South West Norfolk by-election, 1959

The South West Norfolk by-election of March 25,1959 was held after Labour Member of Parliament (MP) Sidney Dye died on December 9,1958. The seat was retained by Labour.

Candidates

Labour chose Albert Hilton as their candidate for the by-election. A leading member of the National Union of Agricultural and Allied Workers, Hilton was a longstanding party activist who held the seat until he was defeated in the 1964 general election. He would go on to sit in the House of Lords.

Barrister Elaine Kellett ran for the Conservative Party in one of a number of unsuccessful candidacies for the party. She went on to serve as MP for Lancaster and MEP for North West England.

The third candidate, Andrew Fountaine, ran as an Independent Nationalist, adopting a far right platform immediately before being appointed President of the National Labour Party. [John Bean, "Many Shades of Black – Inside Britain’s Far Right", London: New Millennium, 1999, pp. 119-121] He would become a leading figure in the National Front as well as briefly leading his own party, the Constitutional Movement.

Results

Election box candidate with party link
party = Labour Party (UK)
candidate = Albert Hilton
votes = 15,314 | percentage = 50.95 | change = +0.66Election box candidate with party link
party = Conservative Party (UK)
candidate = Elaine Kellett
votes = 13,960 | percentage = 46.44 | change = -3.27Election box candidate with party link
party = Independent (politician)
candidate = Andrew Fountaine
votes = 785 | percentage = 2.61 | change = N/AElection box turnout
votes = 30,059
percentage =
change = Election box hold with party link
winner = Labour Party (UK)
swing =

References