1968 Meriden by-election

The Meriden by-election, 1968 was a by-election held for the British House of Commons constituency of Meriden in Warwickshire on 28 March 1968. It was won by the Conservative Party candidate Keith Speed.

Vacancy

The seat had become vacant when the 38-year-old Labour incumbent Member of Parliament (MP), Christopher Rowland died on 5 November 1967 of pneumonia following a brief illness. He had held the seat since the 1964 general election.

Result

The result was a clear victory for Speed in what had been a Labour marginal seat. It was one of three Conservative by-election gains from Labour on the same day, the others being at Acton and Dudley.

Speed held the seat until the February 1974 general election, when he lost the seat back to Labour. He went on to be MP for Ashford.

Votes
Meriden by-election, 1968[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Keith Speed 33,344 64.8 +18.4
Labour Roderick MacFarquhar 18,081 35.2 −18.4
Majority 15,263 29.6 N/A
Turnout 51,425 66.0 -19.7
Conservative gain from Labour Swing +18.4
General election 1966: Meriden[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Christopher Rowland 33,831 53.6
Conservative Jonathan Aitken 29,250 46.4
Majority 4,581 7.2
Turnout 63,081 85.7
Labour hold Swing

See also

References
  1. "1968 By Election Results". Archived from the original on 25 March 2012. Retrieved 21 August 2015.
  2. 1966 general election results at Richard Kimber's political science resources
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