Nelson and Colne by-election, 1968

The Nelson and Colne by-election of 27 June 1968 was held after the death of Labour MP (MP) Sydney Silverman^[1]:

The seat was safe, having been won by Labour at the United Kingdom general election, 1966 by over 4,500 votes^[2]

Candidates

• Betty Boothroyd, at the time a Hammersmith councillor, was chosen for Labour. She would eventually go on to become the first female Speaker of the House of Commons
• David Waddington was the Conservative candidate, having been called to the Bar in 1951.
• The local Liberal Party association nominated David Chadwick
• Brian Tattersall was the candidate with the label "English Nationalist"

Result of the previous general election

General Election 1966: Nelson and Colne
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	S Silverman	18,406	49.28
	Conservative	P Davies	13,829	37.02
	Independent	P Downey	5,117	13.70
Majority			4,577	12.25	-

Result of the by-election

Nelson and Colne by-election, 27 June 1968
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Waddington	16,466	48.89	+11.87
	Labour	Betty Boothroyd	12,944	38.43	-10.85
	Liberal	David Chadwick	3,016	13.70	-4.75
	English Nationalist	Brian Tattersall	1,255	3.73	N/A
Majority			3,522
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

References

1. ^ Full results
2. ^ [1] PoliticsResources.net