1960 Bolton East by-election

The 1960 Bolton East by-election was a by-election held for the British House of Commons constituency of Bolton East in Lancashire on 16 November 1960. It was won by the Conservative Party candidate Edwin Taylor.

Vacancy

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The seat became vacant when the sitting Conservative Member of Parliament Philip Bell, QC, was appointed as a County Court Judge. He had held the seat since the 1951 general election.

The by-election saw the decision of the Liberal Party to field a candidate, which broke a local pact which had held for 10 years whereby the Liberals left the Bolton East seat alone, and in return the Conservatives did not stand in Bolton West; the pact had achieved its objective of preventing the Labour Party from winning either.

Result

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Taylor was elected by a margin of 641 votes over Labour candidate Robert Howarth, with the Liberal candidate Frank Byers securing a quarter of the vote. Dissension within the Labour Party over nuclear disarmament was thought to have helped Taylor win.

At the 1964 general election, a more organised Labour campaign in Bolton East saw Taylor voted out by a margin of more than 3,000 votes. A Conservative stood in Bolton West for the first time since 1950, resulting in a Labour gain from the Liberal Arthur Holt by roughly the same margin.

Votes

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Bolton East by-election, 1960[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Edwin Taylor 15,499 37.8 −15.0
Labour Robert Howarth 14,858 36.2 −11.0
Liberal Frank Byers 10,173 24.8 New
New Conservative John E. Dayton 493 1.2 New
Majority 641 1.6 −4.0
Turnout 41,023
Conservative hold Swing -2.0
1959 general election: Bolton East
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Philip Bell 25,885 52.8
Labour R. Hains 23,153 47.2
Majority 2,732 5.6
Turnout 49,038 80.1
Conservative hold Swing

References

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  1. ^ "1960 By Election Results". Archived from the original on 16 October 2013. Retrieved 15 August 2015.