Dudley by-election, 1968
The Dudley by-election, 1968 was a by-election held for the British House of Commons constituency of Dudley in Worcestershire on 28 March 1968. It was won by the Conservative Party candidate Donald Williams.
Vacancy
The seat had become vacant when the Labour Member of Parliament (MP), George Wigg had been appointed Chairman of the Horserace Betting Levy Board on 16 November 1967. He had held the seat since the 1945 general election and had served as Paymaster General in the Government of Harold Wilson. He was also elevated to the House of Lords as Baron Wigg, of the Borough of Dudley.
Result
The result was a clear victory for Williams in what had been a Labour [[safe seat It was one of the three Conservative gains from Labour on the same day, the others being at Acton and Meriden.
Williams held the seat until the 1970 general election, when he lost the seat back to the Labour candidate, John Gilbert.
Votes
| Dudley by-election, 1968[1] | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Conservative | Donald Williams | 28,016 | 58.1 | +17.2 | |
| Labour | John Gilbert | 16,360 | 34.0 | −25.1 | |
| Liberal | Derek Bird | 3,809 | 7.9 | N/A | |
| Majority | 11,656 | 24.2 | N/A | ||
| Turnout | 48,185 | 63.5 | -10.4 | ||
| Conservative gain from Labour | Swing | +21.2 | |||
| General Election 1966: Dudley]].[2] | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Labour | George Wigg | 32,693 | 59.1 | ||
| Conservative | Donald Williams | 22,671 | 40.9 | ||
| Majority | 10,022 | 18.1 | |||
| Turnout | 55,364 | 73.9 | |||
| Labour hold | Swing | ||||
References
- ↑ "1968 By Election Results". Archived from the original on 2012-03-25. Retrieved 2015-08-21.
- ↑ 1966 general election results at Richard Kimber's political science resources
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