1973 Manchester Exchange by-election

1973 Manchester Exchange by-election

27 June 1973
Constituency of Manchester Exchange
First party Second party Third party   Lab Con Candidate Frank Hatton Michael Steed William J. Loftus Party Labour Liberal Conservative Popular vote 5,348 3,525 683 Percentage 55.33% 36.47% 7.07% Swing 13.20% New 20.74%
MP before election William Griffiths Labour Subsequent MP Frank Hatton Labour

The 1973 Manchester Exchange by-election of 27 June 1973 was held after the death of William Griffiths on 14 April of the same year. The Labour Party won the by-election in what had traditionally been a safe seat.

Due to an administrative oversight, the by-election was held on a Wednesday, rather than the Thursday which had been usual since the mid-1960s. Only one by-election since has been held on a day other than a Thursday, the 1978 Hamilton by-election.

Results

Manchester Exchange, 1973

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Frank Hatton	5,348	55.33	−13.20
	Liberal	Michael Steed	3,525	36.47	New
	Conservative	William J. Loftus	683	7.07	−20.74
	Marxist-Leninist (England)	Ruth Pushkin	109	1.13	New
Majority			1,823	18.86	−21.86
Turnout			9,665
	Labour hold		Swing