Chester-le-Street by-election, 1973

The Chester-le-Street by-election, 1973 was a parliamentary by-election held for the British House of Commons constituency of Chester-le-Street on 1 March 1973.

The by-election had been caused by the death aged 60 years on 28 October 1972 of the sitting Labour Member of Parliament (MP) Norman Pentland. Pentland had held Chester-le-Street since himself winning a by-election there on 27 September 1956.

The Labour Party chose Giles Radice, the then Head of the Research Department of the General and Municipal Workers Union as their candidate. The Conservatives selected merchant banker Neil Balfour and the Liberals adopted George Suggett, an antique dealer from Newbury in Berkshire but who had been born in the constituency and who was the son of a Durham miner. The Liberals had not contested any Parliamentary election in Chester-le-Street since the 1929 general election.

The contest in Chester-le-Street at the 1970 general election had been a straight fight between Labour and Conservative parties at which Norman Pentland had a healthy majority of 20,331 votes.

By any measure Chester-le-Street was a very safe Labour seat and the party had held it for nearly 70 years. At a time of Conservative government which was proving difficult for Prime Minister Edward Heath, damaged politically as he was by a series of economic and social problems there was no expectation of a serious challenge from Tory candidate Neil Balfour.

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