1960 Harrow West by-election

The Harrow West by-election was held on 17 March 1960 due to the suicide of the incumbent Conservative MP, Sir Albert Braithwaite. It was won by the Conservative candidate John Page.[1]

Harrow West by-election, 1960[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative John Page 18,526 55.77 -15.15
Liberal John M. Wallbridge 7,100 21.38 N/A
Labour Philip J. Jenkins 6,030 18.15 -10.93
New Conservative John E. Dayton 1,560 4.70 N/A
Majority 11,426 34.39 -7.45
Turnout 33,216 61.60 -17.64
Registered electors 53,756
Conservative hold Swing

The Liberal Party was said to be "much encouraged" by their share of the vote according to the acting chair of the Liberal standing committee Mark Bonham Carter who also noted his party had not contested the constituency for ten years. Liberal leader Jo Grimond said that "the result strengens our claim that what the nation wants is a Liberal alternative.[3]

The by-election took place on the same day as the Brighouse and Spenborough by-election which saw the Conservatives gain that seat from the opposition Labour Party.[3] Morgan Phillips, Labour's General Secretary, blamed the poor results on negative press coverage arguing that "a tremendous effort" had been undertaken to develop "an unfavourable image of the party" adding that in his view "Newspaper space seems to have been allocated on political, rather than on news value."[3]

References
  1. http://www.leighrayment.com/commons.htm
  2. "1960 By Election Results". Archived from the original on 16 October 2013. Retrieved 15 August 2015.
  3. "Government wins Brighouse. Liberal Beats Labour for Second Place at Harrow". The Gllasgow Herald. 18 March 1960. p. 1. Retrieved 2 April 2020.


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