Keith Jago (Letters, March 24) is suffering from a distortion of memory.
Dennis Hobden did not capture Brighton Kemptown by a margin of six votes in 1966.
He captured the seat by a margin of seven votes, 18 months earlier, at the General Election of October 1964.
It was the first time a Labour candidate had ever been elected as an MP for a Sussex constituency.
Mr Hobden, formerly a Brighton Borough councillor, unseated the sitting Conservative MP, David James, by 22,308 to 22,301 votes.
This made Brighton Kemptown the most marginal seat in the country during the 1964-66 Parliament and helped Harold Wilson form the first Labour government for 13 years with a tiny majority at Westminster of only four seats over all other parties.
Mr Hobden successfully retained Brighton Kemptown at the March 1966 General Election, increasing his majority to 831 over the Tory candidate, Andrew Bowden.
However, Mr Bowden had his revenge (eventually) when he recaptured the seat for the Tories at the June 1970 General Election and held it continuously for almost 27 years until his defeat in the Labour landslide in 1997.
-Simon Arthur-Smith, Lancing
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article