1976 Coventry North West by-election

1976 Coventry North West by-election

4 March 1976
Constituency of Coventry North West
First party Second party Third party   Con Lib Candidate Geoffrey Robinson Jonathan Guinness Alan Leighton Party Labour Conservative Liberal Popular vote 17,118 13,424 4,062 Percentage 47.72% 37.42% 11.32% Swing 4.14% 6.08% 4.34%
MP before election Maurice Edelman Labour Elected MP Geoffrey Robinson Labour

The Coventry North West by-election, in Coventry on 4 March 1976, was held after the death of Labour Member of Parliament (MP) Maurice Edelman. A safe Labour seat, it was won by Geoffrey Robinson, who retained the seat until 2019.

Party performance

The by-election represented the first outing for the National Party; it had recently split from the National Front and both parties ran candidates in the election. Although both polled poorly, it set a trend for a split far right vote which was replicated in the 1989 Vauxhall by-election and elsewhere.

The Liberal Party vote fell in this by-election, a development that former leader Jo Grimond blamed in part on scandals surrounding incumbent Jeremy Thorpe's homosexuality. Grimond suggested that the result and the allegations meant that Thorpe "must think of stepping down". Thorpe stood down as Liberal leader two months later.

Results

Coventry North West, 1976

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Geoffrey Robinson	17,118	47.72	-4.14
	Conservative	Jonathan Guinness	13,424	37.42	+6.08
	Liberal	Alan Leighton	4,062	11.32	-4.34
	National Front	Andrew Fountaine	986	2.75	New
	National Party	John Kingsley Read	208	0.60	New
	More Prosperous Britain	Thomas Keen	40	0.11	New
	Logic Party	William Dunmore	33	0.09	New
Majority			3,694	10.30
Turnout			35,871
	Labour hold		Swing