Steve Richards on by-elections

Steve Richards

In a new series of 'Triumphs and Disasters' the political commentator Steve Richards remembers some of the most dramatic by-elections of recent decades, all of which helped shape British politics.

Over four weeks in September and October 2003, he looks at the contest at Oxford in 1938 on the eve of war, two dominated by the new Social Democratic Party in the eighties, as well as the Tories' loss at Eastbourne in 1990.

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Neville Chamberlain with his piece of paper, returning from Munich

1938: Just weeks after Neville Chamberlain returned from Munich, the voters of Oxford turned out in what had become a single-issue by-election: approving or rejecting the Conservative Prime Minister's peace strategy. The Tory candidate Quintin Hogg held on in the face of a united challenge from the opponents of appeasement.

Quintin Hogg, later Lord Hailsham

We hear the voice of Quintin Hogg from the BBC sound archives, as well as the views now of the man who went on to become Tory Prime Minister, Sir Edward Heath, the former Labour deputy leader Lord Healey and the author and broadcaster Andrew Roberts.

Click here to listen to Richards on the Oxford by-election

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Roy Jenkins

1981: Soon after the formation of the Social Democratic Party, Warrington was the by-election the SDP lost - but claimed as a triumph. Their candidate, the former Labour deputy leader Roy Jenkins, said, after losing to his former party by less than 2,000 votes, that this was "by far the biggest victory" he had ever been part of - because of the momentum it gave the SDP early in its life.

The Gang of Four: setting up the Social Democratic Party

Another member of the SDP's Gang of Four, former Labour cabinet minister Shirley Williams, was expected by many to stand for the new party and she reveals her belief that she would have won the by-election. Also interviewed: Roy Hattersley and the winning Labour candidate, Doug Hoyle.

Click here to listen to Richards on the Warrington by-election

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Michael Foot celebrating his 90th birthday. Saved by Darlington?

1983: The Darlington by-election was an even bigger missed opportunity for the Social Democrats. With a general election impending, it was a huge opportunity for the SDP to do further damage to the Labour Party. But their candidate turned out to be inexperienced - he called himself an amateur politician - and easy prey for the other parties and the media covering the campaign. Labour's victory may have saved Michael Foot's leadership.

Jack Cunningham - ran the Labour campaign at Darlington

The Social Democrat candidate, Tony Cook, has rarely talked about the by-election he lost. He does for Triumphs and Disasters. Also interviewed: Labour's campaign manager in Darlington, Jack Cunningham MP, Michael Fallon (Conservative candidate) and Cecil Parkinson, then Conservative Party chairman.

Click here to listen to Richards on the Darlington by-election

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David Bellotti celebrates his victory

1990: The Eastbourne by-election came in the dog days of the Thatcher Government - just a month before Mrs Thatcher was forced out of office. It nearly did not happen. The vacancy was caused by the murder of the local Tory MP Ian Gow and there were calls for the other parties to give the Conservatives a clear run. But the election went ahead and resulted in a shock win for the Liberal Democrats, their first under the leadership of Paddy Ashdown.

Kenneth Baker - interviewed

Interviewed: the victorious Liberal Democrat, David Bellotti, defeated Conservative standard-bearer Richard Hickmet, Labour candidate Charlotte Atkins (now an MP elsewhere in the country), the then deputy Prime Minister Sir Geoffrey Howe and Conservative chairman, Kenneth Baker.

Click here to listen to Richards on the Eastbourne by-election