 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Constituency ofLeyton | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Turnout | 57.7% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The1965 Leyton by-election was aparliamentary by-election held on 21 January 1965 for the UKHouse of Commonsconstituency ofLeyton in east London.
The seat had become vacant when the constituency's long-servingLabourMember of Parliament (MP),Reginald Sorensen, was made alife peer on 15 December 1964. An MP for over thirty years, his elevation to the peerage was intended to create a vacancy in a safe seat for theForeign Secretary,Patrick Gordon Walker, who had beendefeated in a shock result in the1964 general election in hisSmethwick constituency.
The result of the contest was not as planned: theConservative Party candidate,Ronald Buxton, won with a majority of 205 votes, a swing from Labour of 8.7%. Gordon Walker resigned as Foreign Secretary but regained the seat for Labour at the1966 general election.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Ronald Buxton | 16,544 | 42.9 | +9.4 | |
| Labour | Patrick Gordon Walker | 16,339 | 42.4 | −8.0 | |
| Liberal | Alistair H Mackay | 5,382 | 14.0 | −2.2 | |
| UK & Commonwealth Party | Jeremiah Lynch | 157 | 0.4 | New | |
| Disarmament | George Delf | 156 | 0.4 | New | |
| Majority | 205 | 0.5 | N/A | ||
| Turnout | 38,578 | 57.7 | −12.5 | ||
| Conservativegain fromLabour | Swing | +8.7 | |||
