Tories capture Labour seat

Press, 4 March 1978, Page 9

Tories capture Labour seat

NZPA-Reuter London The Conservative Opposition has captured a key Parliamentary seat in Britain’s first election battle of 1978. The Conservative candidate, Vivian Bendall, an estate agent, scored an easy victory in a highly-publi-cised by-election in the east London suburb of Ilford North. But the swing against the ruling Labour Party was not as severe as many predicted. With three more by-elec-tions imminent and a" General Election Probable this year, the bitter Ilford campaign was seen as an imporatnt test.

In 1974 the Right-wing Conservative Party lost the seat by 778 votes. In the byelection held on Thursday, Mr Bendall polled 5497 more than his Labour opponent, Mrs Tessa Jowell.

The Opposition leader, Margaret Thatcher, who added fuel to the campaign by calling for an eventual end to coloured immigration, described it as “a handsome gain . . . The people backed us and sacked Labour,” she (said. ! It left Labour in an overI all minority of eight in the (House of Commons, where it I relies on the support of the (Liberal Party. But by British by-election standards, the Ilford result was not dramatic. The swing against Labour was 6.9 per cent compared to 12 per

cent in by-elections of the last few years.

It suggested that the Prime Minister (Mr James Callaghan) may well wait until the autumn before calling a General Election. Although race played a big part in the campaign, the neo-Fascist National Front failed to make a spectacular showing Its candidate, who urged that coloured people be expelled, registered barely 5 per cent of the poll. During the by-election Labour launched a sustained attack on Mrs Thatcher, claiming her remarks about immigration would split the nation and lead to confrontation. Mr Bendall’s first action after his victory was to pledge support for “all people and colours and creeds” in Ilford, which has significant Jewish and Asian minorities.

The biggest loser in the by-election was the middle-of-the-road Liberal Party, whose vote was slashed by almost three-quarters. ' Eight candidates contested the by-election. Full result: Vivian Bendall (Conservative); 22,548 votes; Tessa Jowell (Labour) 17,051; John Freeman (Liberal) 2248; John Hughes (National Front) 2126; Tom Iremonger (Independent Conservative) 671; Carol Rowe (People’s Front) 89; Alan Burr (New Britain Party) 48; William Boaks (White Residents) 38.