1965 Leyton by-election

1965 Leyton by-election

21 January 1965
Constituency of Leyton
Turnout	57.7%
First party Second party Third party   Lib Candidate Ronald Buxton Patrick Gordon Walker Alistair H. Mackay Party Conservative Labour Liberal Popular vote 16,544 16,339 5,382 Percentage 42.9% 42.4% 14.0% Swing 9.4% 8.0% 2.2%
MP before election Reginald Sorensen Labour Elected MP Ronald Buxton Conservative

The 1965 Leyton by-election was a parliamentary by-election held on 21 January 1965 for the House of Commons constituency of Leyton in east London.

The seat had become vacant when the constituency's long-serving Labour Member of Parliament (MP), Reginald Sorensen, was made a life peer on 15 December 1964. An MP for over thirty years, his elevation to the peerage was intended to create a vacancy in a safe seat for the Foreign Secretary, Patrick Gordon Walker, who had been defeated in a shock result in the 1964 general election in his Smethwick constituency.

The result of the contest was not as planned: the Conservative Party candidate, Ronald Buxton, won with a majority of 205 votes, a swing from Labour of 8.7%. Gordon-Walker resigned as Foreign Secretary but regained the seat for Labour at the 1966 general election.

Votes

Leyton by-election, 1965

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ronald Buxton	16,544	42.9	+9.4
	Labour	Patrick Gordon Walker	16,339	42.4	−8.0
	Liberal	Alistair H Mackay	5,382	14.0	−2.2
	UK & Commonwealth Party	Jeremiah Lynch	157	0.4	New
	Disarmament	George Delf	156	0.4	New
Majority			205	0.5	N/A
Turnout			38,578	57.7	−12.5
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+8.7

See also

• Leyton (UK Parliament constituency)
• Leyton
• List of United Kingdom by-elections (1950–1979)

References

• British Parliamentary by-elections: Leyton
• UK General Elections since 1832 Archived 2 July 2009 at the Wayback Machine
• Leigh Rayment's Peerage Pages