ABSTRACT
No political party could survive if it were solely interested in protesting. It must be motivated by the desire to gain and retain power, carrying as many voters as possible with it. The Liberals were the immediate beneficiaries of public discontent, with the spectacular win of Orpington by Eric Lubbock in March 1962, but after that Labour began to pick up and won several by-elections in a row, as well as showing a steady improvement in the opinion polls. Badly shaken by the results and realising the possibility that Heath might call an election in 1973 in order to cash in on Labour’s disarray, the party leaders put a brave face on the defeat. Dick Taverne, who had resigned the party Whip after a bitter disagreement with his local Labour Party over Europe and other issues, scored a victory at Lincoln as a ‘democratic Labour’ candidate, polling 21,967 votes compared with the 8,776 votes of the official, left-wing Labour candidate.
