Pontefract and Castleford by-election, 1978

A by-election was held for the British House of Commons parliamentary constituency of Pontefract and Castleford on 26 October 1978 following the death of Labour Member of Parliament (MP) Joseph Harper on 24 June. It was one of two UK parliamentary by-elections held on that day.

The result was a Labour hold. The party's majority was reduced from the 54.2% at the October 1974 general election to a still comfortable 38.6%. Both Labour and Liberal Party candidates saw their votes fall, the latter's share of the vote being nearly halved.

The winner, Geoffrey Lofthouse, served as the constituency's MP until his retirement at the 1997 general election.

Votes

Pontefract and Castleford by-election, 1978[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Geoffrey Lofthouse 19,508 65.8 -4.6
Conservative Hugo Page 8,080 27.3 +11.1
Liberal Leslie Marsh 2,054 6.9 -5.4
Majority 11,428 38.6 -15.6
Turnout 29,642
Labour hold Swing

References

  1. "1978 By Election Results". Archived from the original on 2012-03-14. Retrieved 2015-09-17.

See also

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