1965 Leyton by-election

Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates 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

Template:Election box winning candidate with party link

Leyton by-election, 1965

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Patrick Gordon Walker	16,339	42.4
		Alistair H Mackay	5,382	14.0
	UK & Commonwealth Party	Jeremiah Lynch	157	0.4
	Disarmament	George Delf	156	0.4
Majority			205	0.5
Turnout			38,578	57.7
	gain from Template:Yesno		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 Template:Webarchive