Actor Bill Maynard finished in fourth place, standing as an "independent Labour" supporter who opposed Benn's candidacy in Chesterfield.

Other candidates included: John Davey, who ran in opposition to increases in the charges for NHS dentistry, Helen Anscomb, a by-election veteran who called for freight to be transported by rail to improve road safety, Donald Butler, a furniture shop owner who adopted the slogan "a Chesterfield for Chesterfield", Giancarlo Piccaro stood for the 'Official Acne Party', pretending to be dedicated to the eradication of zits worldwide, T. A. Layton stood in the name of the "Spare the Earth Ecology Party", which he had founded, and David Cahill campaigned for The Sun to be treated as a comic.

He had first entered Parliament at the 1950 Bristol South East by-election and held that seat until he was disqualified from the Commons in 1960, when he inherited a peerage, as Viscount Stansgate, upon his father's death.

At the resulting 1961 Bristol South East by-election, he won with an increased majority of votes, but because he was ineligible to take his seat, the Conservative candidate Malcolm St Clair was declared elected.

When the law was changed to allow peerages to be renounced, St Clair resigned the seat and Benn won the 1963 Bristol South East by-election.