That is a convoluted way of crow-barring in an immodest mention of this fact: I have now helped the Liberal Democrats at three by-elections in Oldham:
- Littleborough and Saddleworth, which had a slice of East Oldham in it I believe, in 1995. Now that was a gorgeous by-election – seeing the beautiful countryside bathed in sunshine was bliss.
- Oldham East and Saddleworth in 2011, which was in the middle of winter. There is a photographic evidence above of me stuffing envelopes with the then Party President Tim Farron in the campaign HQ just after New Year 2011.
- Oldham West and Royton last weekend. More lovely brisk weather to canvass in!
Unfortunately, I was just a bit too young for the 1899 Oldham by-election when the Liberals pasted the Tories, including one Winston Churchill.
All this brought to mind the two by-elections I’ve helped at in Eastleigh also.
I realize that the Oldham by-elections mentioned didn’t necessarily include common turf on all those occasions.
So, allowing for constituency name changes and boundary alterations, here’s a question for the highly knowledgeable brains’ trust which reads and comments on Liberal Democrat Voice:
Which piece of ground in the UK has had the most parliamentary by-elections fought on it, ever?
