1988_Epping_Forest_by-election
A by-election was held in the House of Commons constituency of Epping Forest on 15 December 1988, following the death of Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) Sir John Biggs-Davison. The result was a hold for the Conservative Party.[1]
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Constituency of Epping Forest | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Turnout | 49.1% ( 27.2%) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Steven Norris was the Conservative candidate. Norris had been elected to serve as MP for Oxford East at the 1983 general election but had lost the seat in 1987. His opponent from the Labour Party was Stephen Murray. Andrew Thompson was chosen as the candidate for the recently formed Social and Liberal Democrats. Thompson had been a founder member of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and had served as a councillor in the local area since 1984. His main campaign issues were saving a local hospital from closure and defending the green belt status of Epping Forest.[2]
The rump SDP, which had rejected the merger with the Liberal Party, also put forward a candidate, Michael Pettman. Pettman, a solicitor and local councillor, had been the candidate for the SDP in Epping Forest at the 1983 general election.[3] Both the Green Party, represented by Andrew Simms and the Official Monster Raving Loony Party, represented by party leader and serial election candidate David Sutch, contested the election as well. Sutch stood under the name "Monster Raving Loony - Liberal Birthday Party" in this election.[1]
Tina Wingfield stood under the designation of "Independent National Front" although at the time she was actually a member of the National Council of the Flag Group, a breakaway party from the NF.[4] Other candidates were Jackie Moore for the Rainbow Alliance (who added the name Change the World to her party designation) and Brian Goodier, who stood as the "Vote no Belsen for South Africans" candidate.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Steven Norris | 13,183 | 39.5 | −21.5 | |
| SLD | Andrew Thompson | 8,679 | 26.0 | +6.6 | |
| Labour | Stephen Murray | 6,261 | 18.7 | +0.4 | |
| SDP | Michael Pettman | 4,077 | 12.2 | N/A | |
| Green | Andrew Simms | 672 | 2.0 | N/A | |
| Independent National Front | Tina Wingfield | 286 | 0.6 | N/A | |
| Monster Raving Loony | David Sutch | 208 | 0.6 | N/A | |
| Rainbow Alliance - Change the World | Jackie Moore | 33 | 0.1 | N/A | |
| Vote no Belsen for South Africans | Brian Goodier | 16 | 0.0 | N/A | |
| Majority | 4,504 | 13.5 | N/A | ||
| Turnout | 33,415 | 49.1 | −27.2 | ||
| Conservative hold | Swing | ||||
Candidate Brian Goodier misspelt Belson on his nomination paper.[6]
- "Result". Archived from the original on 21 August 2009. Retrieved 27 July 2009.
- "Election literature". Archived from the original on 8 October 2012. Retrieved 1 May 2011.
- The David Owen papers Archived 27 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine, available as a [sca.lib.liv.ac.uk/collections/Owen/book/PART6.DOC Word Document]
- N. Copsey, Contemporary British Fascism: The British National Party and the Quest for Legitimacy, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004, p. 46
- Boothroyd, David. "Results of Byelections in the 1987-92 Parliament". United Kingdom Election Results. Retrieved 1 October 2015.
- "Epping Forest 1988". Archived from the original on 17 October 2013. Retrieved 16 October 2013.