1972 Sutton and Cheam by-election

The Sutton and Cheam by-election of 7 December 1972 was held after Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) Richard Sharples was appointed Governor of Bermuda. In a defeat for Edward Heath's government the seat was won by Liberal candidate Graham Tope, who defeated the Conservative candidate Neil Macfarlane.^[1] This was the second Liberal gain during the 1970–1974 Parliament, during which they gained five seats overall.^[2] Tope went on to lose the seat to Macfarlane at the February 1974 election.

1972 Sutton and Cheam by-election

← 1970 7 December 1972 1974 →
Constituency of Sutton and Cheam
Turnout	56.3% ( 11.3%)
First party Second party Third party   Lab Candidate Graham Tope Neil Macfarlane David Miller Party Liberal Conservative Labour Popular vote 18,328 10,911 2,937 Percentage 53.6% 31.9% 8.6% Swing 39.0% 26.2% 18.7%
MP before election Richard Sharples Conservative Elected MP Graham Tope Liberal

Results

1972 Sutton and Cheam by-election^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Graham Tope	18,328	53.6	+39.0
	Conservative	Neil Macfarlane	10,911	31.9	−26.2
	Labour	David Miller	2,937	8.6	−18.7
	Anti-Common Market	Chris Frere-Smith	1,332	3.9	New
	National Independence	Edgar Scruby	660	1.9	New
Majority			7,417	21.7	N/A
Turnout			34,194	56.3	−11.3
Registered electors
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+32.6