Roxburgh, Selkirk and Peebles, a large rural constituency in the Scottish borders, had been safely Conservative for many years.

The Liberal Party's 26-year-old candidate David Steel had dramatically cut Commander Charles Donaldson's majority in the general election of October 1964.

After his victory, Steel said that Douglas-Home was the only leading figure in the Conservatives who could "take some comfort from the result" as he was the only one not to have come to the constituency to campaign in the by-election.

In contrast Liberal MP for Caithness and Sutherland George Mackie described the result as "a triumph for David Steel" which showed that the "Liberal surge in Scotland" was continuing and predicted that the next general election would see the party make further gains in Scotland.

Steel soon made a national impression and it was his Private Member's Bill which led to the legalisation of abortion in 1967.