1960 Bolton East by-election
{{Short description|UK parliamentary by-election}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
The 1960 Bolton East by-election was a by-election held for the British House of Commons constituency of Bolton East in Lancashire on 16 November 1960. It was won by the Conservative Party candidate Edwin Taylor.
Vacancy
The seat became vacant when the sitting Conservative Member of Parliament Philip Bell, QC, was appointed as a County Court Judge. He had held the seat since the 1951 general election.
The by-election saw the decision of the Liberal Party to field a candidate, which broke a local pact which had held for 10 years whereby the Liberals left the Bolton East seat alone, and in return the Conservatives did not stand in Bolton West; the pact had achieved its objective of preventing the Labour Party from winning either.
Result
Taylor was elected by a margin of 641 votes over Labour candidate Robert Howarth, with the Liberal candidate Frank Byers securing a quarter of the vote. Dissension within the Labour Party over nuclear disarmament was thought to have helped Taylor win.
At the 1964 general election, a more organised Labour campaign in Bolton East saw Taylor voted out by a margin of more than 3,000 votes. A Conservative stood in Bolton West for the first time since 1950, resulting in a Labour gain from the Liberal Arthur Holt by roughly the same margin.
Votes
{{Election box begin |
|title= Bolton East by-election, 1960{{cite web|url=http://www.by-elections.co.uk/60.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131016154925/http://www.by-elections.co.uk/60.html|title=1960 By Election Results|archive-date=2013-10-16|url-status=dead|access-date=2015-08-15}}}}
{{Election box winning candidate with party link|
|party = Conservative Party (UK)
|candidate = Edwin Taylor
|votes = 15,499
|percentage = 37.8
|change = -15.0
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link|
|party = Labour Party (UK)
|candidate = Robert Howarth
|votes = 14,858
|percentage = 36.2
|change = -11.0
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link|
|party = Liberal Party (UK)
|candidate = Frank Byers
|votes = 10,173
|percentage = 24.8
|change = New
}}
{{Election box candidate|
|party = New Conservative
|candidate = John E. Dayton
|votes = 493
|percentage = 1.2
|change = New
}}
{{Election box majority|
|votes = 641
|percentage = 1.6
|change = -4.0
}}
{{Election box turnout|
|votes = 41,023
|percentage =
|change =
}}
{{Election box hold with party link|
|winner = Conservative Party (UK)
|swing = -2.0
}}
{{Election box end}}
{{Election box begin |
|title= 1959 general election: Bolton East
}}
{{Election box winning candidate with party link|
|party = Conservative Party (UK)
|candidate = Philip Bell
|votes = 25,885
|percentage = 52.8
|change =
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link|
|party = Labour Party (UK)
|candidate = R. Hains
|votes = 23,153
|percentage = 47.2
|change =
}}
{{Election box majority|
|votes = 2,732
|percentage = 5.6
|change =
}}
{{Election box turnout|
|votes = 49,038
|percentage = 80.1
|change =
}}
{{Election box hold with party link|
|winner = Conservative Party (UK)
|swing =
}}
{{Election box end}}
References
{{Reflist}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20090831055341/http://geocities.com/by_elections/60.html British Parliamentary by-elections: Bolton East 1960]
- [http://www.psr.keele.ac.uk/area/uk/ge59/i03.htm 1959 general election results] at Richard Kimber's political science resources
- {{Rayment-hc|date=March 2012}}
{{By-elections to the 42nd UK Parliament}}
Category:By-elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom in Greater Manchester constituencies
Category:1960 elections in the United Kingdom
Category:Elections in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton
Category:By-elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom in Lancashire constituencies