1976 Rotherham by-election

Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use British English The Rotherham by-election of 24 June 1976 was held after the death of Labour Member of Parliament (MP) Brian O'Malley. Labour held on to the seat in the by-election.

Results

Rotherham by-election, 1976

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Stanley Crowther	14,351	50.69
		Douglas Hinckley	9,824	34.70
		Beth Graham	2,214	7.82
		George Wright	1,696	5.99
	World Grid Sunshine Room Party	Peter Bishop	129	0.46
		Robin Atkinson	99	0.35
Majority			4,527	15.99
Turnout			28,313
	hold		Swing

Aftermath

The result was significant as it meant that the Labour government retained a majority of one in the House of Commons. However although Labour had held the seat, The Glasgow Herald noted that the voters had sent the party a "sour message". In a seat that had been considered safe for Labour, their majority dropped by over 11,000 votes and there was a 13.3% swing to the Conservatives. Moreover, the reduced turnout was taken by the newspaper as suggesting some Labour supporters had failed to come out and vote for their party. The newspaper thought that the Prime Minister James Callaghan, would be "very concerned" by this fall in support and by the size of the National Front candidate's vote.

See also

• 1899 Rotherham by-election
• 1910 Rotherham by-election
• 1917 Rotherham by-election
• 1994 Rotherham by-election
• 2012 Rotherham by-election