1976 Coventry North West by-election

The Coventry North West by-election, in Coventry on 4 March 1976, was held after the death of Labour Member of Parliament (MP) Maurice Edelman. A safe Labour seat, it was won by Geoffrey Robinson, who retained the seat until 2019.

1976 Coventry North West by-election
4 March 1976
Constituency of Coventry North West
  First party Second party Third party
 
Con
Lib
Candidate Geoffrey Robinson Jonathan Guinness Alan Leighton
Party Labour Conservative Liberal
Popular vote 17,118 13,424 4,062
Percentage 47.72% 37.42% 11.32%
Swing Decrease 4.14% Increase 6.08% Decrease 4.34%
MP before election

Maurice Edelman
Labour

 Elected MP

Geoffrey Robinson
Labour

Party performance

The by-election represented the first outing for the National Party; it had recently split from the National Front and both parties ran candidates in the election. Although both polled poorly, it set a trend for a split far right vote which was replicated in the 1989 Vauxhall by-election and elsewhere.

The Liberal Party vote fell in this by-election, a development that former leader Jo Grimond blamed in part on scandals surrounding incumbent Jeremy Thorpe's homosexuality. Grimond suggested that the result and the allegations meant that Thorpe "must think of stepping down".[1] Thorpe stood down as Liberal leader two months later.

Results
Coventry North West, 1976[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Geoffrey Robinson 17,118 47.72 -4.14
Conservative Jonathan Guinness 13,424 37.42 +6.08
Liberal Alan Leighton 4,062 11.32 -4.34
National Front Andrew Fountaine 986 2.75 New
National Party John Kingsley Read 208 0.60 New
More Prosperous Britain Thomas Keen 40 0.11 New
Logic Party William Dunmore 33 0.09 New
Majority 3,694 10.30
Turnout 35,871
Labour hold Swing

References
  1. Michael McManus, Jo Grimond: Towards the Sound of Gunfire, Edinburgh, 2001, p. 325
  2. "1976 By Election Results". Archived from the original on 14 March 2012. Retrieved 17 September 2015.
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