1978 Pontefract and Castleford by-election

A 1978 by-election was held for the House of Commons parliamentary constituency of Pontefract and Castleford on 26 October 1978 following the death of Labour Member of Parliament (MP) Joseph Harper on 24 June. It was one of two UK parliamentary by-elections held on that day.

The result was a Labour hold. The party's majority was reduced from the 54.2% at the October 1974 general election to a still comfortable 38.5%. Both Labour and Liberal Party candidates saw their votes fall, the latter's share of the vote being nearly halved.

The winner, Geoffrey Lofthouse, served as the constituency's MP until his retirement at the 1997 general election.

Result and votes

{{Election box begin

|title=Pontefract and Castleford by-election, 1978{{cite web|url=http://by-elections.co.uk/78.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120314034520/http://by-elections.co.uk/78.html|title=1978 By Election Results|archive-date=2012-03-14|url-status=dead|access-date=2015-09-17}}}}

{{Election box winning candidate with party link

|party = Labour Party (UK)

|candidate = Geoffrey Lofthouse

|votes = 19,508

|percentage = 65.8

|change = -4.6

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link

|party = Conservative Party (UK)

|candidate = Hugo Page

|votes = 8,080

|percentage = 27.3

|change = +11.1

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link

|party = Liberal Party (UK)

|candidate = Leslie Marsh

|votes = 2,054

|percentage = 6.9

|change = -5.4

}}

{{Election box majority

|votes = 11,428

|percentage = 38.5

|change = -15.7

}}

{{Election box turnout

|votes = 29,642

|percentage =

|change =

}}

{{Election box hold with party link

|winner = Labour Party (UK)

|swing = -7.9

}}

1978 Pontefract and Castleford by-election

Result and votes

References

See also