First Test

A clutch of "firsts" emerged from a hotly contested by-election in the London dormitory of North Lewisham last week. It was the first seat to be won by Labor from the Tories in a by-election since 1939, the first seat to be lost in a by-election by a government since the war, and the first (and somewhat inauspicious) test of the popularity of Prime Minister Harold Macmillan's six-week-old Conservative government.

The Laborites, cock-a-hoop with the victory, had won with 1) a more attractive candidate (capable Barrister Niall MacDermot), 2) a solid, close-to-the-pocketbook issue in a proposed Tory bill to relax rent controls, 3) a much better political machine. The Tories were inclined to blame most of their troubles on a third candidate, a Junoesque, right-wing independent named Leslie Greene, 31, who campaigned on "I have no faith in the U.S." She siphoned off 1,487 votes, the majority of them presumably from the Tories. But Candidate Greene was not the whole explanation; since the last general election. North Lewisham's voters have recorded an impressive 5.4% swing from Tory to Labor.

Laborites were quick to claim that if the shift at North Lewisham were projected across the nation, they would capture 88 seats in the House of Commons, and come to power. In seven more by elections scheduled during the next two months, Labor expects to do well, and some independent political observers agree that Labor might well win if a general election were held in the near future.

But the Conservatives have a right to three more years in office and a comfortable lead of about 60 in the House of Commons. They have no intention of subjecting themselves to a general election any sooner than they have to.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.