1972 Sutton and Cheam by-election

{{Short description|1972 UK Parliamentary by-election}}

{{Infobox election

| election_name = 1972 Sutton and Cheam by-election

| type = parliamentary

| country = United Kingdom

| seats_for_election = Constituency of Sutton and Cheam

| ongoing = no

| previous_election = 1970 United Kingdom general election

| previous_year = 1970

| next_election = February 1974 United Kingdom general election

| next_year = 1974

| election_date = 7 December 1972

| candidate1 = Graham Tope

| image1 = x160px

| party1 = Liberal Party (UK)

| popular_vote1 = 18,328

| percentage1 = 53.6%

| swing1 = {{increase}} 39.0%

| candidate2 = Neil Macfarlane

| image2 = x160px

| party2 = Conservative Party (UK)

| popular_vote2 = 10,911

| percentage2 = 31.9%

| swing2 = {{decrease}} 26.2%

| candidate3 = David Miller

| image3 =

| party3 = Labour Party (UK)

| popular_vote3 = 2,937

| percentage3 = 8.6%

| swing3 = {{decrease}} 18.7%

| map_image =

| map_size = 200px

| map_caption =

| title = MP

| before_election = Richard Sharples

| before_party = Conservative Party (UK)

| after_election = Graham Tope

| after_party = Liberal Party (UK)

| turnout = 56.3% ({{decrease}} 11.3%)

}}{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}

{{Use British English|date=April 2012}}

The Sutton and Cheam by-election of 7 December 1972 was held after Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) Richard Sharples was appointed Governor of Bermuda. In a defeat for Edward Heath's government the seat was won by Liberal candidate Graham Tope, who defeated the Conservative candidate Neil Macfarlane.[http://by-elections.co.uk/72.html#sutton Result with some Graham Tope campaign literature] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120314034610/http://by-elections.co.uk/72.html |date=14 March 2012 }} This was the second Liberal gain during the 1970–1974 Parliament, during which they gained five seats overall.Michael McManus, Jo Grimond: Towards the Sound of Gunfire, Edinburgh, 2001, p. 317 Tope went on to lose the seat to Macfarlane at the February 1974 election.