1995 Littleborough and Saddleworth by-election

1995 Littleborough and Saddleworth by-election

← 1992 27 July 1995 1997 →
Turnout	64.5%
First party Second party Third party   CON Candidate Chris Davies Phil Woolas John Hudson Party Liberal Democrats Labour Conservative Popular vote 16,231 14,238 9,934 Percentage 38.5% 33.8% 23.6% Swing 2.7pp 14.9pp 20.7pp
MP before election Geoffrey Dickens Conservative Elected MP Chris Davies Liberal Democrats

A by-election was called to take place on 27 July 1995 in the constituency of Littleborough and Saddleworth in Greater Manchester, England, following the death of Conservative Party MP Geoffrey Dickens on 17 May of that year.

The contest was a win for the Liberal Democrat candidate Chris Davies. The result was notable, for the incumbent Conservative Party fell from first to third place, coming behind both the Labour Party and the Liberal Democrats. Davies' conduct during the by-election was controversial owing to his openly campaigning while the sitting MP Geoffrey Dickens was dying from liver cancer.^[1]

The second-placed Labour candidate, Phil Woolas, defeated Davies at the 1997 general election in the successor seat of Oldham East and Saddleworth. He held the seat until 2010. Davies went on to represent the North West England region in the European Parliament from 1999 to 2014.