Byelection
On 25 November 1975 Bendall was adopted as Conservative candidate for Ilford North, which the Conservatives had narrowly lost to Labour's Millie Miller. At the 1976 Conservative Party conference he denounced the Labour government for having "strangled the nation" and demanded an immediate general election. At the end of October 1977, Millie Miller died, precipitating a by-election in the seat Bendall had been picked to fight. He faced opposition from Tom Iremonger, who had been Conservative MP for the seat for twenty years and stood as a 'Conservative Independent Democrat', and the National Front organised a march through the constituency to support their candidate. Bendall's call for the march to be banned was not supported by Margaret Thatcher who thought it was a police decision.
By polling day Bendall was a clear favourite with some local activists predicting a 5,000 majority, this proved accurate as he won by 5,497 over Labour candidate Tessa Jowell, later a Cabinet Minister.
Read more about this topic: Vivian Bendall