1983 Darlington by-election
← 1979 24 March 1983 June 1983 →
Constituency of Darlington
  First party Second party Third party
 
Lab
SDP
Candidate Ossie O'Brien Michael Fallon Anthony Cook
Party Labour Conservative SDP
Popular vote 20,544 18,132 12,735
Percentage 39.5% 34.9% 24.5%
Swing Decrease6.0% Decrease8.5% Increase14.3%
MP before election

Edward Fletcher
Labour

Elected MP

Ossie O'Brien
Labour

The 1983 Darlington by-election was a parliamentary by-election held on 24 March 1983 for the British House of Commons constituency of Darlington in County Durham.

The seat had become vacant when the constituency's Labour Member of Parliament (MP), Edward Fletcher had died on 13 February 1983, a few days before his 72nd birthday. He had held the seat since the 1964 general election.

The result of the contest was a victory for the Labour candidate, Oswald O'Brien, who won with a majority of 2,412 over the Conservative Party candidate Michael Fallon. O'Brien only held the seat for three months, however, as it fell to Fallon at the general election in June 1983.

The by-election campaign is regarded by many former SDP members, including Bill Rodgers, as having been one that destroyed the SDP's momentum. Tony Cook, a local television celebrity, was the candidate and appeared to know very little about public issues and made a poor impression. At one point the SDP had been leading in the polls, but in part due to Cook's poor performance as a candidate, highlighted by the coverage from journalist Vincent Hanna, they finished third.

Votes

Darlington by-election, 1983[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Oswald O'Brien 20,544 39.5 −6.0
Conservative Michael Fallon 18,132 34.9 −8.5
SDP Anthony Cook 12,735 24.5 +14.3
Monster Raving Loony David Sutch 374 0.7 New
Independent Arthur Clark 164 0.3 New
Tactical Voting Annihilates Bennite Tatchellites Thomas Keen 27 0.1 New
Yoga and Meditation Jitendra Bardwaj 15 0.0 New
Republican Peter Smith 10 0.0 New
Majority 2,412 4.6 +2.5
Turnout 52,001
Labour hold Swing +1.25
General election, 1979: Darlington
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Edward Fletcher 22,565 45.52 +0.03
Conservative Timothy Kirkhope 21,513 43.39 +5.77
Liberal K. Walker 5,054 10.19 −6.44
National Front H. Outhwaite 444 0.90 New
Majority 1,052 2.12 −5.81
Turnout 49,576 78.40 +13.43
Labour hold Swing −2.82

See also

References

  1. ^ Boothroyd, David. "Results of Byelections in the 1979-83 Parliament". United Kingdom Election Results. Archived from the original on 9 June 2000. Retrieved 19 September 2015.
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