Monmouth by-election, 1991

The Monmouth by-election, 1991 was a by-election held for the British House of Commons constituency of Monmouth in Wales on 16 May 1991. It was won by the Labour Party candidate Huw Edwards.

Vacancy

The seat had become vacant when the sitting Conservative Member of Parliament (MP), Sir John Stradling Thomas had died at the age of 66 on 29 March 1991. He had held the seat since the 1970 general election.

Candidates

The Conservative candidate was 44-year-old Roger Evans. The Labour Party candidate was 38-year-old Huw Edwards.

Result

The result was a victory for the Labour candidate, Huw Edwards, who took the seat on a swing of 12.6%.

However, he was unseated at the 1992 general election by his defeated Conservative opponent Roger Evans, who held the seat until Edwards regained it in the Labour landslide at the 1997 general election .

Votes

Monmouth by-election, 1991
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Huw Edwards	17,733	39.3	+11.6
	Conservative	Roger Evans	15,327	34.0	−13.5
	Liberal Democrat	Frances David	11,164	24.8	+0.8
	Monster Raving Loony	Screaming Lord Sutch	314	0.7	N/A
	Plaid Cymru (Green)	Melvin Witherden	277	0.6	N/A
	Unitax independent	Peter Carpenter	164	0.4	N/A
	Corrective Party	Lindi St Clair	121	0.3	N/A
Majority			2,406	5.3
Turnout			45,100
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	12.6

General Election 1987: Monmouth
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Stradling Thomas	22,387	47.5	+1.6
	Labour	K. Gass	13,037	27.7	+6.0
	Social Democrat	C. D. Lindley	11,313	24.0	−4.0
	Plaid Cymru	S. Meredudd	363	0.77	−0.3
Majority			9,530	19.9	−1.2
Turnout			47,100	80.6	+1.73
	Conservative hold		Swing	−2.2

See also

• Monmouth (UK Parliament constituency)
• Monmouth
• Monmouth by-election, 1934
• Monmouth by-election, 1939
• Monmouth by-election, 1945
• List of United Kingdom by-elections

References

• British Parliamentary by-elections: Monmouth 1991
• 1987 general election results at Richard Kimber's political science resources
• 1983 general election results at Richard Kimber's political science resources
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "M" (part 3)