Greenwich by-election, 1987
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
The Greenwich by-election of 1987 was a by-election to the British House of Commons held on 26 February 1987, shortly before the 1987 general election. The election was caused by the death of Guy Barnett, Labour Party Member of Parliament for Greenwich on 24 December 1986.
Labour had held Greenwich since the 1945 general election, although their majority had declined in recent years, and in 1983, Barnett had achieved a majority of only 1,211 votes over the Conservative candidate. The then newly formed Social Democratic Party (SDP) had also stood, winning 25% of the vote. As a result, all three parties considered that they had a chance of taking the seat, but an early opinion poll suggested Labour would win, with the SDP/Alliance in a very poor third place.
The Labour Party selected Deirdre Wood, regarded as a left winger. This laid open the possibility of splitting the vote, as the Labour leadership were moving towards expelling far left MPs and activists identified with the Militant tendency. Although Wood was not a Militant supporter, as a former GLC and sitting ILEA councillor she was close to the London left and she was heavily attacked in the press for her views. In addition, stories about her family background were printed (to her considerable distress); many Labour activists compared her treatment with that of Peter Tatchell at the Bermondsey byelection of four years previously.
...
Wikipedia