By-elections have a habit of leaving a mark on UK politics

From Orpington to Clacton, there have been a number of important moments, writes Andrew Woodcock

Boris Johnson on the campaign trail in Hartlepool (Getty)

For the political obsessive, the apparently unconnected areas of Orpington, Glasgow Govan, Glasgow Hillhead, Bermondsey, Eastbourne, Wirral South, Copeland and Clacton have a resonance which gives them a special place in history.

It is one of the many vagaries of the UK’s political system that an individual MP’s death or resignation can set a train of events in motion which make or break a government or a party leader – or in some cases provide the catalyst for new political forces to emerge.

The Orpington by-election in 1962 was one of the latter, with a stunning Liberal victory on a 22-point swing providing a shot in the arm for a party which was languishing at little more than 2 per cent in the polls with just six MPs.