1958 St Helens by-election

The 1958 St Helens by-election to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom was held on 12 June 1958. It was held due to the vacation of the seat by the incumbent Labour Member of Parliament, Sir Hartley Shawcross. It was retained by the Labour candidate Leslie Spriggs.[1]

Background

St Helens had been represented in Parliament by Sir Hartley Shawcross since the 1945 United Kingdom general election. However he had become increasingly disillusioned with the Labour Party to the point where he was called by the journalist Bernard Levin "Sir Shortly Floorcross". Hartley stated he wished to vacate his seat citing disillusionment with party politics.[2] Shawcross asked to be appointed as the Crown Steward and Bailiff of the Manor of Northstead, an office of profit under the Crown which disqualifies people from being MPs as resignation is not allowed.[3] Shawcross was later elevated to the House of Lords as a Crossbench life peer.[4]

Election

Carlisle was contesting his first election for the Conservative Party.[5] Spriggs was contesting his second election after unsuccessfully standing for North Fylde three years earlier.[6] He was selected as the Labour Party candidate following Tom Driberg bringing media attention to the selections by alleging religious discrimination in the shortlist of candidates and Spriggs was seen as the "safe" option.[7] As St Helens is considered a safe Labour seat,[8] Spriggs won the election and would represent St Helens until 1983.[9] Carlisle would later get elected as the MP for Runcorn.[5]

St Helens by-election, 1958[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Leslie Spriggs 26,405 64.7 +0.4
Conservative Mark Carlisle 14,411 35.3 -0.4
Majority 11,994 29.4 +0.8
Turnout 40,816
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References
  1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 20 December 2009. Retrieved 4 September 2014.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. "Lord Shawcross". Telegraph. 11 July 2003. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
  3. "Disqualified MPs" (PDF). Parliament of the United Kingdom. Retrieved 25 March 2020. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  4. "Nazi war crimes prosecutor dies". BBC News. 10 July 2003. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
  5. Roth, Andrew. "Obituary: Lord Carlisle of Bucklow". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
  6. "Obituary: Leslie Spriggs". St Helens Reporter. 25 May 1990.
  7. Wheen, Francis (1990). Tom Driberg: His life and indiscretion. Chatto and Windus. p. 325. ISBN 9780330318976.
  8. Utley, Tom (16 May 2001). "Pity the poor Labour voters of St Helens". Telegraph. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
  9. "Leslie Spriggs career". Parliament of the United Kingdom. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
  10. "1958 By Election Results". Archived from the original on 25 June 2012. Retrieved 15 August 2015.
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