1943 King's Lynn by-election

Last updated

The King's Lynn by-election, 1943 was a by-election held for the British House of Commons constituency of King's Lynn in Norfolk on 12 February 1943. The seat had become vacant when the Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) Somerset Maxwell had died in December 1942 from wounds received at the Battle of El Alamein.

Contents

Candidates

The Conservative candidate was Maurice Roche, who had been the MP for King's Lynn from 1924 until he stepped down in favour of Maxwell at the 1935 general election. Although a hereditary peer, his succession in 1920 to the title of Baron Fermoy had not disqualified him from the House of Commons, because his title was in the Peerage of Ireland, and did not grant a seat in the House of Lords.

During World War II, the parties in the Coalition Government had agreed not to contest by-elections in seats held by other coalition parties, and many wartime by-elections were therefore unopposed. However, local party members who disagreed with the truce could not be prevented from standing as independent candidates. In King's Lynn, Frederick Wise, who had been the official Labour Party candidate at the 1935 general election, stood as an "Independent Labour" candidate.

Result

On a heavily reduced turnout, Lord Fermoy held the seat for the Conservatives, albeit with a much reduced majority. Fermoy retired (for a second time) at the 1945 general election, when Wise won the seat as an official Labour Party candidate.

Votes

King's Lynn by-election, 1943
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Maurice Roche 10,696 54.2 +4.2
Independent Labour Frederick Wise 9,02745.8New
Majority1,6698.4−7.1
Turnout 9,72339.8−31.9
Conservative hold Swing

See also

Related Research Articles

The National Labour Organisation, also known simply as National Labour, was formed in 1931 by supporters of the National Government in Britain who had come from the Labour Party. Its leaders were Ramsay MacDonald (1931–1937) and his son Malcolm MacDonald (1937–1945).

Wednesbury was a borough constituency in England's Black Country which returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1868 until it was abolished for the February 1974 general election.

Frederick John Wise, 1st Baron Wise, was a Labour Party politician in the United Kingdom. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for King's Lynn from 1945 to 1951. He was the younger brother of fellow Labour MP Frank Wise.

Lieutenant-Colonel Somerset Arthur Maxwell was a Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom.

The 1943 Darwen by-election was a by-election held on 15 December 1943 for the British House of Commons constituency of Darwen in Lancashire.

The 1943 Bristol Central by-election was a by-election held on 18 February 1943 for the British House of Commons constituency of Bristol Central in the city of Bristol. The seat had become vacant when the constituency's Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) Lord Apsley had been killed on 17 December 1942, whilst on active service in the Second World War. He had been serving under the Arab Legion in Malta.

The 1945 Newport by-election was a parliamentary by-election held on 17 May 1945 for the British House of Commons constituency of Newport in Monmouthshire. It was the last by-election of the 1935–1945 Parliament.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1942 Maldon by-election</span>

The 1942 Maldon by-election was a parliamentary by-election held on 25 June 1942 for the British House of Commons constituency of Maldon in Essex. It was one a series of by-elections in World War II won by radical independent candidates.

The 1942 Spennymoor by-election was a parliamentary by-election held on 21 July 1942 for the British House of Commons constituency of Spennymoor in County Durham.

The 1939 East Norfolk by-election was a parliamentary by-election held on 26 January 1939 for the British House of Commons constituency of East Norfolk.

The 1939 Monmouth by-election was a by-election held for the British House of Commons constituency of Monmouth in Wales on 25 July 1939.

The 1935 Liverpool Wavertree by-election was a by-election held in England for the House of Commons constituency of Liverpool Wavertree on 6 February 1935. It was won by the Labour Party candidate Joseph Cleary.

The 1941 Berwick-upon-Tweed by-election was a parliamentary by-election held on 18 August 1941 for the British House of Commons constituency of Berwick-upon-Tweed.

The 1939 Westminster Abbey by-election was a parliamentary by-election held on 17 May 1939 for the British House of Commons constituency of Westminster Abbey in London.

The 1943 University of Wales by-election was a parliamentary by-election held in the United Kingdom between 25 and 29 January 1943 for the House of Commons constituency of University of Wales.

The 1941 Edinburgh by-election was a parliamentary by-election held on 11 December 1941 for the British House of Commons constituency of Edinburgh Central in Scotland.

The 1943 Midlothian and Peebles Northern by-election was a parliamentary by-election held in Scotland on 11 February 1943 to elect a new Member of Parliament (MP) for the House of Commons constituency of Midlothian and Peebles Northern.

The 1943 St Albans by-election was a parliamentary by-election held in England in October 1943 for the House of Commons constituency of St Albans in Hertfordshire.

The 1941 Lancaster by-election was a parliamentary by-election for the British House of Commons constituency of Lancaster, Lancashire on 15 October 1941.

The 1918 Gravesend by-election was a Parliamentary by-election held on 7 June 1918. The constituency returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post voting system.

References

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.