The Maldon by-election, 1942 was a parliamentary by-election held on 25 June 1942 for the British House of Commons constituency of Maldon in Essex. It was one a series of by-election in World War II won by radical independent candidates.
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The seat had become vacant on when the constituency's Conservative Member of Parliament (MP), Sir Edward Ruggles-Brise, had died on 12 May, aged 59. He been Maldon's MP since the 1922 general election, with a brief interruption from 1923 to 1924.
During World War II, unopposed by-elections were common, since the major parties had agreed not to contest by-elections when vacancies arose in seats held by the other parties; contests occurred only when independent candidates or minor parties chose to stand.
The Conservative candidate in Maldon, R. J. Hunt, thus faced neither a Labour Party nor a Liberal candidate. However, the left-wing journalist Tom Driberg stood as an "Independent Labour" candidate. Driberg was a member of the "1941 Committee", a group of progressive intellectuals who met under the chairmanship of J. B. Priestley at the home of Edward G. Hulton the owner of the Picture Post newspaper. At the start of May, the Committee had published a "Nine-Point Plan" calling for works councils and the publication of "post-war plans for the provision of full and free education, employment and a civilized standard of living for everyone."[1] The Plan formed the basis of Driberg's campaign.
The third contestant was R.B. Matthews, standing as a National Independent and Agricultural candidate.
On a much-reduced turnout, the result was a massive victory for Driberg, who won 61.3% of the votes. Ruggles-Brise had held the seat at the 1935 general election with 53.4% of the votes, a majority of 24.5%; but Hunt won only 31.3%.
Driberg sat as an Independent Labour MP until January 1945, when he took the Labour Whip in the House of Commons. As a Labour Party candidate, he held the seat comfortably at the 1945 general election, and remained Maldon's MP until he stepped down at the 1955 election.
| General Election, 1935: Maldon | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Conservative | Sir Edward Ruggles-Brise, Bt | 17,072 | 53.4 | −17.4 | |
| Labour | W. F. Toynbee | 9,264 | 28.9 | −0.3 | |
| Liberal | Hilda Buckmaster | 5,680 | 17.7 | N/A | |
| Majority | 7,808 | 24.5 | −16.1 | ||
| Turnout | 32,016 | 73.8 | −0.9 | ||
| Conservative hold | Swing | ||||
| Maldon by-election, 25th June 1942 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Independent Labour | Tom Driberg | 12,219 | 61.3 | ||
| Conservative | R. J. Hunt | 6,226 | 31.3 | −22.1 | |
| National Independent and Agricultural | R.B. Matthews | 1,476 | 7.4 | ||
| Majority | 5,993 | 30.0 | |||
| Turnout | 19,921 | 44.4 | −29.4 | ||
| Independent Labour gain from Conservative | Swing | ||||
| General Election, 1945: Maldon | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Labour | Tom Driberg | 22,480 | 60.4 | −0.9 | |
| Conservative | A. M. S. Stephenson | 14,753 | 39.6 | +6.3 | |
| Majority | 7,727 | 20.8 | −9.2 | ||
| Turnout | 37,233 | 74.5 | +30.1 | ||
| Labour gain from Conservative | Swing | ||||
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