1983 Penrith and The Border by-election

1983 Penrith and The Border by-election
Constituency of Penrith and The Border
Turnout	55.9% ( 17.2%)
MP before election; William Whitelaw; Conservative	Subsequent MP ; David Maclean; Conservative

The 1983 Penrith and The Border by-election was a parliamentary by-election held on 28 July 1983 for the British House of Commons constituency of Penrith and The Border in Cumbria.

Held seven weeks after the election in which the Conservatives won a second term by a landslide, it was the very first by-election of the 1983–1987 Parliament.

Vacancy

The seat had become vacant when the constituency's Conservative Member of Parliament (MP), William Whitelaw had been elevated to the peerage as Viscount Whitelaw. Whitelaw had held the seat since the 1955 general election, and had been Deputy Leader of the Conservative Party since 1974, and Deputy Prime Minister since 1979, serving as Home Secretary from 1979 until his ennoblement and appointment as Leader of the House of Lords.

Result

The result of the contest was a narrow victory for the Conservative candidate, David Maclean, who won with a majority of 552 over the SDP–Liberal Alliance candidate Michael Young.

Votes

Penrith and The Border by-election, 28 July 1983^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Maclean	17,530	46.0	-12.8
	Liberal	Michael Young	16,978	44.6	+16.7
	Labour	Lindsay Williams	2,834	7.4	-5.8
	Monster Raving Loony	Screaming Lord Sutch	412	1.1	New
	Retired Naval Officer	Eric Morgan	150	0.4	New
	Death off Roads: Freight on Rail	Helen Anscomb	72	0.2	New
	Independent Socialist	John Connell	69	0.2	New
	New Britain	Peter Smith	35	0.1	New
Majority			552	1.4	-29.5
Turnout			38,080	55.9	-17.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	-14.8

General election, 1983: Penrith and The Border
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Whitelaw	29,304	58.8	-2.4
	Alliance	Michael Young	13,883	27.9	+11.4
	Labour	W Williams	6,612	13.3	-9.1
Majority			15,421	30.1	-8.7
Turnout			49,799	73.1	-3.9
	Conservative hold		Swing

v t e « 48th Parliament « By-elections to the 49th Parliament of the United Kingdom » 50th Parliament »
1983	July: Penrith and the Border
1984	March: Chesterfield May: Cynon Valley South West Surrey Stafford June: Portsmouth South December: Enfield Southgate
1985	July: Brecon and Radnor December: Tyne Bridge
1986	January: Belfast East Belfast North Belfast South East Antrim East Londonderry Fermanagh & South Tyrone Lagan Valley Mid Ulster Newry & Armagh North Antrim North Down South Antrim South Down Strangford Upper Bann April: Fulham May: Ryedale West Derbyshire July: Newcastle-under-Lyme November: Knowsley North
1987	February: Greenwich March: Truro
Lists of UK by-elections 1801–1806 1806–1818 1818–1832 1832–1847 1847–1857 1857–1868 1868–1885 1885–1900 1900–1918 1918–1931 1931–1950 1950–1979 1979–2010 2010–present Northern Ireland Hereditary peers

1983 Penrith and The Border by-election

Vacancy

Result

Votes

References

See also