1934 Basingstoke by-election

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The Basingstoke by-election, 1934 was a parliamentary by-election for the British House of Commons constituency of Basingstoke on 19 April 1934.

Contents

Vacancy

The by-election was caused by the resignation of the sitting Conservative MP, Gerard Wallop. He resigned suddenly on 14 February 1934. He had been MP here since holding the seat in 1929.

Election history

Basingstoke had been won by the Conservatives at every election since 1885 apart from 1923 when the Liberals won. The result at the last General election was as follows;

1931 general election: Basingstoke [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Gerard Wallop 23,523 69.7
Liberal Frances Josephy 6,10618.1
Labour C A Goatcher4,12412.2
Majority17,41751.6
Turnout 33,75367.4
Conservative hold Swing

Candidates

Campaign

Polling Day was set for 19 April 1934, some two months after the vacancy first became known. Nominations closed on 9 April 1934.

Foreign Affairs dominated the campaign, particularly the Conservative dominated National Government's isolationist approach.

The Conservative campaign leaned heavily on the support of their National Government partners. On 5 April, leading Liberal National MP, Ernest Brown, the Minister for Mines, spoke in support of Drummond Wolff. [3] Liberal National Leader Sir John Simon, the Foreign Secretary sent a public letter of support to the Conservative candidate which called on Liberals to vote Conservative. [4]

On the Eve of poll, the Liberal Party Leader, Sir Herbert Samuel visited the constituency and spoke at a public meeting in support of Foot. [5]

Result

Despite a large swing against the National Government, the Conservative managed to hold onto the seat.

Basingstoke by-election, 1934 [6]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Henry Drummond Wolff 16,147 53.7 -16.0
Liberal John Foot 9,26230.8+12.7
Labour James William Barker4,66315.5+3.3
Majority6,88522.9-28.7
Turnout 30,07264.4-3.0
Conservative hold Swing -14.4

Aftermath

A Peace Ballot was launched in 1934 to ascertain public support for the League of Nations and collective security. As a result, just before the 1935 general election, the National Government agreed to the Liberal policy of working through the League of Nations. Drummond-Wolff chose not to defend his seat at the following General Election. Foot stood here again. The result at the following General election;

General election 1935: Basingstoke
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Patrick Donner 18,549 57.8 +4.1
Liberal John Foot 10,31732.2+1.4
Labour J.S. Whybrew3,20710.0-5.5
Majority8,23225.7+2.8
Turnout 32,07367.4+3.0
Conservative hold Swing

See also

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References

  1. ↑ F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949; Political Reference Publications, Glasgow 1949
  2. ↑ 'DRUMMOND-WOLFF, Henry', Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2007; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2007 accessed 14 Dec 2013
  3. ↑ Aberdeen Journal, 6 April 1934
  4. ↑ Dundee Courier, 16 April 1934
  5. ↑ Western Morning News, 19 April 1934
  6. ↑ F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949; Political Reference Publications, Glasgow 1949
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