Bow and Bromley by-election, 1940

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The Bow and Bromley by-election, 1940 was a parliamentary by-election held on 12th June 1940 for the British House of Commons constituency of Bow and Bromley in the Metropolitan Borough of Poplar in the East End of London.

The seat had become vacant when the constituency's Labour Member of Parliament (MP), George Lansbury, died on 7th May 1940, aged 81. A former Leader of the Labour Party, he had held the seat since the 1922 general election, and previously from 1910 to 1912.

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[edit] Candidates

During World War II, the political parties in the Coalition Government had agreed not contest by-elections in seats held by the other parties in the coalition. The Labour Party selected as its candidate Charles Key, a local Alderman and Leader of the Borough of Poplar. Key was a former teacher, who had left the clasroom when war broke out to become the deputy controller of civil defence in Poplar.

His only opponent was Mrs Isabel Brown of the Communist Party of Great Britain. Brown had twice before been a Parliamentary candidate in Scotland, in Kilmarnock and Motherwell; she had previously worked in the Ministry of Education in Moscow.

[edit] Results

On a reduced turnout, Key held the seat for Labour with 95.8% of the votes. He remained Bow and Bromley's MP until the constituency was abolsihev for the 1950 general election, when he was elecetd as MP for the new Poplar constituency. He held that seat until 1964.

[edit] Votes

Bow and Bromley by-election, 12th June 1940
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Charles Key 11,594 95.8 +18.2
Communist Mrs Isabel Brown 506 4.2 N/A
Majority 11,088 91.6 +3.6
Turnout 12,100 32.4 −27.1
Labour hold Swing

[edit] See also

[edit] References