Campaign for a More Prosperous Britain
Campaign for a More Prosperous Britain | |
|---|---|
| Leader | Tom Keen |
| Founded | 1974 |
| Dissolved | c. 1982 |
| Headquarters | Manchester |
| Ideology | Anti-labourism |
The Campaign for a More Prosperous Britain was a political party in the United Kingdom. It was founded before the February 1974 general election by Tom Keen and Harold Smith, both business owners in Manchester.
Keen was the party's leader. Before forming the campaign, he had become a millionaire through property development. The party called for voters not to vote for its candidates, but for tactical voting to defeat the Labour Party; it distributed anti-Labour literature. Despite this, some of its candidacies received hundreds of votes, with Keen's candidacy in Portsmouth North at the October 1974 general election attracting 1.0% of all the votes cast.[1]
The party first came to public attention when members plastered the headquarters of the Trades Union Congress with anti-union posters.[2] It was also strongly opposed to the Communist Party of Great Britain.[3]
Smith stood against Labour Party leader Harold Wilson at the February 1974 general election, taking 234 votes.[1] Keen and Smith set a new record at the October general election by standing simultaneously in eleven and twelve constituencies, respectively.[4] With two associates who stood in a single constituency each, the campaign stood in a total of 25 seats, receiving 4,301 votes.[3] Each constituency was a marginal seat held by the Labour Party, but Labour held each seat at the election.[5]
Keen stood for the party again in the 1979 general election and several by-elections. However, the party was apparently dissolved in the early 1980s, Keen standing in five Labour seats at the 1983 general election as an independent.[1]
Results
[edit]February 1974 general election
[edit]| Constituency | Candidate | Votes[1] | Percentage | Position | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Huyton | Harold Smith | 234 | 0.4 | 4 | Labour hold | |
October 1974 general election
[edit]| Constituency | Candidate | Votes[3] | Percentage | Position | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aldridge-Brownhills | Tom Keen | 210 | 0.4 | 4 | Labour hold | |
| Battersea South | Tom Keen | 170 | 0.6 | 4 | Labour hold | |
| Birmingham Handsworth | Tom Keen | 105 | 0.3 | 4 | Labour hold | |
| Birmingham Perry Barr | Tom Keen | 86 | 0.2 | 5 | Labour hold | |
| Birmingham Yardley | Tom Keen | 111 | 0.2 | 5 | Labour hold | |
| Bolton East | Harold Smith | 149 | 0.3 | 5 | Labour hold | |
| Bradford West | Harold Smith | 339 | 0.8 | 4 | Labour hold | |
| Chorley | Harold Smith | 185 | 0.3 | 4 | Labour hold | |
| Coventry South West | Tom Keen | 144 | 0.3 | 5 | Labour hold | |
| Derby North | Harold Smith | 242 | 0.4 | 4 | Labour hold | |
| Glasgow Govan | T. Clyde | 27 | 0.1 | 6 | Labour hold | |
| Gravesend | Tom Keen | 239 | 0.4 | 5 | Labour hold | |
| Huddersfield West | Harold Smith | 136 | 0.3 | 5 | Labour hold | |
| Ilford South | Tom Keen | 169 | 0.4 | 4 | Labour hold | |
| Keighley | Charles William Deakin | 179 | 0.4 | 5 | Labour hold | |
| Loughborough | Harold Smith | 125 | 0.2 | 5 | Labour hold | |
| Manchester Moss Side | Harold Smith | 96 | 0.3 | 5 | Labour hold | |
| Middleton and Prestwich | Harold Smith | 234 | 0.4 | 4 | Labour hold | |
| Portsmouth North | Tom Keen | 527 | 1.0 | 4 | Labour hold | |
| Preston North | Harold Smith | 138 | 0.3 | 4 | Labour hold | |
| Preston South | Harold Smith | 87 | 0.2 | 5 | Labour hold | |
| Putney | Tom Keen | 125 | 0.3 | 4 | Labour hold | |
| Sowerby | Harold Smith | 157 | 0.4 | 4 | Labour hold | |
| Walsall South | Tom Keen | 150 | 0.4 | 5 | Labour hold | |
| York | Harold Smith | 304 | 0.5 | 4 | Labour hold | |
By-elections, 1974–1979
[edit]| Election | Candidate | Votes | Percentage | Position | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 Coventry North West | Tom Keen | 40 | 0.1 | 6 | Labour hold | |
1979 general election
[edit]| Constituency | Candidate | Votes | Percentage | Position | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bristol North West | Tom Keen | 73 | 0.1 | 5 | Conservative gain | |
| Bristol South East | Tom Keen | 66 | 0.1 | 5 | Labour hold | |
| Colne Valley | Tom Keen | 101 | 0.2 | 4 | Liberal hold | |
| Coventry North West | Tom Keen | 98 | 0.3 | 4 | Labour hold | |
| Coventry South West | Tom Keen | 144 | 0.3 | 5 | Conservative gain | |
| Huddersfield West | Tom Keen | 101 | 0.2 | 4 | Conservative gain | |
By-elections, 1979–1983
[edit]| Election | Candidate | Votes | Percentage | Position | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 Warrington | Tom Keen | 10 | 0.0 | 11 | Labour hold | |
| 1982 Beaconsfield | Tom Keen | 51 | 0.1 | 6 | Conservative hold | |
At Beaconsfield, Keen stood under the description "Benn in 10 unless Proportional Representation".
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d David Boothroyd, Politico's guide to the history of British political parties, p. 28.
- ^ Institute for the Study of Conflict, Sources of conflict in British industry, p. 34.
- ^ a b c F. W. S. Craig, Minor Parties at British Parliamentary Elections 1885–1974, p. 128.
- ^ Peter Barberis et al, Encyclopedia of British and Irish Political Organizations, p. 320.
- ^ Labour Party, Conference (vol. 74), p. 27.