1960 Tiverton by-election

The Tiverton by-election, 1960 was a parliamentary by-election for the British House of Commons constituency of Tiverton on 16 November 1960.

Vacancy

The by-election was caused by the elevation of the sitting Conservative MP, Rt Hon. Derick Heathcoat-Amory to the House of Lords on 1 September 1960. He had been MP here since holding the seat in 1945.

Election History

Tiverton had been won by the Conservatives at every election since 1924 when they gained the seat from the Liberals. The result at the last General Election was as follows;

1959 general election Electorate 48,416 [1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Derick Heathcoat-Amory 21,714 55.6
Labour John Dunwoody 9,836 25.2
Liberal James J Collier 7,504 19.2
Majority 11,878 30.4
Turnout 39,054 80.7
Conservative hold Swing

Candidates

The Conservatives selected 29-year-old Robin Maxwell-Hyslop. He contested the Derby North constituency at the 1959 general election. He was Personal Assistant to the director and general manager of the aero engine division of Rolls-Royce from 1954 to 1960.[2] Labour selected a new candidate in 35-year-old Raymond Dobson. At the last General election he was Labour candidate for Torrington. The Liberals re-selected 42-year-old James Collier who contested the constituency in 1959. He was a local farmer, his family had farmed in the parish of Culmstock since 1600.

Main Issues and Campaign

Result
Tiverton by-election, 1960[3] Electorate 48,956
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Robin Maxwell-Hyslop 15,308 45.7 -9.9
Liberal James J Collier 12,268 36.7 +17.5
Labour Raymond F H Dobson 5,895 17.6 -7.6
Majority 3,040 9.0 -21.4
Turnout 33,471 68.4 -12.3
Conservative hold Swing

Aftermath

Maxwell-Hyslop and Collier faced each other again at the following General Election while Dobson moved to contest Bristol North East, where he came second. The result at the 1964 general election;

General election 1964 Electorate 50,854
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Robin Maxwell-Hyslop 19,280 47.3 -8.3
Liberal James J Collier 14,053 34.5 +15.3
Labour John T Mitchard 7,393 18.2 -7.6
Majority 5,227 12.8 -17.6
Turnout 40,726 80.1 -0.6
Conservative hold Swing

Maxwell-Hyslop retained the seat until he retired at the 1992 general election.

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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. Independent obituary, 20 January 2010
  3. "1960 By Election Results". Archived from the original on 16 October 2013. Retrieved 15 August 2015.

See also
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