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

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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, yellow for a Liberal gain, orange for a SNP gain and grey for any other gain.

Contents

[edit] By-elections

[edit] 38th Parliament (1945–1950)
By-election Date Incumbent Party Winner Party Cause
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 Wiliam 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 19481 Campbell Stephen Ind. Labour Party/Labour Party Charles Stuart McFarlane Conservative Death
Epsom 4 December 1947 Sir Archibald Southby, Bt Conservative Malcolm McCorquodale Conservative Resignation
Howdenshire 27 November 1947 Glifford Glossop Conservative George Odey Conservative Resignation
Edinburgh East 27 November 1947 George Reid 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 (suicide)
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 Henry Hall Labour Emlyn Thomas Labour Elevation to hereditary Peerage
Combined Scottish Universities 27 November 19462 Sir John Boyd-Orr Independent Walter Elliot Conservative Appointment as Chancellor of Glasgow University
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 Janet Adamson Labour Ashley Bramall Labour Deputy Chairman of Assistance Board
Down 6 June 19463 James Little Independent 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 19462 Eleanor Rathbone Independent Henry Strauss Conservative Death
Hemsworth 22 February 19464 George Griffiths Labour Horace Holmes Labour Death
Heywood and Radcliffe 21 February 1946 John Whittaker Labour Anthony Greenwood Labour Death (suicide)
Glasgow Cathcart 12 February 1946 Francis Beattie Conservative John Henderson Conservative Death (road accident)
South Ayrshire 7 February 1946 Alexander Sloan Labour Emrys Hughes Labour Death
Preston 31 January 1946 John Sunderland Labour Edward Shackleton Labour Death
Tottenham North 13 December 1945 Robert Morrison Labour William Irving Labour Elevation to hereditary Peerage
Kensington South 20 November 1945 Sir William Davison Conservative Richard Law Conservative Elevation to hereditary Peerage
Bournemouth 15 November 1945 Sir Leonard Lyle Conservative Brendan Bracken Conservative Elevation to hereditary Peerage
Bromley 14 November 19455 Sir Edward Campbell Conservative Harold Macmillan Conservative Death
City Of London 31 October 1945 Sir George Broadbridge Conservative Ralph Assheton Conservative Elevation to hereditary Peerage
Monmouth 31 October 19455 Leslie Pym Conservative Peter Thorneycroft Conservative Death
Edinburgh East 3 October 1945 Frederick Pethick-Lawrence Labour George Reid Thomson Labour Elevated to hereditary Peerage
Ashton-under-Lyne 2 October 1945 Sir William Jowitt Labour Hervey Rhodes Labour Elevated to hereditary Peerage on Appointment as Lord Chancellor
Smethwick 1 October 19456 Alfred Dobbs Labour Patrick Gordon Walker Labour Death (road accident)
  • 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.
  • 2 - Constituency abolished in 1950.
  • 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 - The last uncontested by-election on the British mainland to date.
  • 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 - Dobbs was killed in a road accident the day after his election, making him the shortest-serving MP in British history.

[edit] 37th Parliament (1935–1945)

This Parliament's life was extended by annual Prolongation of Parliament Acts for the duration of the Second World War. By-elections continued to fill vacancies. An electoral truce was negotiated between the Conservative, Labour, Liberal, National Liberal and National Labour parties, and National independent MPs that they would not contest by-elections which another party held (although there were a few occasions when a National party would step aside from a vacancy in favour of a National independent, usually a government minister). However many independents stood, including some party members who disagreed with the truce. The Common Wealth Party was formed in part with a view to contesting wartime by-elections.
By-election Date Incumbent Party Winner Party Cause
Newport 17 May 19451 Reginald Clarry Conservative Ronald Bell Conservative Death
Neath 15 May 1945 William Jenkins Labour D. J. Williams Labour Death
Middlesbrough West 14 May 19452 Harcourt Johnstone Liberal Don Bennett Liberal Death
Caernarvon Boroughs 26 April 19453 David Lloyd George Liberal Seaborne Davies Liberal Elevation to the Peerage
Chelmsford 26 April 19454 John Robert Jermain Macnamara Conservative Ernest Millington Common Wealth Death (active service)
Combined Scottish Universities 13 April 19455 George Alexander Morrison National Liberal John Boyd-Orr Independent Resignation
Motherwell 12 April 19451 James Walker Labour Robert Douglas McIntyre Scottish National Party Death (road accident)
Berwick-upon-Tweed 17 October 1944 George Charles Grey Liberal William Beveridge Liberal Death (active service)
Chelsea 11 October 19442 Samuel Hoare Conservative William Sidney Conservative Elevation to the peerage
Bilston 20 September 1944 Ian Hannah Conservative William Gibbons Conservative Death
Manchester Rusholme 8 July 1944 Edmund Radford Conservative Frederick Cundiff Conservative Death
Clay Cross April 1944 George Ridley Labour Harold Neal Labour Death
Camberwell North March 1944 Charles Ammon Labour Cecil Manning Labour Elevation to the peerage
Bury St Edmunds 29 February 1944 Frank Heilgers Conservative Edgar Keatinge Conservative Death (train crash)
Sheffield Attercliffe February 19442 Cecil Henry Wilson Labour John Burns Hynd Labour Resignation (ill health)
Kirkcaldy Burghs 17 February 1944 Thomas Kennedy Labour Thomas Hubbard Labour Resignation (ill-health)
West Derbyshire 17 February 19446 Henry Philip Hunloke Conservative Charles Frederick White Independent Resignation
Brighton 3 February 1944 Sir Cooper Rawson Conservative William Teeling Conservative Resignation (ill-health)
Skipton 7 January 19441 George William Rickards Conservative Hugh McDowall Lawson Common Wealth Death
Acton 14 December 1943 Hubert Duggan Conservative Henry Longhurst Conservative Death (active service)
Darwen 12 December 1943 Stuart Russell Conservative Stanley Prescott Conservative Death (active service)
Consett December 19432 David Adams Labour James Glanville Labour Death
Woolwich West 7 November 1943 Kingsley Wood Conservative Francis Beech Conservative Death
Peterborough 15 October 1943 David Cecil Conservative John Hely-Hutchinson Conservative Appointment as Governor of Bermuda
St Albans 5 October 19432 Francis Edward Fremantle Conservative John Grimston Conservative Death
Chippenham 24 August 1943 Victor Cazalet Conservative David Eccles Conservative Death (active service)
Burton-on-Trent 2 July 19432 John Gretton Conservative John Frederic Gretton Conservative Resignation (ill-health)
Birmingham Aston 9 June 1943 Edward Orlando Kellett Conservative Redvers Michael Prior Conservative Death (active service)
Newark 8 June 1943 William Cavendish-Bentinck Conservative Sidney Shephard Conservative Succession to the Peerage
The Hartlepools 1 June 1943 W. G. Howard Gritten Conservative T. G. Greenwell Conservative Death
Daventry 20 April 1943 Edward Fitzroy Speaker Reginald Manningham-Buller Conservative Death
Eddisbury 7 April 19437 Richard John Russell Conservative John Eric Loverseed Common Wealth Death
Buckingham 4 April 19432 John Percival Whiteley Conservative Lionel Berry Conservative Death (active service)
Watford 23 February 1943 Dennis Herbert Conservative William Helmore Conservative Elevation to the peerage
Bristol Central 18 February 1943 Allen Apsley Conservative Violet Bathurst Conservative Death (active service)
Portsmouth North 16 February 1943 Sir Roger Keyes Conservative William Milbourne James Conservative Elevation to the Peerage
King's Lynn 12 February 1943 Somerset Maxwell Conservative Edmund Roche Conservative Death (active service)
Midlothian and Peeblesshire 11 February 1943 John Colville Conservative David King Murray Conservative Appointment as Governor of Bombay
Antrim 11 February 1943 Joseph McConnell Ulster Unionist John Dermot Campbell Ulster Unionist Death
Ashford 10 February 1943 William Spens Conservative Edward Percy Smith Conservative Appointment as Chief Justice of India
Belfast West 9 February 19438 Alexander Crawford Browne Ulster Unionist Jack Beattie Labour (NI) Death
University of Wales 30 January 1943 Ernest Evans Liberal William John Gruffydd Liberal Appointment as a Circuit Judge
Hamilton 29 January 1943 Duncan Graham Labour Thomas Fraser Labour Death
Ince 20 October 19422 Gordon Macdonald Labour Tom Brown Labour Appointment as North-West Regional Fuel Controller
Manchester Clayton 17 October 1942 John Jagger Labour Harry Thorneycroft Labour Death (road accident)
Sheffield Park 27 August 19422 George Lathan Labour Thomas William Burden Labour Death
Poplar 12 August 1942 David Morgan Adams Labour William Henry Guy Labour Death
Whitechapel and St George's 8 August 19422 James Henry Hall Labour Walter Edwards Labour Death
Rothwell 7 August 19422 William Lunn Labour T. J. Brooks Labour Death
Spennymoor 21 July 19422 J. Batey Labour James Dixon Murray Labour Resignation (ill-health)
Salisbury 8 July 1942 James Fitzwarrenne- Despencer-Robertson Conservative John Morrison Conservative Death
Windsor 30 June 1942 Annesley Somerville Conservative Charles Mott-Radclyffe Conservative Death
Maldon 25 June 19429 Edward Archibald Ruggles-Brise Conservative Tom Driberg Independent Death
Llandaff and Barry 10 June 19421 Patrick Munro Conservative C. H. A. Lakin Conservative Death (active service)
Chichester 25 May 1942 John Courtauld Conservative Lancelot Joynson-Hicks Conservative Death
Putney 8 May 1942 Marcus Samuel Conservative Hugh Linstead Conservative Death
Rugby 29 April 194210 David Margesson Conservative William John Brown Independent Elevation to the peerage
Wallasey 29 April 19421 John Theodore Cuthbert Moore-Brabazon Conservative George Leonard Reakes Independent Elevation to the peerage
Glasgow Cathcart 29 April 1942 John Train Conservative Francis Beattie Conservative Death
Cardiff East 13 April 194211 Owen Temple-Morris Conservative Sir P. J. Grigg National Appointment as a County Court Judge
Tavistock 2 April 19422 Mark Patrick Conservative Henry Studholme Conservative Death
Grantham 25 March 194210 Victor Alexander Warrender Conservative William Denis Kendall Independent Elevation to the peerage
Wigan 11 March 19422 John Parkinson Labour William Foster Labour Death
Newcastle-under-Lyme 11 March 19422 Josiah Wedgwood Labour John Mack Labour Elevation to the Peerage
Manchester Gorton 11 March 19422 William Wedgwood Benn Labour William Oldfield Labour Elevation to the Peerage
Nuneaton 9 March 19422 Reginald Fletcher Labour Frank Bowles Labour Elevation to the Peerage
Keighley 13 February 19422 Hastings Lees-Smith Labour Ivor Thomas Labour Death
North East Derbyshire 2 February 19422 Frank Lee Labour Henry White Labour Death
Edinburgh Central 11 December 1941 James Guy Conservative Francis Watt Conservative Resignation (ill-health)
Harrow 2 December 1941 Isidore Salmon Conservative Norman Bower Conservative Death
Hampstead 27 November 1941 George Balfour Conservative Charles Challen Conservative Death
Brighton 15 November 19412 Lord Erskine Conservative Anthony Marlowe Conservative Resignation
Lancaster 15 October 1941 Herwald Ramsbotham Conservative Fitzroy Maclean Conservative Elevation to the Peerage
The Wrekin 26 September 1941 James Baldwin-Webb Conservative William Colegate Conservative drowned when the liner City of Benares was torpedoed.
Scarborough and Whitby 24 September 1941 Paul Latham Conservative Alexander Spearman Conservative Resignation (scandal)
Berwick-upon-Tweed 18 August 19412 Hugh Seely Liberal George Charles Grey Liberal Elevation to the Peerage
Pontefract 24 July 19412 Adam Hills Labour P. G. Barstow Labour Death
Dudley 23 July 1941 D. J. B. Joel Conservative Cyril Lloyd Conservative Death (active service)
Edinburgh West 12 July 19412 Thomas Cooper Conservative Ian Clark Hutchison Conservative Appointed Lord Justice Clerk
Greenock 10 July 19412 Robert Gibson Labour Hector McNeil Labour Appointment as Chairman of the Scottish Land Court
West Dorset 21 June 19412 William Colfox Conservative Simon Wingfield-Digby Conservative Resignation
Hornsey 28 May 1941 Euan Wallace Conservative David Gammans Conservative Death
King's Norton 8 May 1941 Ronald Cartland Conservative Arthur Peto Conservative Death (active service)
Mansfield 22 April 19412 Charles Brown Labour Bernard Taylor Labour Death
West Bromwich 16 April 19412 Frederick Owen Roberts Labour John Dugdale Labour Resignation (ill-health)
Great Yarmouth 8 April 19412 Arthur Harbord National Liberal Percy Jewson National Liberal Death
Carmarthen 26 March 19412 Daniel Hopkin Labour Ronw Hughes Labour Appoitment as a Metropolitan Police Magistrate
Bodmin 11 March 19412 John Rathbone Conservative Beatrice Wright Conservative Death (active service)
Hitchin 10 March 19412 A. T. Wilson Conservative S. Berry Conservative Death (active service)
Dunbartonshire 27 February 1941 Thomas Cassells Labour Adam McKinlay Labour Appointment as Sheriff Substitute
Petersfield 22 February 19412 Reginald Dorman-Smith Conservative George Jeffreys Conservative Appointment as Governor of Burma
South Dorset 22 February 19412 Robert Gascoyne-Cecil Conservative Victor Montagu Conservative Succession to the Peerage by writ of acceleration
Doncaster 6 February 19412 John Morgan Labour Evelyn Walkden Labour Death
Birmingham Edgbaston 18 December 19402 Neville Chamberlain Conservative Peter Bennett Conservative Death
Northampton 6 December 1940 Mervyn Manningham-Buller Conservative Gerard Summers Conservative Resignation
Southampton 27 November 19402, 12 Sir John Reith National William Russell-Thomas National Liberal Elevation to the peerage
Aldershot 26 November 19402 Roundell Palmer Conservative Oliver Lyttelton Conservative Succession to the Peerage
Queen's University of Belfast 2 November 19402 Thomas Sinclair Ulster Unionist Douglas Lloyd Savory Ulster Unionist Resignation
Preston 25 September 19402 Adrian Moreing Conservative Randolph Churchill Conservative Death
Manchester Exchange 19402 Peter Eckersley Conservative Thomas Hewlett Conservative Death (active service)
Bolton 13 September 19402 John Haslam Conservative Edward Cadogan Conservative Death
Heywood and Radcliffe 28 August 19402 Richard Porritt Conservative James Wooton-Davies Conservative Death (active service)
Mitcham 19 August 19402 Richard Meller Conservative Malcolm Robertson Conservative Death
Middlesbrough West 7 August 19402 Frank Kingsley Griffith Liberal Harcourt Johnstone Liberal Appointment as a County Court Judge
Wansbeck 29 July 19402 Bernard Cruddas Conservative Robert Scott Conservative Resignation
Rochdale 20 July 19402 William Thomas Kelly Labour Hyacinth Morgan Labour Resignation (ill-health)
Nottingham Central 19 July 19402 Terence O'Connor Conservative Frederick Sykes Conservative Death
Montrose Burghs 5 July 19402 Charles Kerr National Liberal John Scott Maclay National Liberal Elevation to the Peerage
Newcastle West 7 June 19402 Joseph Leech Conservative William Nunn Conservative Elevation to the Peerage
Bournemouth 27 June 19402 Henry Page Croft Conservative Leonard Lyle Conservative Elevation to the Peerage
Wandsworth Central 22 June 19402 Harry Nathan Labour Ernest Bevin Labour Elevation to the Peerage
Croydon North 19 June 1940 Glyn Mason Conservative Henry Willink Conservative Resignation
Bow and Bromley 12 June 1940 George Lansbury Labour Charles Key Labour Death
Newcastle North 7 June 194013 Nicholas Grattan-Doyle Conservative Cuthbert Headlam Independent Conservative Resignation (ill-health)
Middleton and Prestwich 1 June 1940 Nairne Stewart Sandeman Conservative Ernest Gates Conservative Death
Spen Valley 1 June 19402 John Simon National Liberal William Edward Woolley National Liberal Elevation to the Peerage
East Renfrewshire 9 May 1940 Douglas Douglas-Hamilton Conservative Guy Lloyd Conservative Succession to the Peerage
Brighton 9 May 19402 George Tryon Conservative Lord Erskine Conservative Elevation to the Peerage
Glasgow Pollok 30 April 1940 John Gilmour Conservative Thomas Galbraith Conservative Death
Battersea North 17 April 1940 William Stephen Sanders Labour Francis Douglas Labour Resignation (ill-health)
Lonsdale 12 April 19402 David Lindsay Conservative Ian Fraser Conservative Succession to the Peerage
Argyll 10 April 1940 Frederick Macquisten Conservative Duncan McCallum Conservative Death
Leeds North East 13 March 1940 John Dearman Birchall Conservative John James Craik-Henderson Conservative Resignation (ill-health)
City of Chester 7 March 19402 Charles Cayzer Conservative Basil Nield Conservative Death (murder/suicide)
Kettering 6 March 1940 John Eastwood Conservative John Profumo Conservative Appointment as a Metropolitan Magistrate
Cambridge University 23 February 194014 John James Withers Conservative Archibald Vivian Hill Independent Conservative Death
Silvertown 22 February 1940 Jack Jones Labour J. H. Hollins Labour Resignation (ill-health)
Southwark Central 10 February 1940 Harry Day Labour John Hanbury Martin Labour Death
Belfast East 8 February 19402 Herbert Dixon Ulster Unionist H. P. Harland Ulster Unionist Elevation to the Peerage
Swansea East 5 February 19402 David Williams Labour D. L. Mort Labour Resignation (ill-health)
City of London 5 February 194015 Alan Garrett Anderson Conservative Sir Andrew Duncan National Resignation (pressure of work at the Wheat Commission)
Southampton February 194012 Sir C. C. Barrie National Liberal Sir John Reith National Resignation (to provide a seat for Sir John Reith)
Wells 13 December 19392 A. J. Muirhead Conservative D. C. Boles Conservative Death (suicide)
Manchester Stretford 8 December 1939 Anthony Crossley Conservative R. Etherton Conservative Death (air crash)
Streatham 7 December 19392 William Lane-Mitchell Conservative David Robertson Conservative Resignation (to make way for a younger candidate)
Macclesfield 22 November 19392 John Remer Conservative W. Garfield Weston Conservative Resignation (ill-health)
Ashton-under-Lyne 28 October 19392 Fred Simpson Labour William Jowitt Labour Death
Ormskirk 27 October 19392 Samuel Rosbotham National Labour Stephen King-Hall National Labour Resignation (ill-health)
Clackmannanshire and East Stirlingshire 13 October 1939 L. MacNeill Weir Labour Arthur Woodburn Labour Death
High Peak 7 October 19392 Alfred Law Conservative High Molson Conservative Death
Fareham 6 October 19392 Sir Thomas Inskip Conservative Dymoke White Conservative Elevation to the peerage
Brecon and Radnor 1 August 193910 Ivor Grosvenor Guest National William Frederick Jackson Labour Succession to the peerage
Colne Valley 27 July 1939 Ernest Marklew Labour William Glenvil Hall Labour
Monmouth 25 July 1939 J. A. Herbert Conservative Leslie Pym Conservative Appointment as Governor of Bengal
Hythe 20 July 1939 Philip Sassoon Conservative Rupert Brabner Conservative
North Cornwall 13 July 1939 Francis Dyke Acland Liberal Tom Horabin Liberal
Portsmouth South 12 July 19392 Herbert Cayzer Conservative Jocelyn Lucas Conservative
Caerphilly 4 July 1939 Morgan Jones Labour Ness Edwards Labour Death
Kennington 24 May 193910 George Harvey Conservative John Charles Wilmot Labour Death
Birmingham Aston 1939 Arthur Hope Conservative Edward Kellett Conservative
Southwark North 19 May 193910 Edward Anthony Strauss National Liberal George Alfred Isaacs Labour Death
Westminster Abbey 17 May 1939 Sidney Herbert Conservative Harold Webbe Conservative Death
Sheffield Hallam 10 May 1939 Louis William Smith Conservative Roland Jennings Conservative
Down 10 May 19392 D. D. Reid Ulster Unionist James Little Ulster Unionist
South Ayrshire 20 April 1939 James Brown Labour Alexander Sloan Labour Death
Kincardineshire and West Aberdeenshire 30 March 1939 Malcolm Barclay-Harvey Conservative Colin Thornton-Kemsley Conservative
Batley and Morley 9 March 1939 Willie Brooke Labour Hubert Beaumont Labour Death
Ripon 1939 John Waller Hills Conservative Christopher York Conservative
Holderness 15 February 1939 Samuel Savery Conservative J. G. Braithwaite Conservative
East Norfolk 26 January 1939 William Lygon National Liberal Frank Medlicott National Liberal
Kinross and Western Perthshire 21 December 193816 Duchess of Atholl Conservative/Ind Conservative William McNair Snadden Conservative Sought re-election in opposition to government foreign policy
Fylde 30 November 1938 Edward Stanley Conservative Claude Lancaster Conservative Death
Lewisham West 24 November 1938 Philip Dawson Conservative Henry Brooke Conservative Death
Doncaster 17 November 1938 Alfred Short Labour John Morgan Labour Death
Bridgwater 17 November 193817 Reginald Croom-Johnson Conservative Vernon Bartlett Independent Progressive Appointment as High Court Judge
Walsall 16 November 1938 Joseph Leckie National Liberal George Schuster National Liberal Death
Dartford 7 November 193818 Frank Edward Clarke Conservative Janet Laurel Adamson Labour Death
Oxford 27 October 1938 Robert Croft Bourne Conservative Quintin Hogg Conservative Death
Willesden East 28 July 1938 Daniel Somerville Conservative Samuel Hammersley Conservative Death
Barnsley 16 June 1938 John Samuel Potts Labour Frank Collindridge Labour
Stafford 9 June 1938 William Ormsby-Gore Conservative Peter Thorneycroft Conservative Succession to the peerage
West Derbyshire 2 June 1938 Edward Cavendish Conservative Henry Hunloke Conservative Succession to the peerage
Aylesbury 19 May 1938 Michael Wentworth Beaumont Conservative Stanley Reed Conservative
Lichfield 5 May 193810 James Alexander Lovat-Fraser National Labour Cecil Charles Poole Labour Death
Fulham West 6 April 193810 Cyril Stephen Cobb Conservative Edith Summerskill Labour Death
City of London 6 April 19382 Thomas Vansittart Bowater Conservative George Broadbridge Conservative Death
Combined Scottish Universities 25 February 19385 Ramsay MacDonald National Labour Sir John Anderson National Death
Ipswich 16 February 193810 Francis Ganzoni Conservative Richard Stokes Labour Elevation to the peerage
Pontypridd 11 February 1938 D. L. Davies Labour Arthur Pearson Labour Death
Farnworth 27 January 1938 Guy Rowson Labour George Tomlinson Labour Death
Hastings 24 November 1937 Eustace Percy Conservative Maurice Hely-Hutchinson Conservative
Islington North 13 October 193710 Albert William Goodman Conservative Leslie Haden Haden-Guest Labour Death
Glasgow Springburn 7 September 1937 George Hardie Labour Agnes Hardie Labour Death
North Dorset 13 July 1937 Cecil Hanbury Conservative Angus Hambro Conservative Death
Chertsey 2 July 1937 Archibald Boyd-Carpenter Conservative Arthur Marsden Conservative Death
Kingston-upon-Thames 1 July 1937 Frederick Penny Conservative Percy Royds Conservative Elevation to the peerage
St Ives 30 June 1937 Walter Runciman National Liberal Nevil Beechman National Liberal Elevation to the peerage
Ilford 29 June 1937 George Clements Hamilton Conservative George Hutchinson Conservative
Bewdley 29 June 1937 Stanley Baldwin Conservative Roger Conant Conservative Elevation to the peerage
Holland with Boston 24 June 1937 James Blindell National Liberal Herbert Walter Butcher National Liberal Death
Hemel Hempstead 22 June 1937 John Davidson Conservative Frances Davidson Conservative Elevation to the peerage
Cheltenham 22 June 193719 Walter Reuben Preston Conservative Daniel Leopold Lipson Independent Conservative Resignation
Plymouth Drake 15 June 1937 Frederick Guest Conservative Henry Guest Conservative Death
Buckingham 11 June 1937 George Bowyer Conservative John Percival Whiteley Conservative Elevation to the peerage
Glasgow Hillhead 10 June 1937 Robert Horne Conservative James Reid Conservative Elevation to the peerage
York 6 May 1937 Lawrence Lumley Conservative Charles Wood Conservative Elevation to the peerage
Birmingham West 29 April 1937 Austen Chamberlain Conservative Walter Frank Higgs Conservative Death
Wandsworth Central 29 April 193710 Henry Jackson Conservative Harry Louis Nathan Labour Death
Stalybridge and Hyde 28 April 1937 Philip Russell Rendel Dunne Conservative Horace Trevor-Cox Conservative
Farnham 23 March 1937 Arthur Michael Samuel Conservative Godfrey Nicolson Conservative Elevation to the peerage
Tonbridge 23 March 1937 Herbert Henry Spender-Clay Conservative Adrian William Maxwell Baillie Conservative Death
Combined English Universities 22 March 193720 Reginald Henry Craddock Conservative Thomas Edmund Harvey Independent Progressive Death
Richmond-upon-Thames February 1937 William Ray Conservative George Steven Harvie-Watt Conservative
Oxford University 27 February 193710 Lord Hugh Cecil Conservative James Arthur Salter Independent Appointment as Provost of Eton College
Manchester Gorton 18 February 1937 Joseph Compton Labour William Wedgwood Benn Labour Death
St Pancras North 4 February 1937 Ian Fraser Conservative Robert Grant-Ferris Conservative Resignation
Greenock 26 November 193610 Godfrey Collins National Liberal Robert Gibson Labour Death
Preston 25 November 1936 William Kirkpatrick Conservative Edward Cobb Conservative
Clay Cross 5 November 1936 Alfred Holland Labour George Ridley Labour Death
Birmingham Erdington 20 October 1936 John Eales Conservative John Allan Cecil Wright Conservative Death
East Grinstead 23 July 1936 Henry Cautley Conservative Ralph Clarke Conservative Elevation to the peerage
Balham and Tooting 23 July 1936 Alfred Butt Conservative George Frederick Doland Conservative
Derby 9 July 193610 James Henry Thomas National Labour Philip Noel-Baker Labour Resigned over budget leak
Lewes 18 June 1936 John de Vere Loder Conservative Tufton Beamish Conservative Elevation to the peerage
Peckham 6 May 193610 David Field Beatty Conservative Lewis Silkin Labour Succession to peerage
Llanelli 26 March 1936 John Henry Williams Labour Jim Griffiths Labour Death
Dunbartonshire 18 March 193610 Archibald Douglas Cochrane Conservative Thomas Cassells Labour Governor of Bermuda
Ross and Cromarty 10 February 19361 Sir Ian Macpherson National Liberal Malcolm MacDonald National Labour Peerage to provide seat for Dominions Secretary Malcolm MacDonald
Combined Scottish Universities 31 January 19365 Noel Skelton Conservative Ramsay MacDonald National Labour Death
  • 1 - Gain not retained at the 1945 UK general election.
  • 2 - An uncontested election.
  • 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.
  • 4 - In the 1945 general election Millington was the only successful Common Wealth candidate. He joined the Labour Party in April 1946.
  • 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 Alexander 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 9 - In Parliament Driberg took the Labour whip and retained the seat in the 1945 general election as an official Labour candidate.
  • 10 - Gain retained at the 1945 UK general election.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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).

[edit] 36th Parliament (1931–1935)
By-election Date Incumbent Party Winner Party Cause
Dumfriesshire 12 September 1935 Joseph Hunter Liberal / National Liberal Henry Fildes National Liberal Death
Sevenoaks 20 July 1935 Edward Hilton Young Conservative Charles Ponsonby Conservative Created Baron Kennet
Liverpool West Toxteth 16 July 19351 Clyde Tabor Wilson Conservative Joseph Gibbins Labour Appointment as a Metropolitan Police Magistrate
Liverpool West Derby 6 July 19352 John Sandeman Allen Conservative David Maxwell Fyfe Conservative Death
City of London 26 June 19352 Edward Grenfell Conservative Alan Garrett Anderson Conservative Created Baron St Just
Combined Scottish Universities 17-22 June 1935 John Buchan Conservative John Graham Kerr Conservative Appointed Governor General of Canada
Aberdeen South 21 May 1935 Sir Frederick Thomson Conservative Sir Douglas Thomson Conservative Death
Tamworth 10 May 19352 Sir Arthur Herbert Drummond Ramsay-Steel-Maitland Conservative John Serocold Paget Mellor Conservative Death
Edinburgh West 2 May 1935 Wilfrid Normand Conservative Thomas Mackay Cooper Conservative Appointed as Lord Justice General
Perth 16 April 1935 Francis Norrie-Miller National Liberal Thomas Hunter National Liberal Succession to the peerage
Eastbourne 29 March 19352 John Slater Conservative Charles Taylor Conservative Death
Lambeth Norwood 14 March 1935 Walter Greaves-Lord Conservative Duncan Sandys Conservative Resignation
Cambridge University 23 February 19352 Godfrey Wilson Conservative Kenneth Pickthorn Conservative Resignation
Liverpool Wavertree 6 February 19353 Ronald Nall Nall-Cain Conservative Joseph Jackson Cleary Labour Succession to the peerage
Putney 28 November 1934 Samuel Samuel Conservative Marcus Reginald Anthony Samuel Conservative Death
Swindon 25 October 19343 Reginald Mitchell Banks Conservative Christopher Addison Labour Appointment as County Court Judge
Lambeth North 23 October 19341 Frank Briant Liberal George Russell Strauss Labour Death
Rushcliffe 26 July 1934 Henry Betterton Conservative Ralph Assheton Conservative Resignation
Fermanagh and Tyrone 27 June 1934 Joseph Devlin Nationalist (NI) Joseph Francis Stewart Nationalist (NI) Death
Weston-super-Mare 26 June 1934 John Erskine, Lord Erskine Conservative Ian Leslie Orr-Ewing Conservative Resignation
Twickenham 22 June 1934 Hylton Murray-Philipson Conservative Alfred Critchley Conservative Death
Monmouth 14 June 1934 Leolin Forestier-Walker Conservative J. A. Herbert Conservative Death
Merthyr 5 June 19341 Richard Wallhead Ind. Labour Party / Labour Stephen Owen Davies Labour Death
Hemsworth 17 May 19342 John Guest Labour George Griffiths Labour Death
West Ham Upton 14 May 19341 Alfred James Chotzner Conservative Benjamin Walter Gardiner Labour Resignation
Hammersmith North 24 April 19341 Mary Ada Pickford Conservative Fielding Reginald West Labour Death
Basingstoke 19 April 1934 Gerard Wallop Conservative Henry Wolff Conservative Resignation
Combined Scottish Universities 7-12 March 1934 Dugald McCoig Cowan Liberal George Alexander Morrison Liberal Death
Portsmouth North 19 February 1934 Bertram Godfray Conservative Roger Keyes Conservative Elevation to the peerage
Lowestoft 15 February 1934 Gervais Rentoul Conservative Pearse Creagh Loftus Conservative Resignation
Cambridge 8 February 1934 George Newton Conservative Richard Tufnell Conservative Elevation to the peerage
Wentworth 22 December 1933 George Henry Hirst Labour Wilfred Paling Labour Death
Harborough 28 November 1933 Arthur Stuart Conservative Arthur Tree Conservative
Rutland and Stamford 21 November 1933 Neville Smith-Carington Conservative Gilbert Heathcote-
Drummond-Willoughby		 Conservative Death
Manchester Rusholme 21 November 1933 Frank Merriman Conservative Edmund Radford Conservative Appointment to High Court
Skipton 7 November 1933 Ernest Bird Conservative George Rickards Conservative Death
Kilmarnock 2 November 1933 Craigie Mason Aitchison National Labour Kenneth Martin Lindsay National Labour Appointment to Scottish bench
Fulham East 25 October 19333 Kenyon Pascoe Vaughan-Morgan Conservative John Charles Wilmot Labour Death
Clay Cross 1 September 1933 Charles Duncan Labour Arthur Henderson Labour Death
Altrincham 14 June 1933 Cyril Atkinson Conservative Edward Grigg Conservative Appointment to High Court
Hitchin 8 June 1933 Edward Lytton Conservative Arnold Wilson Conservative Death
Normanton 8 May 19332 Frederick Hall Labour Tom Smith Labour Death
Rhondda East 28 March 1933 David Watts-Morgan Labour William Mainwaring Labour
Ashford 17 March 1933 Michael Knatchbull Conservative Patrick Spens Conservative Succession to the peerage
Rotherham 27 February 19331 George Herbert Conservative William Dobbie Labour Resignation
East Fife 2 February 1933 Sir James Duncan Millar National Liberal James Henderson Stewart National Liberal
Liverpool Exchange 19 January 1933 Sir James Philip Reynolds Conservative John Joseph Shute Conservative Death
Cardiganshire 22 September 1932 Rhys Hopkin Morris Liberal David Owen Evans Liberal Appointment as a Metropolitan Police magistrate
Twickenham 16 September 1932 John Ferguson Conservative Hylton Murray-Philipson Conservative Death
Wednesbury 26 July 19321 William Humble Eric Ward Conservative John William Banfield Labour Succession to the peerage
North Cornwall 22 July 1932 Donald Maclean Liberal Francis Dyke Acland Liberal Death
Westminster Abbey 12 July 19322 Otho William Nicholson Conservative Sidney Herbert Conservative
Montrose 28 June 1932 Robert Hutchison National Liberal Charles Kerr National Liberal Succession to the peerage
Dulwich 8 June 1932 Sir Frederick Hall Conservative Bracewell Smith Conservative Death
St Marylebone 28 April 1932 James Rennell Rodd Conservative Alec Cunningham-Reid Conservative Succession to the peerage
Eastbourne 28 April 19322 Edward Marjoribanks Conservative John Slater Conservative Death
Wakefield 21 April 19321 George Brown Hillman Conservative Arthur Greenwood Labour Death
Richmond-upon-Thames 13 April 19322 Newton James Moore Conservative William Ray Conservative
Dunbartonshire 17 March 1932 John Gibb Thom Conservative Archibald Cochrane Conservative
Henley 25 February 1932 Robert Ronald Henderson Conservative Gifford Fox Conservative Death
New Forest and Christchurch 9 February 1932 Walter Perkins Conservative Wifrid Ashley Conservative Elevation to the peerage
Croydon South 9 February 1932 Herbert Williams Conservative William Lowson Mitchell-Thomson Conservative Resignation
  • 1 - Gain retained at the 1935 general election.
  • 2 - Uncontested by-election.
  • 3 - Gain not retained at the 1935 UK general election.
By-elections in the United Kingdom
British Parliament: 1885–1900 • 1900–1918 • 1918–1931 • 1931–1950 • 1950–1979 • 1979–present
Scottish Parliament • Welsh Assembly • Northern Irish Parliament


[edit] References