Large ones all round in Bodbury

It seems very likely that on the morning of 7th May almost no-one will be happy with the results of the election. This does not often happen; back in the sixties Michael Frayn noted that after the bye-election in Bodbury all three candidates were celebrating:

F. Muncher (Lab.) 14,931
J.P.R. Cramshaw-Bollington (Con.) 8,101
S.W. Dearfellow (Lib.) 7,123
Labour majority 6,830

General election:
Lab. 23,917
Con. 16,023
Lib. 9,980
Lab.majority 7,966

F. Muncher: "It's a wonderful result. Not only have we held the seat, but we have increased our share of the poll—a real smack in the eye for the Government. The voters of Bodbury have told Mr Macmillan and his friends in no uncertain terms what they think of the Government's record on such things as the Common Market (or will have done, as soon as we have actually decided which policy on this question it was that our supporters were voting for). And if you take our vote in conjunction with the Liberal vote, it's clear that there is an over-whelming anti-Tory majority in Bodbury".

J.P.R. Cramshaw-Bollington: "I am absolutely delighted with the result. At a time when the pendulum traditionally swings against the party in office, we've slashed the Labour majority in this Labour stronghold. I take this as a most encouraging vote of confidence in the Government—a message from the people of Bodbury to Mr Macmillan urging him to carry on with the good work, whatever it may be. And taking the increased Liberal vote into account, it is evident that there is a definite anti-Socialist majority in Bodbury".

S.W. Dearfellow: "The result couldn't be better. Our share of the vote is up sharply, while the numbers of votes polled by both the Labour and Conservative and Conservative candidates have slumped heavily. This is Bodbury's way of saying "a plague on both your houses—we want to have it both ways with the Liberals." And if you take the Liberal vote in conjunction with either the Labour or the Conservative vote, you can see that either way we've got a clear anti-extremist majority".