List_of_United_Kingdom_by-elections_(1931–1950)

List of United Kingdom by-elections (1931–1950)

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This is a list of parliamentary by-elections in the United Kingdom held between 1931 and 1950, with the names of the incumbent and victor and their respective parties. Where seats changed political party at the election, the result is highlighted: red for a Labour gain, blue for a Conservative gain, orange for a Liberal gain, yellow for an SNP gain and grey for any other gain. A grand total of 333 by-elections were held during this period.

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[1] [3 1]
Campbell Stephen was elected as an Independent Labour Party MP in the 1945 general election but moved to the Labour Party in 1947, 4 days before his death. The seat was won by Labour in the 1950 general election.

[abolished-2] [3 2]
Constituency abolished in 1950.

[3] [3 3]
Down was a two member constituency. Little was elected as an official Ulster Unionist in the 1939 Down by-election. Prior to the 1945 general election he resigned from the party in protest at being subject to a reselection due to the retirement of Viscount Castlereagh, the other official Unionist MP, and held his seat as an Independent Ulster Unionist. Multi-member constituencies were abolished at the 1950 general election, but the Ulster Unionists won both successor seats, North Down and South Down.

[4] [3 4]
The last uncontested by-election on the British mainland to date.

[died-5] [3 5]
Both Pym and Campbell died after the close of polling, but before the declaration. They were returned at the head of the poll in their respective constituencies, and declared elected posthumously.

[6] [3 6]
Dobbs was killed in a road accident the day after his election, making him the shortest-serving MP in British history.

[no-7] [3 1]
Gain not retained at the 1945 general election.

[unc-8] [3 2]
An uncontested election.

[9] [3 3]
Seaborne Davies retained Caernarvon Boroughs for the Liberals in the by-election but lost the seat to the Conservatives in the 1945 general election.

[10] [3 4]
In the 1945 general election Millington was the only successful Common Wealth candidate. He joined the Labour Party in April 1946.

[CSU-11] [3 5]
The Combined Scottish Universities was a three-member constituency which experienced three by-elections in this Parliament, each won by a different party from both the others and the general election. In the 1935 general election it elected two Conservative and one National Liberal MPs. One Conservative (Noel Skelton) died between polling and the declaration of the results and the resulting by-election was won by Ramsay MacDonald for National Labour. He died within two years and the resultant by-election was won by Sir John Anderson as a non-party supporter of the National Government. In 1945 the National Liberal member (George Morrison) resigned and the resulting by-election was won by John Boyd-Orr as an Independent. Both Anderson and Boyd-Orr held their seats at the 1945 general election along with one Conservative.

[12] [3 6]
Prior to the by-election White was the Labour prospective parliamentary candidate for the constituency but resigned in order to contest the seat in defiance of the truce between the parties. In Parliament he took the Labour whip and retained the seat in the 1945 general election as an official Labour candidate.

[13] [3 7]
Loverseed gained Eddisbury for Common Wealth from the Conservatives in 1943, but subsequently sat as an independent Labour member then took the Labour Party whip. He defended the seat in the 1945 general election for Labour but lost to the National Liberals.

[14] [3 8]
Beattie won Belfast West for the Northern Ireland Labour Party but subsequently sat as an independent Labour member, under which label he held the seat in the 1945 general election.

[15] [3 9]
In Parliament Driberg took the Labour whip and retained the seat in the 1945 general election as an official Labour candidate.

[yes-16] [3 10]
Gain retained at the 1945 UK general election.

[17] [3 11]
Grigg was the newly appointed Secretary of State for War and nominally took Cardiff East from the Conservatives but lost it to Labour in the 1945 general election.

[Southampton-18] [3 12]
Southampton was a two-member constituency. In the 1935 general election it elected one National Liberal and one non-party supporter of the National Government. In February 1940 Sir John Reith (the newly appointed Minister of Information) was elected unopposed to fill a National Liberal vacancy as a non-party supporter of the National Government. In November 1940 he was elevated to the peerage and in the resulting unopposed by-election his seat was regained by the National Liberals. In the 1945 general election both seats were won by the Labour Party.

[19] [3 13]
Headlam was elected as the nominee of a breakaway Conservative Association who opposed the selection of the official candidate. In Parliament he took the Conservative whip and retained the seat as an official Conservative in the 1945 general election.

[21] [3 14]
Cambridge University was a two-member constituency. In the 1935 general election it elected two Conservative MPs. Hill took one seat from the Conservatives as an Independent Conservative, but did not contest 1945 general election, in which the two seats were won by one Conservative and one Independent.

[London-22] [3 15]
The City of London was a two member constituency. In the 1935 general election it elected two Conservative MPs. In February 1940 Sir Andrew Duncan (the newly appointed President of the Board of Trade) was elected unopposed to fill one vacancy as a non-party supporter of the National Government. In the 1945 general election Duncan and a Conservative won the City's two seats.

[23] [3 16]
The Duchess of Atholl had resigned the National Government whip over foreign policy and in November 1938 was deselected as a candidate by her local association. She decided to resign her seat and fight a by-election as an Independent in opposition to the policy of appeasement. She lost the seat to the new Conservative candidate.

[24] [3 17]
In 1942 Bartlett co-founded the Common Wealth Party and served on its National Committee, but resigned two months later and reverted to being an Independent Progressive MP, retaining the seat in his original colours in the 1945 general election.

[25] [3 18]
The Dartford county constituency was divided in a mini redistribution in 1945 into two borough constituencies - Bexley and Dartford. Labour upheld its by-election gain in both constituencies with Adamson carrying the Bexley seat.

[26] [3 19]
Lipson was elected as an Independent Conservative but in Parliament supported the National Government. He was re-elected in the 1945 general election as an independent supporter of Churchill's government.

[27] [3 20]
The Combined English Universities was a two-member constituency. In the 1935 general election it elected one Conservative and one Independent (Eleanor Rathbone). Harvey took the seat from the Conservatives as an "Independent Progressive" but did not contest the 1945 general election which was won by two Independents (Rathbone and K.M. Lindsay).

[unc-28] [3 1]
An uncontested by-election.

[yes-29] [3 2]
Gain retained at the 1935 general election.

[no-31] [3 3]
Gain not retained at the 1935 general election.

[20] [1]
The Times, 20 February 1940, p. 5.

[30] [2]
"No. 34175". The London Gazette. 28 June 1935. p. 4160.

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[38 2]

[38 3]

[38 4]

[38 5]

[38 6]

[37 1]

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[37 13]

[1]

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List_of_United_Kingdom_by-elections_(1931–1950)

List of United Kingdom by-elections (1931–1950)

Resignations

By-elections

1945–1950 Parliament

1935–1945 Parliament

1931–1935 Parliament

References

Bibliography

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By-election	Date	Incumbent		Winner		Cause
1945–1950 Parliament
Bradford South	8 December 1949	Meredith Titterington	Labour	George Craddock	Labour	Death
Leeds West	21 July 1949	Thomas Stamford	Labour	Charles Pannell	Labour	Death (suicide)
Sowerby	16 March 1949	John Belcher	Labour	Douglas Houghton	Labour	Resignation (scandal)
St Pancras North	10 March 1949	George House	Labour	Kenneth Robinson	Labour	Death
Hammersmith South	24 February 1949	William Thomas Adams	Labour	Thomas Williams	Labour	Death
Batley and Morley	17 February 1949	Hubert Beaumont	Labour	Alfred Broughton	Labour	Death
Glasgow Hillhead	25 November 1948	James Reid	Conservative	Thomas Galbraith	Conservative	Law life peerage on appointment as Lord of Appeal in Ordinary
Edmonton	13 November 1948	Evan Durbin	Labour	Austen Albu	Labour	Death (drowned in swimming accident)
Stirling and Falkirk	7 October 1948	Joseph Westwood	Labour	Malcolm Macpherson	Labour	Death (road accident)
Glasgow Gorbals	30 September 1948	George Buchanan	Labour	Alice Cullen	Labour	Chairman of National Assistance Board
Southwark Central	29 April 1948	John Hanbury Martin	Labour	Roy Jenkins	Labour	Resignation
Brigg	24 March 1948	Thomas Williamson	Labour	Lance Mallalieu	Labour	Resignation
Croydon North	11 March 1948	Henry Willink	Conservative	Fred Harris	Conservative	Master of Magdalene College, Cambridge
Armagh	5 March 1948	Sir William Allen	Ulster Unionist	James Harden	Ulster Unionist	Death (road accident)
Wigan	4 March 1948	William Foster	Labour	Ronald Williams	Labour	Death
Paisley	18 February 1948	Viscount Corvedale	Labour	Douglas Johnston	Labour	Succession to the peerage
Glasgow Camlachie	28 January 1948^{[38 1]}	Campbell Stephen	Ind. Labour Party/Labour Party	Charles McFarlane	Conservative	Death
Epsom	4 December 1947	Sir Archibald Southby, Bt	Conservative	Malcolm McCorquodale	Conservative	Resignation
Howdenshire	27 November 1947	Clifford Glossop	Conservative	George Odey	Conservative	Resignation
Edinburgh East	27 November 1947	George Thomson	Labour	John Wheatley	Labour	Appointment as Lord Justice Clerk
Gravesend	26 November 1947	Garry Allighan	Labour	Sir Richard Acland	Labour	Expelled from the House (found to be in extreme contempt)
Islington West	25 September 1947	Frederick Montague	Labour	Albert Evans	Labour	Appointment to hereditary peerage
Liverpool Edge Hill	11 September 1947	Richard Clitherow	Labour	Arthur Irvine	Labour	Death (overdose)
Jarrow	7 May 1947	Ellen Wilkinson	Labour	Ernest Fernyhough	Labour	Death (overdose)
Normanton	11 February 1947	Tom Smith	Labour	George Sylvester	Labour	Labour Director of North East Coal Board
Kilmarnock	5 December 1946	Clarice Shaw	Labour	William Ross	Labour	Resignation due to ill health
Aberdare	5 December 1946	George Hall	Labour	David Thomas	Labour	Elevation to hereditary peerage
Combined Scottish Universities	27 November 1946^{[38 2]}	Sir John Boyd-Orr	Independent	Walter Elliot	Conservative	Appointment as Chancellor of the University of Glasgow
Aberdeen South	26 November 1946	Sir Douglas Thomson	Conservative	Lady Tweedsmuir	Conservative	Resignation
Paddington North	20 November 1946	Sir Noel Mason-Macfarlane	Labour	William J. Field	Labour	Resignation
Rotherhithe	19 November 1946	Sir Benjamin Smith	Labour	Robert Mellish	Labour	Chairman of West Midlands Coal Board
Glasgow Bridgeton	29 August 1946	James Maxton	Ind. Labour Party	James Carmichael	Ind. Labour Party	Death
Battersea North	25 July 1946	Francis Douglas	Labour	Douglas Jay	Labour	Governor of Malta
Pontypool	23 July 1946	Arthur Jenkins	Labour	Daniel West	Labour	Death
Bexley	22 July 1946	Jennie Adamson	Labour	Ashley Bramall	Labour	Deputy Chairman of Assistance Board
Down	6 June 1946^{[38 3]}	James Little	Ind. Ulster Unionist	C. H. Mullan	Ulster Unionist	Death
Ogmore	4 June 1946	Edward Williams	Labour	John Evans	Labour	Australian High Commissioner
Combined English Universities	18 March 1946^{[38 2]}	Eleanor Rathbone	Independent	Henry Strauss	Conservative	Death
Hemsworth	22 February 1946^{[38 4]}	George Griffiths	Labour	Horace Holmes	Labour	Death