1967 Cambridge by-election

The Cambridge by-election of 21 September 1967 was held after the premature death of Cambridge's Labour MP (MP) Robert Davies in June 1967.

The seat was highly marginal, having only been won by Labour during the previous year's Labour landslide by 439 votes, and it had only been the second time Labour had ever taken the constituency. In the ensuing by-election, a swing of more than eight percent to the Conservatives saw their candidate David Lane win by 5,978 votes.

Candidates

• David Lane was an Eton, Cambridge and Yale-educated former barrister who had been working for Shell Oil since 1959. He was the only candidate to have previously contested the seat, having done so in 1966.
• George Scurfield (1920-?) was educated at St. John's College, Cambridge, and was a writer and second-hand bookseller. He had been a member of Cambridge City Council representing Petersfield ward from 1963 to 1966, and he would go on to contest the seat again in 1970.
• David Spreckley (1915-13), a caravan builder, was a former Labour member of Huntingdonshire County Council. He had been the Liberal candidate for Great Yarmouth in the 1964 general election and Huntingdon in 1966. He would go on to contest the 1969 Newcastle-under-Lyme by-election for the Liberals.

Result of the previous general election

General election 1966: Cambridge

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Robert Davies	21,963	45.47
	Conservative	David Lane	20,972	43.42
	Liberal	Michael O'Loughlin	4,928	10.20
	Independent	P. King	439	0.91	New
Majority			991	2.05
Turnout			48,302	80.00
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

Result of the by-election on 21 September 1967

Cambridge by-election, 21 September 1967[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Lane	20,488	51.61	+8.19
	Labour	George Scurfield	14,510	36.55	-8.92
	Liberal	David Spreckley	4,701	11.84	+1.64
Majority			5,978	15.06
Turnout			39,699	65.7
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

The Conservative victory was described as "always expected" in an editorial in the next day's The Glasgow Herald.[2] The result was overshadowed by the shock outcome of the same day's Walthamstow West by-election, where and 18.4% Labour to Conservative swing saw the Conservatives narrowly gain a seat Labour had held since 1929.[2][3]

References

1. "1967 By Election Results". Archived from the original on 29 March 2012. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
2. "Discontent". The Glasgow Herald. 22 September 1967. p. 8. Retrieved 13 July 2020.
3. "Conservatives big double in by-elections". The Glasgow Herald. 22 September 1967. p. 1. Retrieved 13 July 2020.