WI: Orpington not the only Liberal by-election gain

It is fifty years since the Orpington by-election on 14 March in which a Conservative majority of 14,760 in the 1959 general election was transformed into a Liberal majority of 7,855. It was the first and only Liberal by-election gain in the 1959-1964 Parliament. Also they held Montgomeryshire. But from November 1960 there were a number of by-elections in which the Liberals polled more than 30 percent of the vote.

The result of the High Peak by-election on 16 March 1961 was Conservative 37.4%, Labour 32.1%, Liberal 30.5%. Compared with the general election the Liberal vote increased from 8,138 [20.0%] to 10,674 [30.5%] which was a much smaller increase than in Orpington. So what if Mr. D.I. Wrigley was elected Liberal MP for High Peak.

Other near Liberal victories in by-elections:
20 April 1961: Paisley - Labour majority 4.0% over Liberal, Conservative vote fell from 42.7% to 13.2%.
13 March 1962: Blackpool North - Conservative majority 3.0% over Liberal.
6 June 1962: Derbyshire West - Conservative majority 3.6% over Liberal.
22 November 1962: Chippenham - Conservative majority 4.4% over Liberal.
21 March 1963: Colne Valley - Labour maority 4.9% over Liberal.

So what if the Liberals gained seven seats in by-elections between March 1961 and March 1963, and kept to close to, or just below, their by-election votes in the October 1964 general election.
 
Liberal Prospects...

Clearly, five or more extra MPs would be a help and both Chippenham and Colne Valley would be places of future Liberal success.

I had always thought an earlier death for Clement Davies and an earlier Grimond leadership had potential for an earlier revival.

The obvious thought is that it wouldn't have taken much for the Liberals to hold the balance of power after the 1964 election - winning twelve or thirteen seats instead of nine and a few changes elsewhere could have left a score like 313-304-13 instead of 317-304-9 as in OTL.
 
If Christopher Layton and Richard Wainwright have a continuous record of service in the House of Commons since being elected at by-elections in Chippenham in 1962 and Colne Valley in 1963 respectively, either of them could be elected leader of the Liberal Party in 1976.
 
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