Littleborough and Saddleworth by-election, 1995

A by-election was called in the constituency of Littleborough and Saddleworth in Greater Manchester, England, on 27 July 1995 following the death of Conservative Party MP Geoffrey Dickens on 17 May of that year.

The contest was a win for the Liberal Democrat candidate Chris Davies. The result was notable as the defending party dropped from first to third place, something which has not (as of October 2014) happened since in a UK by-election.

The second-placed Labour candidate, Phil Woolas, defeated Davies at the 1997 General Election in the successor seat of Oldham East and Saddleworth. He held the seat until 2010. Davies went on to represent the North West England region in the European Parliament from 1999 to 2014.

Littleborough and Saddleworth by-election 1995

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Chris Davies	16,231	38.5	+2.7
	Labour	Phil Woolas	14,238	33.8	+14.9
	Conservative	John Hudson	9,934	23.6	-20.7
	Monster Raving Loony	Screaming Lord Sutch	782	1.9
	UKIP	John Whittaker	549	1.3
	Independent	Peter Douglas	193	0.5
	Independent	Mr Blobby	105	0.2
	Socialist (GB)	Andrew Pitts	46	0.1
	Independent	Lawson McLaren	33	0.1
	Independent	Colin Palmer	25	0.1
Majority			1,993	4.7
Turnout			42,136	64.5	-17.2
	Liberal Democrat gain from Conservative		Swing

Notes on candidates

• Mr Blobby was a character on the British television show Noel's House Party. The candidate had changed his name from John McLagan for the purposes of the election. (Source)
• The candidate L. McLaren used the party description "Probity for Imposed Candidates"

See also

• Littleborough and Saddleworth (UK Parliament constituency)
• Oldham East and Saddleworth (UK Parliament constituency)
• Oldham East and Saddleworth by-election, 2011
• List of United Kingdom by-elections

External links

• Campaign literature from the by-election