"Give Mac the sack," cried the crowds in Orpington, a longtime Tory stronghold in suburban Kent. In a mid-term by-election, the district was captured last week by a pugnacious, 33-year-old Liberal candidate who piled up a massive, 7,855-vote majority (total voters: 43,187) over an exceptionally able Conservative opponent. Following three other by-election setbacks for the party in a week, Orpington was the worst defeat that Prime Minister Harold Macmillan's Conservatives have suffered since they took office eleven years ago. Said Party Chairman Iain Macleod: "These are daggers thrust at us."
The Liberal stabs were the big surprise. Though they won outright...
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