1972 Sutton and Cheam by-election

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.[1] This was the second Liberal gain during the 1970–1974 Parliament, during which they gained five seats overall.[2] Tope went on to lose the seat to Macfarlane at the February 1974 election.

1972 Sutton and Cheam by-election
7 December 1972
Constituency of Sutton and Cheam
Turnout56.3% (Decrease 11.3%)
  First party Second party Third party
 
Lab
Candidate Graham Tope Neil Macfarlane David Miller
Party Liberal Conservative Labour
Popular vote 18,328 10,911 2,937
Percentage 53.6% 31.9% 8.6%
Swing Increase 39.0% Decrease 26.2% Decrease 18.7%
MP before election

Richard Sharples
Conservative

 Elected MP

Graham Tope
Liberal

Results
1972 Sutton and Cheam by-election[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Graham Tope 18,328 53.6 +39.0
Conservative Neil Macfarlane 10,911 31.9 -26.2
Labour David Miller 2,937 8.6 -18.7
Anti-Common Market Chris Frere-Smith 1,332 3.9 New
National Independence Edgar Scruby 660 1.9 New
Majority 7,417 21.7 N/A
Turnout 34,194 56.3 -11.3
Registered electors
Liberal gain from Conservative Swing +32.6
  1. Result with some Graham Tope campaign literature Archived 14 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  2. Michael McManus, Jo Grimond: Towards the Sound of Gunfire, Edinburgh, 2001, p. 317
  3. "1972 By Election Results". Archived from the original on 14 March 2012. Retrieved 8 September 2015.
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