Further to my previous replies, I am certain that in the 1974 February election John Prescott was elected by dead men's votes. It is normal for merchant seamen and servicemen to have proxy votes cast by their nominee, often their spouse or parent. Earlier in February that year two Hull trawlers had been posted as missing while fishing in the Arctic. By the nature of his Hull constituency it is as certain as can be without a very thorough check of records (if they still exist) that many of these proxies came from that constituency and by political affiliation that many of them were cast in his favour. There it would have been very unlikely to affect the outcome, but in other circumstances (a marginal seat) such a situation undoubtedly could. As I said in an earlier posting legally, there is no difference between voting at a polling station and getting killed in a road accident on the way home.
