1965 Cities of London and Westminster by-election

The Cities of London and Westminster by-election of 4 November 1965 was held after the death of Conservative MP and Speaker of the House of Commons Harry Hylton-Foster.

The seat was safe, having been won at the 1964 United Kingdom general election by over 10,000 votes.

Labour's by-election candidate Alexander Pringle was a Chelsea borough councillor and Head of English at Westminster City School. He was the son of William Pringle, who had been a Liberal MP from 1910 to 1918 and 1922 to 1924.

Result of the previous general election

General election 1964: Cities of London and Westminster

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Speaker	Harry Hylton-Foster	21,588	58.37	−6.73
	Labour	Ronald Wallace	11,309	30.58	6.18
	Liberal	John W Derry	4,087	11.05	0.55
Majority			10,279	27.79	−12.91
Turnout			36,984	59.66	−1.64
Registered electors			61,988
	Speaker gain from Conservative		Swing

Result of the by-election

By-election 1965: Cities of London and Westminster

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Smith	15,037	59.53	1.16
	Labour	Alexander Pringle	8,300	32.86	2.28
	Liberal	Stephen Jakobi	1,595	6.32	−4.73
	Independent	Desmond Burgess	326	1.29	New
Majority			6,737	26.47	−1.32
Turnout			25,258	41.80	−17.86
Registered electors
	Conservative gain from Speaker		Swing	-0.6