Bill Pitt obituary

Bill Pitt at a polling station in Croydon on the day of the 1981 byelection, which he won.Bill had fought the Croydon North West constituency for the Liberals unsuccessfully at three previous elections and his leader, David Steel, wanted him to stand aside for the SDP’s Shirley Williams at a byelection.Having gained his victory, however, Bill was rather complacent about holding on to what he had, and partly as a result he lost it at the general election less than two years later.