Truro by-election, 1987

The Truro by-election, 1987, was caused by the death of David Penhaligon, the Liberal Member of Parliament (MP) for Truro on December 22, 1986. The election was held on March 12, 1987. The constituency was renamed Truro and St Austell in 1997.

The candidate succeeding Penhaligon was his then research assistant on the economy, Matthew Taylor, standing with the backing of the Social Democratic Party as part of the SDP-Liberal Alliance. The Conservative candidate was Nick St Aubyn who would go on to become member for Guildford. The Labour Party and Green Party put forward candidates. The only other candidate was Helen Anscomb, who represented . Anscomb had previously taken part in four other by-elections of the 49th Parliament and on this occasion focused her campaign on the issue of road safety as Penhaligon had been killed in a car accident.

After the election, Anscomb lodged an election petition against the return of Taylor on the grounds that he had appeared on Channel Four News and BBC Newsnight without the other candidates, in breach of election law. The petition was stayed and eventually withdrawn due to her ill-health.

Results

Election box begin
title=Truro by-election, 1987Election box candidate for alliance
party = SDP-Liberal Alliance
side = Liberal Party (UK)
candidate = Matthew Taylor
votes = 30,599 | percentage = 60.4 | change = 3.1 Election box candidate with party link
party = Conservative Party (UK)
candidate = Nick St Aubyn
votes = 15,982
percentage = 31.5
change = −6.6Election box candidate with party link
party = Labour Party (UK)
candidate = John King
votes = 3,603
percentage = 7.1
change = 2.6Election box candidate with party link
party = Green Party of England and Wales
candidate = Howard Hoptrough
votes = 403
percentage = 0.8
change = Election box candidate
party = Death off Road: Freight on Rail
candidate = Helen Anscomb
votes = 75
percentage = 0.1
change = Election box majority
votes = 14,617
percentage = 28.9
change = Election box turnout
votes = 50,662
percentage = 70.2
change = −9.4Election box hold with party link
winner = SDP-Liberal Alliance
swing =

External links

* [http://www.parliament.uk/documents/upload/m10.pdf House of Commons Information Office] 1983-1987