1965 Leyton by-election
UK parliamentary by-election
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The 1965 Leyton by-election was a parliamentary by-election held on 21 January 1965 for the UK House of Commons constituency of Leyton in east London.
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21 January 1965
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Leyton constituency | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Turnout | 57.7% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The seat had become vacant when the constituency's long-serving Labour Party Member of Parliament (MP), Reginald Sorensen, was made a life peer on 15 December 1964. An MP for over thirty years, his elevation to the peerage was intended to create a vacancy in a safe seat for the Foreign Secretary, Patrick Gordon Walker, who had been defeated in a shock result in the 1964 general election in his Smethwick constituency.
The result of the contest was not as planned: the Conservative Party candidate, Ronald Buxton, won by 205 votes, a swing from Labour of 8.7%. Gordon Walker resigned as Foreign Secretary but regained the seat for Labour at the 1966 general election.[1][2]
Previous result
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Reginald Sorensen | 23,640 | 50.35 | −3.36 | |
| Conservative | Ronald Buxton | 15,714 | 33.47 | −12.82 | |
| Liberal | Alistair Mackay | 7,598 | 16.18 | New | |
| Majority | 7,926 | 16.88 | +9.46 | ||
| Turnout | 46,592 | 70.18 | −4.21 | ||
| Registered electors | 66,905 | ||||
| Labour hold | Swing | -3.36 | |||
Result
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Ronald Buxton | 16,544 | 42.9 | +9.4 | |
| Labour | Patrick Gordon Walker | 16,339 | 42.4 | −8.0 | |
| Liberal | Alistair H Mackay | 5,382 | 14.0 | −2.2 | |
| UK & Commonwealth Party | Jeremiah Lynch | 157 | 0.4 | New | |
| Disarmament | George Delf | 156 | 0.4 | New | |
| Majority | 205 | 0.5 | N/A | ||
| Turnout | 38,578 | 57.7 | −12.5 | ||
| Conservative gain from Labour | Swing | +8.7 | |||