Ronald Buxton (UK politician)

Ronald Carlile Buxton (born 20 August 1923) is a former Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom. He was a Member of Parliament for a little over a year, after winning an unexpected victory in by-election in 1965.

Buxton was the Conservative candidate in the safe Labour constituency of Leyton at the 1955 general election, losing by over 8,000 votes to the long-serving Labour MP Reginald Sorensen. He was unsuccessful again at the 1959 election and at the 1964 general election, when Sorensen's majority was nearly 8,000 votes.

Shortly after the election in October, Sorensen was persuaded to accept a life peerage to make way in a safe seat for the Foreign Secretary Patrick Gordon Walker, who had lost his seat in Smethwick. However, the plan failed and on 25 January Buxton won the 1965 Leyton by-election by a narrow margin of only 205 votes, on a reduced turnout. David Dimbleby, who would later become famous as the anchor for the BBC Election results programmes from 1997 onwards, reported the result live from a snowy Leyton town hall for the BBC.

Gordon Walker regained the seat for Labour at the 1966 general election, with a comfortable majority. Buxton stood again at the 1970 election, but lost again, by over 5,000 votes.

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* [http://www.psr.keele.ac.uk UK General Elections since 1832]
* [http://www.geocities.com/by_elections/65.html#leyton British Parliamentary by-elections: Leyton]
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