With a sitting Prime Minister fighting a by-election, interest was high and three additional candidates stood. Willie Rushton, the satirist and broadcaster, was put up as an Independent candidate by "Private Eye" magazine. Ian Smith, a 43-year-old former Wing Commander in the Royal Air Force and now garage owner of Callander, stood as an Independent Unionist. A last-minute candidate was Richard Wort, a schoolmaster from Wimbledon who stood as an Independent right-wing candidate; his nomination paper was handed in with 29 minutes to spare.