Battersea North by-election, 1940

Last updated

The Battersea North by-election, 1940 was a parliamentary by-election held on 17 April 1940 for the British House of Commons constituency of Battersea North in the Metropolitan Borough of Battersea.

By-elections, also spelled bye-elections, are used to fill elected offices that have become vacant between general elections.

United Kingdom constituencies electoral area in the UK (do not use in P31; use subclasses of this instead)

In the United Kingdom (UK), each of the electoral areas or divisions called constituencies elect one member to a parliament or assembly, with the exception of European Parliament and Northern Ireland Assembly constituencies which are multi member constituencies.

Battersea North was a parliamentary constituency in the then Metropolitan Borough of Battersea in South London. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first-past-the-post voting system.

Contents

The seat had become vacant on the resignation due to ill-health of the constituency's Labour Member of Parliament (MP), William Sanders. He had held the seat since the 1929 general election, with a four-year gap after his defeat in the National landslide at the 1931 general election. He was re-elected at the 1935 election.

Members of Parliament (MPs) sitting in the House of Commons in the United Kingdom are technically not permitted to resign their seats. To circumvent this prohibition, MPs who wish to resign can ask to be appointed to an "office of profit under the Crown", disqualifying them from sitting as MPs. While offices of profit are no longer disqualifying in general, various offices that no longer have duties associated with them still cause disqualification from and vacation of the seat.

The Labour Party is a centre-left political party in the United Kingdom which has been described as an alliance of social democrats, democratic socialists and trade unionists. The party's platform emphasises greater state intervention, social justice and strengthening workers' rights.

Candidates

The Labour Party selected as its candidate Francis Douglas, a former solicitor. In keeping with a war-time electoral pact, the Conservative and Liberal parties did not field candidates, and Douglas's only opponent was E.C. Joyce, who stood as an anti-war Independent candidate. Joyce received the backing of the Communist Party.

Francis Douglas, 1st Baron Douglas of Barloch British politician

Francis Campbell Ross Douglas, 1st Baron Douglas of Barloch KCMG, was a British journalist, solicitor and Labour Party politician.

World War II 1939–1945 global war

World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. The vast majority of the world's countries—including all the great powers—eventually formed two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis. A state of total war emerged, directly involving more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. The major participants threw their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities behind the war effort, blurring the distinction between civilian and military resources. World War II was the deadliest conflict in human history, marked by 50 to 85 million fatalities, most of whom were civilians in the Soviet Union and China. It included massacres, the genocide of the Holocaust, strategic bombing, premeditated death from starvation and disease, and the only use of nuclear weapons in war.

Conservative Party (UK) Political party in the United Kingdom

The Conservative Party, officially the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom. Presently led by Theresa May, it has been the governing party since 2010. It presently has 314 Members of Parliament in the House of Commons, 249 members of the House of Lords, and 18 members of the European Parliament. It also has 31 Members of the Scottish Parliament, 12 members of the Welsh Assembly, eight members of the London Assembly and 9,008 local councillors. One of the major parties of UK politics, it has formed the government on 45 occasions, more than any other party.

Results

On a considerably reduced turnout, Douglas held the seat for Labour with a majority of 9,156 votes; Joyce won just 7.4% of the votes cast, thus forfeiting his deposit.

Douglas would go on to hold the seat against Conservative opposition at the 1945 general election, until resigning in 1946 to take up the post of Governor of Malta, precipitating another by-election in the constituency.

Votes

Battersea North by-election, 1940
PartyCandidateVotes%±
Labour Francis Douglas 9,947 92.6 33.9
Independent E.C. Joyce 791 7.4 N/A
Majority 9,156 85.2 +67.8
Turnout 10,738 25.1 -38.4
Labour hold Swing N/A
1935 General Election: Battersea North
PartyCandidateVotes%±
Labour William Sanders 17,596 58.7 23.1
Conservative Arthur Marsden 12,393 41.3 -14.1
Majority 5,203 17.4 N/A
Turnout 29,989 63.5 -4.1
Labour gain from Conservative Swing 18.6%

See also

UK by-election records is an annotated list of notable records from UK Parliamentary by-elections. A by-election occurs when a Member of Parliament resigns, dies, or is disqualified or expelled, and an election is held to fill the vacant seat. A constituency is the seat or division that member represented.

Related Research Articles

Battersea (UK Parliament constituency) Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom

Battersea is a constituency in the London Borough of Wandsworth represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2017 by Marsha De Cordova of the Labour Party.

Wandsworth Central was a parliamentary constituency in the Wandsworth district of South London. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. elected by the first-past-the-post voting system.

The Newport by-election, 1945 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.

The Bow and Bromley by-election, 1940, was a parliamentary by-election held on 12 June 1940 for the British House of Commons constituency of Bow and Bromley in the Metropolitan Borough of Poplar in the East End of London.

The Kettering by-election, 1940 was a parliamentary by-election held on 6 March 1940 for the British House of Commons constituency of Kettering in Northamptonshire.

The Nottingham Central by-election, 1930 was a parliamentary by-election held on 27 May 1930 for the British House of Commons constituency of Nottingham Central.

The Maldon by-election, 1942 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 Newcastle upon Tyne North by-election, 1940 was a parliamentary by-election held on 7 June 1940 for the British House of Commons constituency of Newcastle upon Tyne North.

Hyacinth Bernard Wenceslaus Morgan was a Labour Party politician in the United Kingdom. He was a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1929 to 1931, and 1940 to 1955.

The Rochdale by-election, 1940 was a by-election held for the British House of Commons constituency of Rochdale in Lancashire on 20 July 1940.

The Preston by-election, 1940 was a parliamentary by-election held for the British House of Commons constituency of Preston in Lancashire on 29 September 1940. The seat had become vacant on the death of the Conservative Member of Parliament Adrian Moreing, who had held the seat since the 1931 general election.

The Combined Scottish Universities by-election, 1936 was a by-election held from 27 to 31 January 1936 for the Combined Scottish Universities, a university constituency of the British House of Commons.

The Middlesbrough West by-election, 1945 was a parliamentary by-election held on 14 May 1945 for the British House of Commons constituency of Middlesbrough West.

The Berwick-upon-Tweed by-election, 1944 was a parliamentary by-election held on 17 October 1944 for the British House of Commons constituency of Berwick-upon-Tweed.

The Knowsley North by-election, 1986 was a parliamentary by-election held on 13 November 1986 for the British House of Commons constituency of Knowsley North.

The Stafford by-election, 1984 was a parliamentary by-election held on 3 May 1984 for the British House of Commons constituency of Stafford.

The North Cornwall by-election, 1939 was a parliamentary by-election held on 13 July 1939 for the British House of Commons constituency of North Cornwall.

The Leeds North East by-election, 1940 was a parliamentary by-election in England held on 13 March 1940 to elect a new Member of Parliament (MP) for the House of Commons constituency of Leeds North East.

The Battersea North by-election, 1946 was a parliamentary by-election held on 25 July 1946 for the British House of Commons constituency of Battersea North in the Metropolitan Borough of Battersea.

The Skipton by-election, 1944 was a parliamentary by-election for the British House of Commons constituency of Skipton, Yorkshire held on 7 January 1944.

References

Frederick Walter Scott Craig was a Scottish psephologist and compiler of the standard reference books covering United Kingdom Parliamentary election results. He originally worked in public relations, compiling election results in his spare time which were published by the Scottish Unionist Party. In the late 1960s he launched his own business as a publisher of reference books, and also compiled various other statistics concerning British politics.

International Standard Book Number Unique numeric book identifier

The International Standard Book Number (ISBN) is a numeric commercial book identifier which is intended to be unique. Publishers purchase ISBNs from an affiliate of the International ISBN Agency.

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.