1961 Colchester by-election

The Colchester by-election, 1961 was a parliamentary by-election for the British House of Commons constituency of Colchester on 16 March 1961.

Vacancy

It was held due to the incumbent Conservative MP, Cuthbert Alport becoming British High Commissioner to Rhodesia and so getting a Life Peerage on appointment. He had been MP here since gaining the seat in 1950.

Election history

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

1959 general election: Colchester [1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Cuthbert Alport 24,592 51.63
Labour Joan I. Edmonson 17,096 35.89
Liberal Peter M Linfoot 5,942 12.48
Majority 7,496 15.74
Turnout 82.44
Conservative hold Swing

Candidates
  • The Conservatives selected Antony Buck.
  • The Liberals selected airline pilot Howard Levett Fry. He was born in December 1912 and was educated at Paxton Park School and St. Paul's School, London. He joined the R.A.F. in 1932 and transferred to Imperial Airways in 1937. He flew transport aircraft during the war. After the war he was a Senior Captain first class with B.O.A.C. He was a founder member of the British Air Line Pilots' Association. He was Vice-Chairman of the Britannia Pilots' Council. He was a member of the Liberal Party Executive and the Party Council. Fry contested Aylesbury in 1959 and 1955 and New Forest in 1950.[2]
  • Labour re-selected John Wilson Fear.

Result
Colchester by-election, 1961[3][4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Antony Buck 17,891 47.17 -4.46
Labour John Wilson Fear 12,547 33.08 -2.81
Liberal Howard Levett Fry 7,487 19.74 +7.26
Majority 5,344 14.09 -1.65
Turnout 37,925 64.9
Conservative hold Swing -0.8

Aftermath

The result at the 1964 general election;

General election 1964: Colchester[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Antony Buck 23,319 46.0 -1.2
Labour Charles Williams 19,780 39.0 +5.9
Liberal Eric W Rodnight 7,566 14.9 -4.7
Majority 3,539 7.0 -7.1
Turnout 82.1
Conservative hold Swing -3.5
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References
  1. British Parliamentary Election Results 1950-1973, FWS Craig
  2. The Times House of Commons, 1950-1964
  3. British Parliamentary Election Results 1950-1973, FWS Craig
  4. "1961 By Election Results". Archived from the original on 25 March 2012. Retrieved 15 August 2015.
  5. British Parliamentary Election Results 1950-1973, FWS Craig
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