The 1969 Birmingham Ladywood by-election, in Birmingham, on 26 June 1969 was held after Labour Member of Parliament (MP) Victor Yates died on 19 January the same year. Although the seat had been Labour-held since 1945 it was captured by the Liberals in a defeat for Harold Wilson's government.Full result
Background Wallace Lawler was a prominent local Liberal councillor who campaigned for a hard line immigration policy in the aftermath of Enoch Powell’s Rivers of Blood speech. Just eleven days after Powell’s speech, Lawler said in a Liberal Party TV national party political broadcast, “We have got to halt immigration into Birmingham, the Black Country and other heavily concentrated areas”. ‘Halt flood to Midlands', Birmingham Daily Post, 2 May 1968.
In the broadcast, according to The Birmingham Daily Post:‘Halt flood to Midlands', Birmingham Daily Post, 2 May 1968.
This controversy continued into 1969, with denial by the Liberals that Lawler was racist in January, ‘Racist’ jibe is answered, Daily Mirror, 29 January 1969. and disagreements about Lawler's attitudes at the Young Liberals' Conference in April.‘Race challenge for Mr Lawler fails’, Birmingham Daily Post, 5 April 1969.
Campaign In Doris Fisher, Dr. Louis Glass and Wallace Lawler the three major parties all picked candidates who were members of the local council.The Times, 27 June 1969 Lawler, however, had a strong reputation for campaigning in the area, having previously used issues raised by the television drama Cathy Come Home (1966) to highlight poverty in the area,The Times, 12 January 1967 organised a petition to protest against increases in electricity pricesThe Times, 21 September 1967 and arranged a protest demonstration of mainly Birmingham pensioners to travel to London to hand in letters and petitions at 10 Downing Street.The Times, 9 October 1967 As a consequence, the popular local activist ensured the first Liberal Party MP for a Birmingham constituency in 80 years.The Times, 29 September 1972
Colin Jordan ran as a candidate for the far right British Movement and, with Ray Hill as his election agent, their campaign, in which their literature attacked Jews and immigrants and proclaimed loyalty to Nazism, led to some violent scuffles with opponents.Ray Hill and Andy Bell, The Other Face of Terror - Inside Europe’s Neo-Nazi Network, London: Collins, 1988, p. 37 Although Jordan finished a distant fourth the result was frequently cited by those who advocated Nazi orthodoxy on the far right as the British Movement won 282 votes (3% share), despite openly wearing swastika insignia and featuring Adolf Hitler's image on their literature.Hill & Bell, The Other Face of Terror, p. 38
A candidate for the anti-militarist Fellowship Party also contested the by-election.
Result
References