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Post by finsobruce on Oct 14, 2018 12:08:50 GMT
We've covered some of these already but Winston Churchill fought quite a few in his many elections, mainly in the first half of his career: * Willie Gallacher - Communist, later Churchill's favourite Communist during the warA title for which there was not a great deal of competition.  A.V Alexander was supposed to be "Churchill's favourite socialist" during the war. A biography of him takes this as its title. |
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Post by timrollpickering on Oct 14, 2018 12:19:05 GMT
William Gladstone had a few. I can't find his Newark contests but later ones include:
1859 - Oxford University by-election
* Richard Temple-Nugent-Brydges-Chandos-Grenville, Marquess of Chandos (Conservative). Later the 3rd Duke of Buckingham & Chandos, cabinet minister under Derby and Disraeli, Governor of Madras in the late 1870s, big railway magnate (especially the Brill branch of the Metropolitan line) and third holder of one of the longest surnames imaginable.
1865 - Oxford University
* Gathorne Hardy (Conservative), cabinet minister in every Conservative government from 1866 to 1892 including Home Secretary 1867-1868.
1868 - South West Lancashire
* R.A. Cross (Conservative), in every Conservative Cabinet 1874-1900 including Home Secretary 1874 to 1880 & 1885 to 1886.
1868 - Greenwich
(Gladstone stood in both seats in the same election.)
* Henry Parker (Conservative), former premier of New South Wales
Gladstone's running mate was David Salomons, who had been the first Jewish Lord Mayor of London.
1880 - Midlothian
* William Montagu Douglas Scott (Conservative), later Duke of Buccleuch and of Queensberry. One of his descendents was Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester, another Fergie.
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carlton43
Reform Party
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Post by carlton43 on Oct 14, 2018 12:58:48 GMT
My favourite is the local to me Ross and Cromarty by-election of 1936 (only 7-years before my birth) between the son Of Ramsay MacDonald, Malcolm and son of Winston Churchill, Randolph.
The BUP and the SNP were keen to contest but in fact did not do so. The National Government whips stitched up the National 'Ticket' for Malcolm Macdonald as a National Labour candidate because he was a National Minister and had just lost his seat at Bassetlaw and needed to get back into the HOC.
Not being natural Labour territory the Liberals were not best pleased with the choice and split the association to put up a Liberal candidate despite nearly two-thirds of the members actually supporting the National 'Ticket' choice.
The Conservative and Unionist Association were bitterly split and the Chairman who had supported the candidature of Malcolm had to resign. At the main instigation of farming interests in Easter Ross, Winston's son Randolph was invited to stand as a Unionist.
Then Labour seeing a chance of coming through on a severely split campaign chose a Glasgow councillor who had only just failed to win Kelvingrove. So a 4-way contest. And in winter in one of the largest and most difficult constituencies in Britain.
The campaign was hampered by injury to Malcolm in a snowball fight that broke his glasses and damaged an eye, atrocious weather, snow drifts, two quite serious car accidents and a stand-down on the death of the King for some days. It was intemperate and unruly with Randolph behaving in a high-handed manner that lost him support.
In the event Malcolm gained a respectable 49.5% with a 16.5% margin over an excellent Labour 33% and Randolph on a derisory 13.4%. The Liberal being under 5% and nowhere. This proved to be Government (National Labour) winning over Opposition (Labour) with the 'others' rightly scorned. A sound local farming worthy with a bit of a profile might have made a fight of it?
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Post by finsobruce on Oct 14, 2018 13:12:00 GMT
My favourite is the local to me Ross and Cromarty by-election of 1936 (only 7-years before my birth) between the son Of Ramsay MacDonald, Malcolm and son of Winston Churchill, Randolph. The BUP and the SNP were keen to contest but in fact did not do so. The National Government whips stitched up the National 'Ticket' for Malcolm Macdonald as a National Labour candidate because he was a National Minister and had just lost his seat at Bassetlaw and needed to get back into the HOC. Not being natural Labour territory the Liberals were not best pleased with the choice and split the association to put up a Liberal candidate despite nearly two-thirds of the members actually supporting the National 'Ticket' choice. The Conservative and Unionist Association were bitterly split and the Chairman who had supported the candidature of Malcolm had to resign. At the main instigation of farming interests in Easter Ross, Winston's son Randolph was invited to stand as a Unionist. Then Labour seeing a chance of coming through on a severely split campaign chose a Glasgow councillor who had only just failed to win Kelvingrove. So a 4-way contest. And in winter in one of the largest and most difficult constituencies in Britain. The campaign was hampered by injury to Malcolm in a snowball fight that broke his glasses and damaged an eye, atrocious weather, snow drifts, two quite serious car accidents and a stand-down on the death of the King for some days. It was intemperate and unruly with Randolph behaving in a high-handed manner that lost him support. In the event Malcolm gained a respectable 49.5% with a 16.5% margin over an excellent Labour 33% and Randolph on a derisory 13.4%. The Liberal being under 5% and nowhere. This proved to be Government (National Labour) winning over Opposition (Labour) with the 'others' rightly scorned. A sound local farming worthy with a bit of a profile might have made a fight of it? One of those ones you wish you'd been around for. It must have been absolute heaven to have been a reporter on the local paper! Randolph Churchill was one of those politicians who really was his own worst enemy |
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Post by timrollpickering on Oct 14, 2018 13:17:46 GMT
The famous sons situation got even worse when Beaverbrook commissioned Oliver Baldwin to write up Churchill and write down MacDonald.
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carlton43
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Post by carlton43 on Oct 14, 2018 14:09:44 GMT
My second favourite is in the adjacent constituency to my own Caithness and Sutherland in 1945, so during my lifetime.
This was a super-close contest between Conservative, Liberal and Labour in a constituency of great open spaces and scattered communities who take their politics seriously and personally. They must like the man and are less tribal than most of Britain.
This is far-flung Liberal territory but has had possibly a wider spread of representation than any other constituency since WW2 with Independent, Independent Conservative, Conservative, Labour, Liberal, SDP, LD and SNP MPs.
It had been held by Sir Archibald Sinclair a National Government minister and Leader of the Liberal Party. Contested by a rather maverick Conservative former actor and developer of airlines and airports Eric Gandar Dower. He had oddly pledged to resign as soon as Japan was defeated seeing himself as a National Conservative rather than Conservative Unionist, thus a 'war time' representative needing to be revalidated for the peace. As it happens he didn't do so and made a fearful hash of his relationship with both party and constituents, giving up the whip and then standing down altogether in 1950.
The very tight campaign was closely fought house by house until the last day and resulted in
Conservative 33.5%
Labour 33.4%
Liberal 33.1% (sitting former member)
Majority 6 votes and only 61 votes from top to bottom.
Yet the TO was only 64.18% and I suspect that the register was severely out of date with many deceased still recorded and a large war absentee component?
Amazing result. Sinclair was then owner of 100,000 acres of land mainly in Caithness (making him one of the greatest landowners in Britain at that time) and is grandfather to Lord Thurso a more recent LD MP for the same constituency.
EDIT
On thinking, perhaps the low poll (the subsequent elections were much higher) was partly the absence of many naval, military and support staff from the war who had already been stood down and left the area?
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Post by greenhert on Oct 18, 2018 16:55:47 GMT
Plymouth Devonport:
1945: Michael Foot defeated Leslie Hore-Belisha, whose transport safety innovations remain with us today.
1950 & 1951: Michael Foot defeated Randolph Churchill, son of Winston Churchill himself.
1983: David Owen, later SDP leader, defeated Ann Widdecombe, one of the most socially conservative Conservative MPs of her time and Shadow Cabinet Minister under William Hague.
Oxford East, 1992: Both Caroline Lucas (on her first run for Parliament, 18 years before she became the first Green MP), and future Liberal Democrat MP Martin Horwood, stood here. Andrew Smith may not be particularly famous but he was a Cabinet Minister for 5 years under Tony Blair.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 18, 2018 18:22:02 GMT
My second favourite is in the adjacent constituency to my own Caithness and Sutherland in 1945, so during my lifetime. This was a super-close contest between Conservative, Liberal and Labour in a constituency of great open spaces and scattered communities who take their politics seriously and personally. They must like the man and are less tribal than most of Britain. This is far-flung Liberal territory but has had possibly a wider spread of representation than any other constituency since WW2 with Independent, Independent Conservative, Conservative, Labour, Liberal, SDP, LD and SNP MPs. It had been held by Sir Archibald Sinclair a National Government minister and Leader of the Liberal Party. Contested by a rather maverick Conservative former actor and developer of airlines and airports Eric Gandar Dower. He had oddly pledged to resign as soon as Japan was defeated seeing himself as a National Conservative rather than Conservative Unionist, thus a 'war time' representative needing to be revalidated for the peace. As it happens he didn't do so and made a fearful hash of his relationship with both party and constituents, giving up the whip and then standing down altogether in 1950. The very tight campaign was closely fought house by house until the last day and resulted in Conservative 33.5% Labour 33.4% Liberal 33.1% (sitting former member) Majority 6 votes and only 61 votes from top to bottom. Yet the TO was only 64.18% and I suspect that the register was severely out of date with many deceased still recorded and a large war absentee component? Amazing result. Sinclair was then owner of 100,000 acres of land mainly in Caithness (making him one of the greatest landowners in Britain at that time) and is grandfather to Lord Thurso a more recent LD MP for the same constituency. EDIT On thinking, perhaps the low poll (the subsequent elections were much higher) was partly the absence of many naval, military and support staff from the war who had already been stood down and left the area? An interesting analysis of the predecessor to my current constituency. Interesting to note that Archibald Sinclair's grandfather was also a former MP for Caithness; meaning that three alternating generations have represented the area. |
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Post by Devil Wincarnate on Oct 18, 2018 18:22:28 GMT
How do we forget Stretford and Urmston, 2001- Bev Hughes versus Katie Price?
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Post by greatkingrat on Oct 18, 2018 18:32:23 GMT
Only one notable candidate there!
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Post by pragmaticidealist on Oct 21, 2018 11:14:05 GMT
Brent South in 2005 - Mastermind champion and now 'Chaser' Shaun Wallace standing against a then-newcomer in Dawn Butler. Would have been a bit more 'all star' if Paul Boateng had been standing again.
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The Bishop
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Post by The Bishop on Oct 21, 2018 11:16:52 GMT
Brent South in 2005 - Mastermind champion and now 'Chaser' Shaun Wallace standing against a then-newcomer in Dawn Butler. Would have been a bit more 'all star' if Paul Boateng had been standing again. As an Independent, polling about 1%. No indication of the actual political platform on his Wiki entry. |
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Post by pragmaticidealist on Oct 21, 2018 11:29:50 GMT
Brent South in 2005 - Mastermind champion and now 'Chaser' Shaun Wallace standing against a then-newcomer in Dawn Butler. Would have been a bit more 'all star' if Paul Boateng had been standing again. As an Independent, polling about 1%. No indication of the actual political platform on his Wiki entry. Even though (to my knowledge) he's never stood for office, Paul Sinha is the Chaser who the most politically outspoken - a leftie. On one episode a political question came up, and after it Sinha said to Bradley Walsh "I know that me and you are like chalk and cheese politically" (or something to that effect). |
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Post by heslingtonian on Oct 21, 2018 17:09:00 GMT
As an Independent, polling about 1%. No indication of the actual political platform on his Wiki entry. Even though (to my knowledge) he's never stood for office, Paul Sinha is the Chaser who the most politically outspoken - a leftie. On one episode a political question came up, and after it Sinha said to Bradley Walsh "I know that me and you are like chalk and cheese politically" (or something to that effect). Somewhat surprised that Bradley Walsh would not be left wing - after all he is a comedian (virtually all of whom are Left wing apart from Lee Hurst, Jim Davidson and Geoff Norcott) plus he is now associated with Dr Who which is very much on the Left in its outlook. I expect the Beast chaser is a big Conservative. |
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Post by pragmaticidealist on Oct 23, 2018 11:35:05 GMT
Ipswich by-election 1957 - Dingle Foot (Labour) vs J. C. Cobbold (Conservative and Ipswich Town chairman) vs Manuela Sykes (Liberal)
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The Bishop
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Post by The Bishop on Oct 24, 2018 10:07:10 GMT
Even though (to my knowledge) he's never stood for office, Paul Sinha is the Chaser who the most politically outspoken - a leftie. On one episode a political question came up, and after it Sinha said to Bradley Walsh "I know that me and you are like chalk and cheese politically" (or something to that effect). Somewhat surprised that Bradley Walsh would not be left wing - after all he is a comedian (virtually all of whom are Left wing apart from Lee Hurst, Jim Davidson and Geoff Norcott) plus he is now associated with Dr Who which is very much on the Left in its outlook. I expect the Beast chaser is a big Conservative. Lee Hurst used to be SWP or similar? Must admit I am sure I saw something about Walsh being a Labour supporter. Of the other chasers, the Governess has reportedly made a few right wing noises online. |
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jluk234
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Post by jluk234 on Jan 9, 2019 14:19:24 GMT
Glasgow Cathcart 1979 - John Maxton, now The Lord Maxton, defeated the late Sir Teddy Taylor.
Edinburgh Central 1979 - Robin Cook defeated future Scottish Conservative leader David McLetchie. Colin Boyd, the Solicitor General of Scotland and Lord Advocate under Blair, was the Scottish Labour candidate.
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Post by Devil Wincarnate on Jan 17, 2019 1:07:11 GMT
Hazel Grove in the two 1974 polls saw Tom Arnold, Mike Winstanley and Allan Roberts face off.
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Harry Hayfield
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Post by Harry Hayfield on Jan 17, 2019 9:22:18 GMT
I have noted in the past how Wales appears to be a proving ground (especially for Conservatives) with such notable names as Jerry Wiggin standing in seats that have never voted for the Conservatives in donkey's years. If memmbers would like a complete list I'd be happy to provide it
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john07
Labour & Co-operative
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Post by john07 on Jan 18, 2019 20:59:30 GMT
Hazel Grove in the two 1974 polls saw Tom Arnold, Mike Winstanley and Allan Roberts face off. There was a much higher calibre line-up for Hazel Grove in 1979! |
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