Although generally popular, the Conservative administration of Harold Macmillan had been hit by differences over economic policy, and in January 1958, all the Government's Treasury Ministers had resigned.
The Liberal Party had reached its lowest ebb in the 1951 general election, winning just 2.5% of the vote nationally, and gaining only six MPs.
They had been reduced to five seats when they lost the 1957 Carmarthen by-election, but their fortunes had shown signs of a revival when they came a close second in North Dorset later in the year, and Rochdale early in 1958.
The Liberals chose Mark Bonham Carter, a publisher and advisor (and brother-in-law) to Jo Grimond who had unsuccessfully stood in Barnstaple in the 1945 election.
Bonham-Carter lost the seat less than eighteen months later, in the 1959 general election, and failed to retake it when he stood again in 1964.