The 1977 by-election for the Great Grimsby took place on 28 April 1977.

It was caused by the death in February of Anthony Crosland, and was retained for Labour by Austin Mitchell.

It took place on the same day as the Labour defeat in Ashfield. The result in Grimsby and Ashfield were seen as a surprise as they were the opposite of what had been expected. Grimsby had been expected to fall to the Conservatives, while Labour had expected to hold Ashfield, which they had held by a much larger majority. In the event while there was a swing of 20.9% to the Conservatives in Ashfield, which was just enough to win the seat, the Labour to Conservative swing in Grimsby was only 7% and Mitchell managed to poll more votes than Crosland had at the last election.[1] The Liberal Party lost its deposit in both Grimsby and Ashfield, the third time this had happened at a by-election following the 1977 Lib-Lab Pact.[1]

Great Grimsby by-election, 1977[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Austin Mitchell 21,890 46.88 -0.22
Conservative Robert Blair 21,370 45.76 +13.85
Liberal Andrew de Freitas 3,128 6.7 -13.93
Socialist Workers Michael Stanton 215 0.5 New
Sunshine Party Peter Bishop 64 0.1 New
Malcolm Muggeridge Fan Club Max Nottingham 30 0.0 New
Majority 520 1.12 -14.06
Turnout 46,697
Labour hold Swing -7.04

At the next election, in 1979, Mitchell increased his majority to 6,241 votes.[3]

References

  1. 1 2 Parkhouse, Geoffrey (29 April 1977). "Sensation at the polls". The Glasgow Herald. p. 1. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
  2. ↑ "1977 By Election Results". Archived from the original on 12 October 2013. Retrieved 17 September 2015.
  3. ↑ The Times Guide to the House of Commons May 1979. London: Times Books Ltd. 1979. p. 122. ISBN 0-7230-0225-8.


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