1960 Bolton East by-election

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
Bolton East by-election, 1960[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Edwin Taylor 15,499 37.8 -15.0
Labour Robert Howarth 14,858 36.2 -11.0
Liberal Frank Byers 10,173 24.8 New
New Conservative John E. Dayton 493 1.2 New
Majority 641 1.6 -4.0
Turnout 41,023
Conservative hold Swing -2.0
1959 general election: Bolton East
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Philip Bell 25,885 52.8
Labour R. Hains 23,153 47.2
Majority 2,732 5.6
Turnout 49,038 80.1
Conservative hold Swing

References
  1. "1960 By Election Results". Archived from the original on 16 October 2013. Retrieved 15 August 2015.
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