[2] There was one independent, Tom Lynch of the National Union of Small Shopkeepers, who campaigned for a coalition of all the parties and the end of the fivepenny post.
Early reports suggested a low turnout was likely, due to voter disenchantment with the major parties, and Labour had some reason to fear its supporters staying away.
Pit closures were an important issue in a seat with a large mining sector vote.
[1] Conservatives had lately achieved comparable swings to 11.6% in by-elections in Nelson and Colne and Oldham West as economic conditions made the government very unpopular.
Commentators suggested that although this was a bad result for Labour ("If Labour's grip on Bassetlaw, a bedrock citadel of theirs for 44 years, is reduced to a perilous hanging-on by the fingernails, they cannot fail to be unnerved") they could take hope from the fact that there was a better swing and result compared to earlier, more ominous, by-elections.