1958 East Aberdeenshire by-election

The 1958 East Aberdeenshire by-election was held on 20 November 1958 when the incumbent Conservative MP, Sir Robert Boothby was elevated to a life peerage.[1] The by-election was retained by the Conservative candidate Patrick Wolrige-Gordon. Wolrige-Gordon was still an undergraduate at Oxford and at the time of his election the youngest MP, having been only 23 at the time.[2][3]

In 1955 Boothby had won the seat with a majority of just over 10,000 votes, and prior to his elevation, had served in his seat for 34 years.[4] While that contest had been a straight fight between the Conservatives and Labour, the by-election saw the Liberal Party also field a candidate. Analysis showed that the by-election had a higher voter turnout than the general election, with a 65.34% turnout rate vs. a 59.7% in the general election.[5]

Controversies

One week prior to the election, controversy stirred up around Wolrige-Gordon's candidacy following a rally held by his grandmother, Dame Flora MacLeod, following comments she made about Viscount Bernard Montgomery during a rally of housewives from Fraserburgh, in which she criticized Montgomery for taking an old-age pension from the government in spite of the fact that he was already incredibly wealthy, calling for more pension allocation for poorer residents.[6]

Results
1958 Aberdeenshire East by-election[7][8] Electorate
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist Patrick Wolrige-Gordon 14,314 48.5 -20.0
Labour John B Urquhart 7,986 27.1 -4.4
Liberal Maitland Mackie 7,153 24.3 New
Majority 6,328 21.4 -15.7
Turnout 29,485
Unionist hold Swing

References
  1. "Polling Day". Bristol Evening Post. Bristol. 31 October 1958. p. 17. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
  2. Craig, F. W. S. (1971). British parliamentary Election Results 1950-1970. Chichester: Political Reference Publications. p. 629. ISBN 0 900178 02 7.
  3. "Undergraduate Stands for Parliament". Birmingham Post. Birmingham. 11 November 1958. p. 24. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
  4. "East Aberdeenshire". Birmingham Post. Birmingham. 22 November 1958. p. 4. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
  5. "Undergraduate as Youngest M.P.". The Daily Telegraph. Bristol. 22 November 1958. p. 1. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
  6. "Dame Flora Hits at Lord Montgomery". The Daily Telegraph. Bristol. 13 November 1958. p. 16. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
  7. British parliamentary election results, 1950-1973 by FWS Craig
  8. "1958 By Election Results". Archived from the original on 25 June 2012. Retrieved 15 August 2015.


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