1939 Colne Valley by-election

The 1939 Colne Valley by-election was a parliamentary by-election held on 27 July 1939 for the British House of Commons constituency of Colne Valley.

Previous MP

Ernest Marklew, who had been a Councillor in Grimsby, was first elected as MP for Colne Valley in 1935 when he gained the seat from the Liberal party.^{[ citation needed ]} He died on 14 June 1939, forcing a by-election on the Labour party.^{[ citation needed ]}

Previous Result

General election, 14 November 1935

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ernest Marklew	16,725	42.3
	Liberal	Lance Mallalieu	12,946	30.6
	Conservative	M.G. Crofton	10,917	25.8
	Independent	W.G. Bagnall	1,754	4.1
Majority			3,779	11.7	N/A
Turnout			40,588
	Labour gain from Liberal		Swing

Candidates

The Labour party selected 52-year-old Glenvil Hall to defend the seat. He had been Labour MP for Portsmouth Central from 1929 to 1931.^{[ citation needed ]} The Liberal party selected 34-year-old Lance Mallalieu to fight the seat. He had been the MP for the seat from 1931 until defeated by Marklew at the last General Election in 1935.^{[ citation needed ]} The Conservative party selected 41-year-old Cecil Pike as their new candidate. He had been Conservative MP for Sheffield Attercliffe from 1931 to 1935.^{[ citation needed ]}

Result

Colne Valley by-election, 1939

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Glenvil Hall	17,277	48.6	+6.3
	Liberal	Lance Mallalieu	9,228	26.0	−4.6
	Conservative	Cecil Frederick Pike	9,012	25.4	−0.4
Majority			8,049	22.6	+10.9
Turnout			35,517
	Labour hold		Swing

Aftermath

Hall continued as MP for Colne Valley until his death in 1962. He served as Financial Secretary to the Treasury in the 1945-50 Labour government.^{[ citation needed ]} Mallalieu left the Liberal party for Labour before being elected Labour MP for Brigg in 1948.^{[ citation needed ]} Pike did not contest another election.^{[ citation needed ]}

General election, 5 July 1945

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Glenvil Hall	23,488	54.7
	Conservative	S. Smith	11,593	27.0
	Liberal	G. K. Lawrence	7,890	18.3
Majority			11,895	27.7
Turnout			42,971
	Labour hold		Swing

References

• British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (The Macmillan Press 1979)