The 1958 Rochdale by-election held on 13 February was a by-election for the constituency of Rochdale, in Lancashire, England, in the House of Commons. It was called following the death on 16 December 1957 of the sitting Conservative Member of Parliament, Wentworth Schofield.
This was the first British by-election to be televised and Liberal candidate Ludovic Kennedy used his media experience to increase coverage of his campaign. Granada Television broadcast two debates between the candidates as well as the election count, and the BBC conducted many interviews with voters.
The by-election was won by the Labour candidate, Jack McCann, with 22,000 votes, but Kennedy polled 17,603, the highest Liberal vote since the 1920s. The Conservative candidate, John Parkinson, was squeezed into third place with fewer than 10,000 votes.
Results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Jack McCann | 22,133 | 44.66 | −3.79 | |
| Liberal | Ludovic Kennedy | 17,603 | 35.52 | New | |
| Conservative | John E. Parkinson | 9,827 | 19.83 | −31.72 | |
| Majority | 4,530 | 9.14 | N/A | ||
| Turnout | 49,563 | ||||
| Labour gain from Conservative | Swing | +14.0 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Wentworth Schofield | 26,518 | 51.55 | +1.14 | |
| Labour | Jack McCann | 24,928 | 48.45 | −1.14 | |
| Majority | 1,590 | 3.10 | +2.28 | ||
| Turnout | 51,446 | 82.80 | −2.9 | ||
| Conservative hold | Swing | +1.1 | |||
See also
- 1940 Rochdale by-election, an unopposed war-time election
- 1972 Rochdale by-election
- Rochdale
- List of United Kingdom by-elections
References
- "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 3 December 2011. Retrieved 29 August 2008.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - Granada Goes to Rochdale
- Rochdale in the 1950s: TV election – yet another first for pioneering town (archived)
- "1958 By Election Results". Archived from the original on 25 June 2012. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
External links
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- 1958 elections in the United Kingdom
- 1958 in England
- 1950s in Lancashire
- February 1958 events in the United Kingdom
- Elections in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale
- By-elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom in Greater Manchester constituencies
- By-elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom in Lancashire constituencies
- By-elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom in English constituency stubs