Michael Foot & Tony Blair - 1982 by-election in Beaconsfield

Michael Foot talks about a young Tony Blair, with footage from the 1982 by-election in Beaconsfield.
The Beaconsfield by-election was a parliamentary by-election held on 27 May 1982 for the British House of Commons constituency of Beaconsfield in Buckinghamshire.
A safe Tory seat, the Labour Party selected as its candidate an unknown and untested 29-year-old barrister called Tony Blair, an aspiring politician who had been advised by Labour MP Tom Pendry to seek the party's nomination to gain political experience.
On a slightly reduced turnout, the result was a win for the Conservatives' Tim Smith, with a fractional increase in their share of the vote. Labour's vote was nearly halved from 20.2% in 1979, down to 10.4%, and Blair lost his deposit as his vote was below the 12.5% threshold. The relatively good Conservative showing was partly attributed to the surge in support for the government due to the on-going Falklands War.
It is notable for being the only election Blair lost in his political career.
*Taken from documentary, Labour's Old Romantic: A Film Portrait of Michael Foot

[@jeffoliver7491]

"Nobody who joined the party when I was leader can be accused of being a careerist". Haha! That made me laugh!

[@RibbonVintageGirl]

*You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become a villain*

[@lemsip207]

Or you live long enough to be boring & irrelevant.

[@martinreid9184]

Top man you are micheal

[@mandykhoo2473]

Foot was a genuine believer...Blair looks like an embarrassed estate agent

[@dmmartinez9]

I’d take getting elected 3 times.

[@TheSuperLegoMan100]

this couldn't be more true lol

[@lemsip207]

@@dmmartinez9 Because he courted the Sun and the Murdoch empire.

[@Theo-bb6pn]

@@lemsip207 Still got elected and (until Iraq) implemented more positive legislation than had been seen in 30 years (and has been seen since) Edit for clarity: I like Foot and agree with his policies. I campaigned hardest for Corbyn. But some people are absolutely out of their minds if they can't see that much of what Blair did was very very positive and he did it by making himself distinctly electable.

[@lemsip207]

@@Theo-bb6pn I know. But in real life he was too fake, plastic & hyperactive. Gordon Brown was more normal in real life. But people these days go by the TV image & what the right wing newspapers write about them. My parents saw through Blair before I did even though they had never seen him in real life. The right (other than the centre right), the left & the Liberal Democrats saw through him even before he became PM. Spitting Image sent him up because his puppet was always trying to throw out Robin Cook.

[@PlayMoreGolf-RipOff]

What a cheesy grin

[@lemsip207]

Which had an uncanny ring.

[@yourwellwisher9646]

Micheal on FOOT with Tony Flare !!

[@tomgibson6801]

michael foot would be turning is his grave if he saw what blair became(tho he was alive all through blairs leadership)

[@MarineAqua45]

Evan Bernard I think he knew what Blair was about anyway & Tony Blair won three times, unlike foolish Foot.

[@tomgibson6801]

foot lost because of the sdp and falklands. blair was just a centrist shite

[@tennis5011]

His comment at the start of this shows only too well that Foot knew exactly what Blair was all about!!

[@tennis5011]

Blair was clever in winning three elections because both Iraq and his mass immigration policy happened towards the end of his rein as prime minister. If they had happened say before his second election, he wouldn't have even got re-elected or re-elected on a very small majority, at best. He wouldn't have seen a third time, that's for sure!! Blair's first period was actually pretty "nicey, nicey". However, the "loon" part of his liberal instincts soon emerged afterwards for all of us to see!!

[@xm3405]

@@tennis5011 Labour was polling top until after the 2008 financial crisis, what you're saying is completely wrong.

[@Ray-xh6gb]

Tony Blair was a bilderberger

[@billybellend1155]

Was this after Blair got done for cottaging?

[@jmxtvarchive9064]

This was the year before. Chalres Lynton got done at Bow Street Magistrates in 1983 presumably just after he got elected MP.

[@mypussytonyblair2953]

kiss him tony blair

[@user-nh9hp9xq3b]

kisstonyblair

[@lemsip207]

Tony Blair took Labour from second to third place in the Beaconsfield by-election but still managed to bag Sedgefield, a safe Labour seat at the time, immediately afterwards because of his fake charm. His wife couldn't find an easier seat to fight, despite being more intelligent, as she didn't have as much charm. There was sexism as well in the Labour Party then.