1942 Windsor by-election

The 1942 Windsor by-election, was a by-election held for the House of Commons constituency of Windsor in Berkshire on 30 June 1942. The by-election was won by the Conservative candidate Charles Mott-Radclyffe.

Vacancy

The Conservative MP Annesley Somerville had died on 15 May 1942, aged 84.^{[ citation needed ]} He had held the seat since the 1922 general election and had been returned unopposed in 1931 and 1935.^{[ citation needed ]}

Candidates

The Conservative candidate was 30-year-old Charles Mott-Radclyffe, who had not previously contested a parliamentary election.

During the Second World War, the political parties in the Coalition Government had agreed not to contest by-elections when a vacancy arose in any of the seats held by the other coalition parties. However, many by-elections were contested by independent or minor party candidates, and in Windsor William Douglas Home, the younger brother of the future Prime Minister Alec Douglas-Home, stood as an "Independent Progressive" candidate, opposing Winston Churchill's war aim of an unconditional surrender by Germany. ^[1] Douglas-Home, a Second lieutenant in the Royal Armoured Corps, had previously contested the Glasgow Cathcart by-election in April 1942. He had supported appeasement in the 1930s.

Both candidates were in the army and had been schoolfriends at Eton.

Result

On a low turnout, Mott-Radclyffe held the seat for the Conservatives, but with a majority of only 17%, a surprisingly good result for Douglas-Home. Mott-Radclyffe served as Windsor's MP until he retired from the House of Commons at the 1970 general election

Douglas-Home went on to contest the Clay Cross by-election in April 1944, where he came a poor third, and was later imprisoned for a year with hard labour after being court-martialled for refusing to fight in the attack on Le Havre after the allied forces had refused a German request to suspend hostilities to allow civilian evacuation. ^[1]

Coincidentally, both candidates died in the same year, 1992, exactly 50 years after the by-election.

Votes

By-Election 30 June 1942: Windsor

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Charles Mott-Radclyffe	9,557	58.37	N/A
	Independent Progressive	William Douglas Home	6,817	41.63	New
Majority			2,740	16.74	N/A
Turnout			16,374	27.88	N/A
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A
Registered electors			58,726

General election 1935: Windsor

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Annesley Somerville	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Conservative hold

See also

• Windsor (UK Parliament constituency)
• Windsor, Berkshire
• List of United Kingdom by-elections (1931–1950)

Notes

1. William Douglas-Home in the Dictionary of National Biography

References

• Craig, F. W. S. (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918-1949 (3rd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN   0-900178-06-X.
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs