Walthamstow West by-election, 1956
The Walthamstow West by-election of 1 March 1956 was held after the elevation to the Peerage of former Prime Minister, Labour MP (MP) Clement Attlee:[1]
The seat was safe, having been won by Attlee at the 1955 General Election by over 9,000 votes[2]
Candidates
- Edward Redhead for Labour was a councillor and Alderman
- The Conservatives nominated Richard Hornby, who at the time was a copywriter for JWT
- The Liberal Party chose Oliver Smedley, who in 1955 had helped found the Institute of Economic Affairs
- Perennial candidate Bill Boaks stood as an independent.
Result of the previous general election
| General Election 1955: Walthamstow West | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Labour | Clement Attlee | 19,327 | 65.73 | ||
| Conservative | Richard Hornby | 10,077 | 34.27 | ||
| Majority | 9,250 | 31.46 | - | ||
Result of the by-election
| Walthamstow West by-election, 1 March 1956 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Labour | Edward Redhead | 13,388 | 64.68 | -1.05 | |
| Conservative | Richard Hornby | 4,184 | 20.21 | 14.06 | |
| Liberal | Oliver Smedley | 3,037 | 14.67 | N/A | |
| Independent | Bill Boaks | 89 | 0.43 | N/A | |
| Majority | 9,204 | ||||
References
- ↑ Full results
- ↑ Election results PoliticsResources.net