1957 North Dorset by-election

The North Dorset by-election, 1957 was a parliamentary by-election for the British House of Commons constituency of North Dorset on 27 June 1957.

Vacancy

The by-election was caused by the death of the sitting Conservative MP, Robert Crouch on 7 May 1957. He had been MP here since gaining the seat in 1950.

Election History

North Dorset had been won by the Conservatives at every election since 1950 when they gained the seat from the Liberals. The result at the last General election was as follows;

1955 general election Electorate 44,142 [1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Robert Crouch 18,906 52.1
Liberal Michael Portman 11,747 32.4
Labour H J Dutfield 5,633 15.5 +7.5
Majority 7,159 19.7
Turnout 82.2
Conservative hold Swing

Candidates

The Conservatives selected Lt-Col. Richard Glyn. He had first been chosen by the local Conservatives to defend the seat at the 1945 general election, but was defeated by the Liberal candidate Frank Byers. The Liberals selected 34-year-old John Alun Emlyn-Jones as candidate. He had fought the seat of Barry just outside Cardiff in the 1950 general election.[2] He was the son of John Emlyn Emlyn-Jones who had been the Liberal MP here from 1922-24. Labour re-selected H J Dutfield, who had stood here at the last General Election. An Independent candidate, H C Wright, intervened.

Result
North Dorset by-election, 1957[3] Electorate 45,346
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Richard Glyn 15,513 45.1 -7.0
Liberal John Alun Emlyn-Jones 12,411 36.1 +3.7
Labour H J Dutfield 6,278 18.3 +2.8
Independent H C Wright 170 0.5 n/a
Majority 3,102 9.0 -10.7
Turnout 75.8
Conservative hold Swing -5.4

Aftermath

The result at the following General election;

General election 1959: North Dorset Electorate 46,844
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Richard Glyn 20,255 52.7
Liberal John Alun Emlyn-Jones 11,604 30.2
Labour H J Dutfield 6,548 17.0
Majority 8,651 22.5
Turnout 82.0
Conservative hold Swing
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References
  • Who's Who: www.ukwhoswho.com
  • By-Elections in British Politics by Cook and Ramsden
  1. F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1950-1973; Political Reference Publications, Glasgow 1973
  2. Who’s Who of 475 Liberal Candidates Fighting the 1950 general election; Liberal Publications Dept. 1950
  3. "1957 By Election Results". Archived from the original on 2012-03-29. Retrieved 2015-08-14.

See also
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