| Election Name: | 1977 Birmingham Stechford by-election |
| Type: | parliamentary |
| Country: | United Kingdom |
| Seats For Election: | Constituency of Birmingham Stechford |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | October 1974 United Kingdom general election |
| Previous Year: | Oct. 1974 |
| Next Election: | 1979 United Kingdom general election |
| Next Year: | 1979 |
| Election Date: | 31 March 1977 |
| Candidate1: | Andrew MacKay |
| Image1: | Con |
| Party1: | Conservative Party (UK) |
| Popular Vote1: | 15,731 |
| Percentage1: | 43.4% |
| Swing1: | 15.6% |
| Candidate2: | Terry Davis |
| Party2: | Labour Party (UK) |
| Popular Vote2: | 13,782 |
| Percentage2: | 38.0% |
| Swing2: | 19.6% |
| Candidate4: | Andrew Brons |
| Image4: | NF |
| Party4: | National Front (UK) |
| Popular Vote4: | 2,955 |
| Percentage4: | 8.2% |
| Candidate5: | Graham Gopsill |
| Image5: | Lib |
| Party5: | Liberal Party (UK) |
| Popular Vote5: | 2,901 |
| Percentage5: | 8.0% |
| Swing5: | 6.4% |
| MP | |
| Before Election: | Roy Jenkins |
| Before Party: | Labour Party (UK) |
| After Election: | Andrew MacKay |
| After Party: | Conservative Party (UK) |
The 1977 Birmingham Stechford by-election, in Birmingham, on 31 March 1977 was held after Labour Member of Parliament (MP) Roy Jenkins resigned his seat following his appointment as President of the European Commission. A seat that had been solidly Labour since its formation in 1950, it was won by Andrew MacKay of the Conservative Party, before being regained by Labour in 1979. The by-election was noted for the strong performance of the National Front candidate and the presence of two far left candidates.[1]
As a leading Labour sitting MP Roy Jenkins had hoped to become Foreign Secretary in the government of James Callaghan but was overlooked in favour of Anthony Crosland.[2] Following this Jenkins was nominated as President of the European Commission in succession to François-Xavier Ortoli, a move which necessitated his departure from Parliament.
With the seat being solid Labour Party territory the by-election presented the possibility of a return to Parliament for Terry Davis, who had served as member for the defunct Bromsgrove seat from a by-election in 1971 until its abolition in 1974. Davis however failed to take the seat and began a pattern for the ailing Labour government who also lost the next by-election in Ashfield when David Marquand followed Jenkins to a role in the Commission.[3]
It also left the governing Labour Party without a majority and resulted in a vote of no confidence being issued, although the government won and was able to cling onto power by forming a pact with the Liberals.[4]
The Conservative candidate Andrew MacKay won the election with a majority of nearly 2,000, although ultimately he would only hold the seat until 1979 when it was regained for Labour.[5] MacKay would go on to enjoy a long parliamentary career representing a number of constituencies.
The Liberal Party candidate was Graham Gopsill, a Birmingham councillor who finished the by-election in a lowly fourth place. Gopsill would later serve the Liberal Democrats in Droitwich Spa until his death in 2009.[6] He was beaten into fourth by National Front candidate Andrew Brons, a veteran of a number of far right movements and member of the NF National Directorate who eventually became NF chairman in 1980.[7] Other candidates to appear on the ballot were leftists Brian Heron of the International Marxist Group and journalist Paul Foot for the Socialist Workers Party.