View source for 1986 Ryedale by-election

{{Short description|1986 UK parliamentary by-election}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{More citations needed|date=September 2007}}
{{Infobox election
| election_name = 1986 Ryedale by-election
| type = parliamentary
| country = United Kingdom
| seats_for_election = Constituency of [[Ryedale (UK Parliament constituency)|Ryedale]]
| ongoing = no
| previous_election = 1983 United Kingdom general election
| previous_year = 1983
| election_date = 8 May 1986
| candidate1 = '''[[Elizabeth Shields]]'''
| image1 = [[File:ElizabethShields.jpg|x160px]]
| party1 = Liberal Party (UK)
| popular_vote1 = '''27,612'''
| percentage1 = '''50.3%'''
| swing1 = {{increase}}'''19.8%'''
| candidate2 = [[Neil Balfour]]
| image2 = <div style="width:120px;"><span style="line-height:160px; vertical-align:center; text-align:center; color:{{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}; font-size:35px;"> '''Con'''</span></div>
| party2 = Conservative Party (UK)
| popular_vote2 = 22,672
| percentage2 = 41.3%
| swing2 = {{decrease}}17.9%
| candidate3 = Shirley Haines
| image3 = <div style="width:120px;"><span style="line-height:160px; vertical-align:center; text-align:center; color:{{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}; font-size:35px;"> '''Lab'''</span></div>
| party3 = Labour Party (UK)
| popular_vote3 = 4,633
| percentage3 = 8.4%
| swing3 = {{decrease}}1.9%
| title = MP
| posttitle = Subsequent MP
| before_election = [[John Spence (politician)|John Spence]]
| before_party = Conservative Party (UK)
| after_election = [[Elizabeth Shields]]
| after_party = Liberal Party (UK)
| turnout = 67.3% ({{decrease}}4.5%)
| next_election = 1987 United Kingdom general election
| next_year = 1987
}}
The '''1986 [[Ryedale (UK Parliament constituency)|Ryedale]] by-election''' took place on 8 May 1986. The election was held on the same day as the [[1986 United Kingdom local elections|1986 local elections]] and the [[1986 West Derbyshire by-election|West Derbyshire by-election]]

It is the latest by-election to have just three candidates standing.

The seat was regained by the Conservatives the next year at the [[1987 United Kingdom general election|1987 general election]] by [[John Greenway (MP)|John Greenway]].

==Background==

In the spring of 1986 unemployment began rising at a greater rate than in previous years and the Conservative loss at Ryedale was a factor (according to [[Nigel Lawson]]) in "even committed supporters of the Government's economic strategy...insisting that reducing unemployment should now have priority".<ref>Nigel Lawson, ''The View from No. 11. Memoirs of a Tory Radical'' (Bantam, 1992), p. 641.</ref>

==Result==
{{Election box begin | title=Ryedale by-election, 1986<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.election.demon.co.uk/by1983.html|title=Results of Byelections in the 1983-87 Parliament|last=Boothroyd|first=David|access-date=2015-09-19|website=United Kingdom Election Results|archive-date=2018-04-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180405203844/http://www.election.demon.co.uk/by1983.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>}}
{{Election box winning candidate for alliance|
  |party      = Liberal Party (UK)
  |side       = SDP-Liberal Alliance
  |candidate  = [[Elizabeth Shields]]
  |votes      = 27,612
  |percentage = 50.28
  |change     = +19.8
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link|
  |party      = Conservative Party (UK)
  |candidate  = [[Neil Balfour]]
  |votes      = 22,672
  |percentage = 41.28
  |change     = -17.9
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link|
  |party      = Labour Party (UK)
  |candidate  = Shirley Haines
  |votes      = 4,633
  |percentage = 8.44
  |change     = -1.9
}}
{{Election box majority|
  |votes      = 4,940
  |percentage = 9.00
  |change     = ''N/A''
}}
{{Election box turnout|
  |votes      = 54,917
  |percentage = 67.3
  |change     = -4.5
}}
{{Election box gain with party link|
  |winner     = Liberal Party (UK)
  |loser      = Conservative Party (UK)
  |swing      = +19.0<ref>Chris Cook and John Ramsden (eds.), ''By-elections in British Politics'' (Routledge, 1997), p. 11.</ref>
}}
{{Election box end}}

== Previous General election ==

{{Election box begin | title=[[1983 United Kingdom general election|General election 1983]]: Ryedale}}
{{Election box winning candidate with party link|
  |party      = Conservative Party (UK)
  |candidate  = [[John Spence (politician)|John Spence]]
  |votes      = 33,312
  |percentage = 59.2
  |change     = 
}}
{{Election box candidate for alliance|
  |party      = SDP-Liberal Alliance
  |side       = Liberal Party (UK)
  |candidate  = [[Elizabeth Shields]]
  |votes      = 17,170
  |percentage = 30.5
  |change     = 
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link|
  |party      = Labour Party (UK)
  |candidate  = P Bloom
  |votes      = 5,816
  |percentage = 10.3
  |change     = 
}}
{{Election box majority|
  |votes      = 16,142
  |percentage = 28.7
  |change     = 
}}
{{Election box turnout|
  |votes      = 56,838
  |percentage = 
  |change     = 
}}
{{Election box new seat win|
  |winner     = Conservative Party (UK)
}}
{{Election box end}}

==See also==
*[[Ryedale (UK Parliament constituency)]]
* [[Thirsk and Malton (UK Parliament constituency)]]
* [[List of United Kingdom by-elections]]

==Notes==
*{{Rayment-hc|r|2|date=March 2012}}
<references/>

{{By-elections to the 49th UK Parliament}}

[[Category:1986 elections in the United Kingdom|Ryedale by-election]]
[[Category:1986 in England|Ryedale by-election]]
[[Category:May 1986 in the United Kingdom|Ryedale by-election]]
[[Category:By-elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom in North Yorkshire constituencies]]
[[Category:Ryedale]]
[[Category:1980s in North Yorkshire]]