The Ryedale by-election took place on 8 May 1986. It is the latest by-election to have just three candidates standing. The seat was regained by the Conservatives at the 1987 general election by John Greenway.
In the spring of 1986 unemployment began rising at a greater rate than in previous years and the Conservative loss at Ryedale was a factor (according to Nigel Lawson) in "even committed supporters of the Government's economic strategy...insisting that reducing unemployment should now have priority".