1994 Dudley West by-election

1994 Dudley West by-election

15 December 1994
Constituency of Dudley West
Turnout	47.0% ( 35.1%)
First party Second party Third party   CON LD Candidate Ian Pearson Graham Postles Mike Hadley Party Labour Conservative Liberal Democrats Popular vote 28,400 7,706 3,154 Percentage 68.8% 18.7% 7.6% Swing 28.0% 30.2% 2.8%
MP before election John Blackburn Conservative Subsequent MP Ian Pearson Labour

A by-election was held for the House of Commons constituency of Dudley West on 15 December 1994 following the death of the sitting Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) John Blackburn.

The result was a Labour gain from the Conservatives, on one of the largest swings since the Second World War. This was the first significant sign of the changed political climate following the election of Tony Blair as Labour leader, which would eventually lead to Labour's 1997 general election victory. Labour gained nearly 70% of the votes, whereas the Conservative candidate attracted fewer than 20% of the votes.

Result

Dudley West by-election, 1994

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ian Pearson	28,400	68.8	+28.0
	Conservative	Graham Postles	7,706	18.7	-30.2
	Liberal Democrats	Mike Hadley	3,154	7.6	-2.8
	UKIP	Malcolm Floyd	590	1.4	New
	National Front	Andy Carmichael	561	1.4	New
	Liberal	Mike Hyde	548	1.3	New
	New Britain	Mike Nattrass	146	0.3	New
	FOREST - Freedom of Choice for Smokers	Marjorie Nicholson	77	0.2	New
	Natural Law	John Oldbury	70	0.2	New
	21st Century Conservatives Party	Colin Palmer	55	0.1	New
Majority			20,694	50.1	N/A
Turnout			41,307	47.0	-35.1
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+29.1

Previous result

General election 1992: Dudley West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Blackburn	34,729	48.8	−1.0
	Labour	KJ Lomax	28,940	40.7	+6.7
	Liberal Democrats	GPT Lewis	7,446	10.5	−5.7
Majority			5,789	8.1	−7.7
Turnout			71,115	82.1	+3.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	−3.8

See also

• Lists of United Kingdom by-elections

References

• Dudley West by-election, BBC News