The seat fell vacant when the constituency's Conservative Member of Parliament (MP), Major Sir Hugh Charles Patrick Joseph Fraser MBE (23 January 1918 – 6 March 1984) died.

He was commissioned into the Lovat Scouts in 1936 and during World War II saw service in North Africa and Europe; he retired in the 1950s with the rank of Major.

After winning the by-election, he served continuously in the House of Commons until standing down in 2024, and was the oldest sitting member between 2019 and 2024.

The Social Democratic Party (SDP) candidate, representing the SDP-Liberal Alliance, was David Joseph Dunn.

Christopher David Teasdale was an Independent, using the ballot paper label "Soon to be unemployed".