1994 Dudley West by-election
UK House of Commons election
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A by-election was held for the UK House of Commons constituency of Dudley West on 15 December 1994 following the death of the sitting Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) John Blackburn.
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15 December 1994
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Dudley West constituency | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Turnout | 47.0% ( 35.1 pp) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The result was a Labour gain from the Conservatives, on one of the largest swings since the Second World War. This was the first significant sign of the changed political climate following the election of Tony Blair as Labour leader, which would eventually lead to Labour's landslide victory in the 1997 general election. Labour gained nearly 70% of the votes, whereas the Conservative candidate attracted fewer than 20% of the votes.
Result
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Ian Pearson | 28,400 | 68.8 | +28.0 | |
| Conservative | Graham Postles | 7,706 | 18.7 | −30.2 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Mike Hadley | 3,154 | 7.6 | −2.8 | |
| UKIP | Malcolm Floyd | 590 | 1.4 | New | |
| National Front | Andy Carmichael | 561 | 1.4 | New | |
| Liberal | Mike Hyde | 548 | 1.3 | New | |
| New Britain | Mike Nattrass | 146 | 0.3 | New | |
| FOREST - Freedom of Choice for Smokers | Marjorie Nicholson | 77 | 0.2 | New | |
| Natural Law | John Oldbury | 70 | 0.2 | New | |
| 21st Century Conservatives Party | Colin Palmer | 55 | 0.1 | New | |
| Majority | 20,694 | 50.1 | N/A | ||
| Turnout | 41,307 | 47.0 | −35.1 | ||
| Labour gain from Conservative | Swing | +29.1 | |||
Previous result
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | John Blackburn | 34,729 | 48.8 | −1.0 | |
| Labour | KJ Lomax | 28,940 | 40.7 | +6.7 | |
| Liberal Democrats | GPT Lewis | 7,446 | 10.5 | −5.7 | |
| Majority | 5,789 | 8.1 | −7.7 | ||
| Turnout | 71,115 | 82.1 | +3.0 | ||
| Conservative hold | Swing | −3.8 | |||