World Notes Britain

Although London's Fulham is one of the smallest election districts in Britain, last week's by-election there was hailed by many as the most important of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's seven years in power. With unemployment in Fulham running at 13%, and many people outraged by a recent government decision to increase pensions by only 55 cents a week, the Conservatives seemed likely to take a beating. Few were surprised, therefore, when Labor's Nick Raynsford won the seat handily. It was Labor's most impressive by- election victory since Thatcher first came to power.

Despite the defeat, the Conservatives were relieved that they got to find that Thatcher's recent problems had not done more damage. They ended up with 35% of the vote, well ahead of the Social Democrat-Liberal alliance, which pulled in just 19%.