1937 Chertsey by-election

1937 Chertsey by-election

←  1935 2 July 1937 1945  →
Constituency of Chertsey
Turnout	39.2% (21.0%)
First party Second party   Lib Candidate Arthur Marsden Ernest Ronald Haylor Party Conservative Liberal Popular vote 19,767 10,722 Percentage 64.8% 35.2% Swing 6.6% 6.6%
MP before election Archibald Boyd-Carpenter Conservative Subsequent MP Arthur Marsden Conservative

The 1937 Chertsey by-election was held on 2 July 1937. The by-election was held due to the death of the incumbent Conservative MP, Archibald Boyd-Carpenter.

Candidates

The Liberal Party selected Ronald Haylor, a Buckingham Gate Barrister. He was educated at the Leys and Trinity College, Oxford. He played hockey for Oxford University and rugby union for a leading London club. ^[1] He was Liberal Party candidate at Windsor in the 1929 general election and at Totnes for the general elections of 1931 and 1935. ^[2] There were growing moves for a Popular Front, where parties of the left came together to oppose fascism and Nazi appeasement. In Chertsey, a local Popular Front was formed, which hoped to see the Liberal and Labour parties support a progressive candidate. They launched a charter in February 1937. ^[3] Haylor was given the backing of the Chertsey Popular Front and added the suffix of 'Progressive' to the party label. ^[4]

At first, a three-cornered contest had been expected between the Conservative candidate, the retired naval officer Arthur Marsden, Haylor and Mr F. J. Tompsett, a City rubber broker, who was to have stood as an Independent and anti-Communist. However, Tompsett decided to withdraw in favour of Marsden. ^[5]

Result and votes

The Conservative Party held the seat with a reduced majority.

Chertsey by-election, 1937 ^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Arthur Marsden	19,767	64.8	−6.6
	Liberal	Ernest Ronald Haylor	10,722	35.2	+6.6
Majority			9,045	29.6	−13.2
Turnout			30,489	39.2	−21.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

References

1. The Times House of Commons, 1929
2. The Times House of Commons, 1935
3. The Liberal Magazine, 1937
4. The Scotsman 5 Jun 1937
5. "CHERTSEY FIGHT" . Sunderland Daily Echo and Shipping Gazette. British Newspaper Archive. 24 June 1937. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
6. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig