1969 Swindon by-election

The 1969 Swindon by-election of 30 October 1969 was held after Labour Member of Parliament (MP) Francis Noel-Baker resigned from the House of Commons. The seat was won by the Conservative Party in a defeat for Harold Wilson's government.

Background

To defend the seat they had won with a majority of over 10,000 votes at the 1966 general election Labour chose David Stoddart, a member of Reading Borough Council since 1954 and leader of the Labour Party group on that council since 1962. He had previously stood as the Labour candidate for Newbury in the 1959 and 1964 general elections. The Conservatives, who had come second at the last election, chose Christopher Ward, a solicitor and member of Berkshire County Council.

Result

Swindon by-Election, 1969

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Christopher Ward	16,843	41.73	+5.06
	Labour	David Stoddart	16,365	40.54	−20.81
	Liberal	Christopher Layton	6,193	15.34	New
	Communist	Judith Gradwell	518	1.28	−0.70
	Young Socialist	Frank Willis	446	1.10	New
Majority			478	1.19	N/A
Turnout			40,365
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+12.9

General election 1966: Swindon

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Francis Noel-Baker	25,966	61.35
	Conservative	NG Reece	15,523	36.67
	Communist	I Gradwell	838	1.98
Majority			10,443	24.68
Turnout			42,357	73.51
	Labour hold		Swing

Aftermath

This was one of five by-elections held on the same day where Labour were trying to retain a seat that they held. While they held the other four seats, with the exception of Glasgow Gorbals, none of them was a comfortable hold, with Labour's majorities being significantly reduced by the Conservatives. The swing to the Conservatives in Swindon was 12.9%, which was much more than the 4% swing the Conservatives required if they were to win the next general election. This was the 14th seat that Labour had lost in a by-election since the 1966 general election.

A report in the following day's The Glasgow Herald argued the Liberal Party's "big challenge" in Swindon "possibly contributed to Labour's defeat", but also blamed "the Government's neglect of the constituency, having left it vacant since February."

At the following year's general election, Stoddart stood again as Labour's candidate and this time defeated Ward with a majority of 5,576 votes.