lecturer in the Department of Prehistory and Archaeology at the University of Sheffield
  • Robert Wilkinson was chosen as the candidate for the Communists
  • Ronald Guest, and Lt-Col H L Lambert, stood as independents.

Result of the previous general election

General election 1966: Sheffield Brightside
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Richard Winterbottom 26,653 75.90 +5.2
Conservative Raymond Hadfield 7,476 21.29 −4.5
Communist Howard Hill 989 2.82 −0.7
Majority 19,177 54.61 +9.7
Turnout 35,118 66.2 −4.1
Labour hold Swing

Result of the by-election

The Labour Party held the seat with a much diminished majority.

By-election 1968: Sheffield Brightside[4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Edward Griffiths 14,179 55.21 −20.69
Conservative Colin Renfrew 8,931 34.77 +13.48
Communist Robert Wilkinson 1,069 4.16 +1.34
Independent Ronald Guest 918 3.60 New
Independent H. L. Lambert 586 2.30 New
Majority 5,248 20.44 −34.17
Turnout 25,683
Labour hold Swing

References

  1. ^ Craig, F.W.S. (1987). Chronology of British Parliamentary By-elections 1833–1987. Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 230.
  2. ^ [1] Archived 11 August 2011 at the Wayback Machine PoliticsResources.net
  3. ^ OBITUARY – Eddie Griffiths Independent.co.uk
  4. ^ "1968 By Election Results". British Elections Ephemera Archive. Archived from the original on 25 March 2012. Retrieved 21 August 2015.


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