Birmingham Northfield by-election, 1982

The Birmingham, Northfield by-election of 28 October 1982 was held after the death of Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) Jocelyn Cadbury on 31 July 1982. The seat was gained by the Labour Party in a defeat for Margaret Thatcher's government, ironically just after opinion polls showed an upswing in Conservative support following the victorious Falklands War campaign weeks earlier.

Candidates

• John Spellar, the winning Labour candidate, would later serve as MP for Warley West.
• Roger Gale would later serve as MP for North Thanet.
• Stephen Ridley, a solicitor, ran on a campaign of introducing works councils to give workers more say in their jobs and improving local amenities.^[1]
• Ian Anderson emerged as the leading figure of the Flag Group wing of the National Front and later became leader of the party.
• Peter Sheppard ran on an anti-National Front, anti-Margaret Thatcher platform. He was chairman of the All Birmingham Committee Against Racism and Fascism.^[2]
• Bill Boaks, a serial independent candidate during the 1970s who frequently managed only double figure vote totals, was standing in his final by-election (he was also a candidate in the Peckham by-election, which was held simultaneously).

Results

Birmingham, Northfield by-election, 1982[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Spellar	15,904	36.3	−8.8
	Conservative	Roger Gale	15,615	35.6	−9.8
	Liberal	Stephen Ridley	11,453	26.1	+18.0
	National Front	Ian Anderson	411	0.9	-0.2
	Communist	Peter Sheppard	349	0.8	N/A
	People's Progressive Party	Ronald Taylor	63	0.2	N/A
	Democratic Monarchist, Public Safety, White Resident	Bill Boaks	60	0.1	N/A
Majority			289	0.7
Turnout			43,855	55.0
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	-0.51

References

1. Ridley's election leaflet
2. Sheppard's election leaflet
3. Boothroyd, David. "Results of Byelections in the 1979-83 Parliament". United Kingdom Election Results. Retrieved 2015-09-19.