1955 South Norfolk by-election

Last updated

The 1955 South Norfolk by-election was a by-election held on 13 January 1955, for the British House of Commons constituency of South Norfolk.

Contents

The by-election was triggered by the expulsion of the serving Conservative Member of Parliament (MP), Peter Baker, who had been expelled from the House of Commons after being convicted of uttering, forgery and fraud and sentenced to seven years' imprisonment.

In the early 1920s, South Norfolk had been a marginal seat which alternated between Conservative and Labour MPs, before the Conservative James Christie held it from the 1924 election until Labour's Christopher Mayhew won the seat at the 1945 general election. Baker had recaptured South Norfolk for the Conservatives in 1950 and held it in 1951; [1] but with majorities of 6.8% and 9.0%, it was far from being a safe seat for the Conservative Party.

The result was a narrow win for the Conservative candidate John Hill, with a majority of only 865 votes (2.9%) over his sole opponent, the Labour candidate J. M. Stewart. At the general election in May 1955, Hill again faced Stewart, and on a much higher turnout held the seat with a majority of 1,475 (4.1%). [2] He remained South Norfolk's MP until his retirement from Parliament at the February 1974 general election.

Votes

South Norfolk by-election, 1955 [3] [4]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative John Hill 15,119 51.5 3.0
Labour J.M. Stewart14,25448.5+3.0
Majority8653.06.0
Turnout 29,373
Conservative hold Swing 3.0

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Norwich North (UK Parliament constituency)</span> Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 1950 onwards

Norwich North is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2009 by Conservative Chloe Smith.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leigh (UK Parliament constituency)</span> Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom

Leigh is a constituency in Greater Manchester represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by James Grundy of the Conservative Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Norwich South (UK Parliament constituency)</span> Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 1950 onwards

Norwich South is a constituency in Norfolk represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, since 2015 by Clive Lewis, of the Labour Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South West Norfolk (UK Parliament constituency)</span> Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 1885 onwards

South West Norfolk is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Liz Truss of the Conservative Party, who briefly served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from September to October 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Birmingham Edgbaston (UK Parliament constituency)</span> Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dewsbury (UK Parliament constituency)</span> Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom since 1868

Dewsbury is a constituency created in 1868. This seat is represented in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom Parliament since 2019 by Mark Eastwood of the Conservative Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bradford West (UK Parliament constituency)</span> Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Derby South (UK Parliament constituency)</span> UK Parliament constituency since 1950

Derby South is a constituency formed of part of the city of Derby represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 1983 by veteran MP Margaret Beckett of the Labour Party. She has served under the Labour governments of Harold Wilson, James Callaghan, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. She became interim Leader of the Labour Party in 1994 when John Smith suddenly died. She has also served under Neil Kinnock and Smith himself.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Birmingham Hall Green (UK Parliament constituency)</span> UK Parliament constituency in England since 1950

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wolverhampton South West (UK Parliament constituency)</span> Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom

Wolverhampton South West is a constituency created in 1950 represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Stuart Anderson of the Conservative Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Putney (UK Parliament constituency)</span> Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 1918 onwards

Putney is a constituency created in 1918. It is currently represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Fleur Anderson of the Labour Party. Putney was the only seat that Labour gained during the 2019 general election.

Glasgow Hillhead was a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1918 until 1997. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) using the first-past-the-post voting system.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hornsey (UK Parliament constituency)</span> Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 1885–1983

Hornsey was a constituency that returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the UK Parliament, 1885 — 1983. It was then largely replaced by Hornsey & Wood Green. Its voters using the first-past-the-post system elected the Conservative Party candidate at each election. Its closest result was a 1.29% majority at the 1966 election which saw the start of the Second Wilson Ministry. From 1945 onwards the runners-up in the seat were the Labour Party candidates.

Bradford Central was a parliamentary constituency in the city of Bradford, West Yorkshire, which returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Elections were held under the first-past-the-post voting system.

Ealing South was a constituency covering the same part of the Municipal Borough of Ealing in Middlesex as its short-lived forerunner Ealing East. It returned one member (MP) to the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. It was won by two Conservatives consecutively with majorities ranging from 13.6% to 30.5%, was first contested in the general election in 1950 and was replaced before that of February 1974.

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.

The 1961 East Fife by-election was a by-election held for the House of Commons constituency of East Fife in Scotland on 9 November 1961. It was won by the Unionist candidate Sir John Gilmour with a majority of 7,066 votes.

Sir Walter Robert Dempster Perkins, also known as Robert Perkins, was a Conservative Party politician in England.

Edward Warner Moeran was a British Common Wealth Party politician who later joined the later Labour Party. He stood as a Parliamentary candidate on five occasions, but won only once.

References

  1. "Richard Kimber's political science resources: UK General Election results October 1951". Archived from the original on 29 September 2007. Retrieved 10 February 2007.
  2. "Richard Kimber's political science resources: UK General Election results May 1955". Archived from the original on 25 September 2006. Retrieved 10 February 2007.
  3. British Parliament by-election: 1955
  4. Craig, F. W. S. (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918-1949 (3rd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN   0-900178-06-X.

See also