List of United Kingdom by-elections (1931–1950)

This is a list of parliamentary by-elections in the United Kingdom held between 1931 and 1950, with the names of the incumbent and victor and their respective parties. Where seats changed political party at the election, the result is highlighted: red for a Labour gain, blue for a Conservative gain, orange for a Liberal gain, yellow for an SNP gain and grey for any other gain. A grand total of 333 by-elections were held during this period.

Resignations

Further information: Resignation from the British House of Commons

Where the cause of by-election is given as "resignation" or "seeks re-election", this indicates that the incumbent was appointed on his or her own request to an "office of profit under the Crown", either the Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds or the Steward of the Manor of Northstead. These appointments are made as a constitutional device for leaving the House of Commons, whose Members are not permitted to resign.

By-elections

By-election	Date	Incumbent	Party		Winner	Party		Cause
Bradford South	8 December 1949	Meredith Titterington		Labour	George Craddock		Labour	Death
Leeds West	21 July 1949	Thomas Stamford		Labour	Charles Pannell		Labour	Death (suicide)
Sowerby	16 March 1949	John Belcher		Labour	Douglas Houghton		Labour	Resignation (scandal)
St Pancras North	10 March 1949	George House		Labour	Kenneth Robinson		Labour	Death
Hammersmith South	24 February 1949	William Thomas Adams		Labour	Thomas Williams		Labour	Death
Batley and Morley	17 February 1949	Hubert Beaumont		Labour	Alfred Broughton		Labour	Death
Glasgow Hillhead	25 November 1948	James Reid		Conservative	Thomas Galbraith		Conservative	Law life peerage on appointment as Lord of Appeal in Ordinary
Edmonton	13 November 1948	Evan Durbin		Labour	Austen Albu		Labour	Death (drowned in swimming accident)
Stirling and Falkirk	7 October 1948	Joseph Westwood		Labour	Malcolm Macpherson		Labour	Death (road accident)
Glasgow Gorbals	30 September 1948	George Buchanan		Labour	Alice Cullen		Labour	Chairman of National Assistance Board
Southwark Central	29 April 1948	John Hanbury Martin		Labour	Roy Jenkins		Labour	Resignation
Brigg	24 March 1948	Thomas Williamson		Labour	Lance Mallalieu		Labour	Resignation
Croydon North	11 March 1948	Henry Willink		Conservative	Fred Harris		Conservative	Master of Magdalene College, Cambridge
Armagh	5 March 1948	Sir William Allen		UUP	James Harden		UUP	Death (road accident)
Wigan	4 March 1948	William Foster		Labour	Ronald Williams		Labour	Death
Paisley	18 February 1948	Viscount Corvedale		Labour	Douglas Johnston		Labour	Succession to the peerage
Glasgow Camlachie	28 January 1948 [38 1]	Campbell Stephen		Ind. Labour Party/Labour Party	Charles McFarlane		Conservative	Death
Epsom	4 December 1947	Sir Archibald Southby, Bt		Conservative	Malcolm McCorquodale		Conservative	Resignation
Howdenshire	27 November 1947	Clifford Glossop		Conservative	George Odey		Conservative	Resignation
Edinburgh East	27 November 1947	George Thomson		Labour	John Wheatley		Labour	Appointment as Lord Justice Clerk
Gravesend	26 November 1947	Garry Allighan		Labour	Sir Richard Acland		Labour	Expelled from the House (found to be in extreme contempt)
Islington West	25 September 1947	Frederick Montague		Labour	Albert Evans		Labour	Appointment to hereditary peerage
Liverpool Edge Hill	11 September 1947	Richard Clitherow		Labour	Arthur Irvine		Labour	Death (overdose)
Jarrow	7 May 1947	Ellen Wilkinson		Labour	Ernest Fernyhough		Labour	Death (overdose)
Normanton	11 February 1947	Tom Smith		Labour	George Sylvester		Labour	Labour Director of North East Coal Board
Kilmarnock	5 December 1946	Clarice Shaw		Labour	William Ross		Labour	Resignation due to ill health
Aberdare	5 December 1946	George Hall		Labour	David Thomas		Labour	Elevation to hereditary peerage
Combined Scottish Universities	27 November 1946 [38 2]	Sir John Boyd-Orr		Independent	Walter Elliot		Conservative	Appointment as Chancellor of the University of Glasgow
Aberdeen South	26 November 1946	Sir Douglas Thomson		Conservative	Lady Tweedsmuir		Conservative	Resignation
Paddington North	20 November 1946	Sir Noel Mason-Macfarlane		Labour	William J. Field		Labour	Resignation
Rotherhithe	19 November 1946	Sir Benjamin Smith		Labour	Robert Mellish		Labour	Chairman of West Midlands Coal Board
Glasgow Bridgeton	29 August 1946	James Maxton		Ind. Labour Party	James Carmichael		Ind. Labour Party	Death
Battersea North	25 July 1946	Francis Douglas		Labour	Douglas Jay		Labour	Governor of Malta
Pontypool	23 July 1946	Arthur Jenkins		Labour	Daniel West		Labour	Death
Bexley	22 July 1946	Jennie Adamson		Labour	Ashley Bramall		Labour	Deputy Chairman of Assistance Board
Down	6 June 1946 [38 3]	James Little		Ind. Ulster Unionist	C. H. Mullan		UUP	Death
Ogmore	4 June 1946	Edward Williams		Labour	John Evans		Labour	Australian High Commissioner
Combined English Universities	18 March 1946 [38 2]	Eleanor Rathbone		Independent	Henry Strauss		Conservative	Death
Hemsworth	22 February 1946 [38 4]	George Griffiths		Labour	Horace Holmes		Labour	Death
Heywood and Radcliffe	21 February 1946	John Edmondson Whittaker		Labour	Anthony Greenwood		Labour	Death (suicide)
Glasgow Cathcart	12 February 1946	Francis Beattie		Conservative	John Henderson		Conservative	Death (road accident)
South Ayrshire	7 February 1946	Alexander Sloan		Labour	Emrys Hughes		Labour	Death
Preston	31 January 1946	John Sunderland		Labour	Edward Shackleton		Labour	Death
Tottenham North	13 December 1945	Robert Morrison		Labour	William Irving		Labour	Elevation to hereditary peerage
Kensington South	20 November 1945	Sir William Davison		Conservative	Richard Law		Conservative	Elevation to hereditary peerage
Bournemouth	15 November 1945	Sir Leonard Lyle		Conservative	Brendan Bracken		Conservative	Elevation to hereditary peerage
Bromley	14 November 1945 [38 5]	Edward Campbell		Conservative	Harold Macmillan		Conservative	Death
City of London	31 October 1945	George Broadbridge		Conservative	Ralph Assheton		Conservative	Elevation to hereditary peerage
Monmouth	31 October 1945 [38 5]	Leslie Pym		Conservative	Peter Thorneycroft		Conservative	Death
Edinburgh East	3 October 1945	Frederick Pethick-Lawrence		Labour	George Thomson		Labour	Elevation to hereditary peerage
Ashton-under-Lyne	2 October 1945	Sir William Jowitt		Labour	Hervey Rhodes		Labour	Hereditary Peerage on appointment as Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain
Smethwick	1 October 1945 [38 6]	Alfred Dobbs		Labour	Patrick Gordon Walker		Labour	Death (road accident)
Campbell Stephen was elected as an Independent Labour Party MP in the 1945 general election but moved to the Labour Party in 1947, 4 days before his death. The seat was won by Labour in the 1950 general election. Constituency abolished in 1950. Down was a two member constituency. Little was elected as an official Ulster Unionist in the 1939 Down by-election. Prior to the 1945 general election he resigned from the party in protest at being subject to a reselection due to the retirement of Viscount Castlereagh, the other official Unionist MP, and held his seat as an Independent Ulster Unionist. Multi-member constituencies were abolished at the 1950 general election, but the Ulster Unionists won both successor seats, North Down and South Down. The last uncontested by-election on the British mainland to date. Both Pym and Campbell died after the close of polling, but before the declaration. They were returned at the head of the poll in their respective constituencies, and declared elected posthumously. Dobbs was killed in a road accident the day after his election, making him the shortest-serving MP in British history. 1935–1945 Parliament This Parliament's life was extended by annual Prolongation of Parliament Acts for the duration of the Second World War. By-elections continued to fill vacancies. An electoral truce was negotiated between the Conservative, Labour, Liberal, National Liberal and National Labour parties, and National independent MPs that they would not contest by-elections which another party held (although there were a few occasions when a National party would step aside from a vacancy in favour of a National independent, usually a government minister). However many independents stood, including some party members who disagreed with the truce. The Common Wealth Party was formed in part with a view to contesting wartime by-elections. A total of 219 by-elections were held during this period.
By-election	Date	Incumbent	Party		Winner	Party		Cause
Newport	17 May 1945 [37 1]	Reginald Clarry		Conservative	Ronald Bell		Conservative	Death
Neath	15 May 1945	William Jenkins		Labour	D. J. Williams		Labour	Death
Middlesbrough West	14 May 1945 [37 2]	Harcourt Johnstone		Liberal	Don Bennett		Liberal	Death
Caernarvon Boroughs	26 April 1945 [37 3]	David Lloyd George		Liberal	Seaborne Davies		Liberal	Elevation to the peerage
Chelmsford	26 April 1945 [37 4]	John Macnamara		Conservative	Ernest Millington		Common Wealth	Death (active service)
Combined Scottish Universities	13 April 1945 [37 5]	George Morrison		National Liberal	John Boyd-Orr		Independent	Resignation
Motherwell	12 April 1945 [37 1]	James Walker		Labour	Robert McIntyre		SNP	Death (road accident)
Berwick-upon-Tweed	17 October 1944	George Charles Grey		Liberal	William Beveridge		Liberal	Death (active service)
Chelsea	11 October 1944 [37 2]	Samuel Hoare		Conservative	William Sidney		Conservative	Elevation to the peerage
Bilston	20 September 1944	Ian Hannah		Conservative	William Gibbons		Conservative	Death
Manchester Rusholme	8 July 1944	Edmund Radford		Conservative	Frederick Cundiff		Conservative	Death
Clay Cross	14 April 1944	George Ridley		Labour	Harold Neal		Labour	Death
Camberwell North	30 March 1944	Charles Ammon		Labour	Cecil Manning		Labour	Elevation to the peerage
Bury St Edmunds	29 February 1944	Frank Heilgers		Conservative	Edgar Keatinge		Conservative	Death (train crash)
Sheffield Attercliffe	21 February 1944 [37 2]	Cecil Wilson		Labour	John Hynd		Labour	Resignation (ill health)
Kirkcaldy Burghs	17 February 1944	Thomas Kennedy		Labour	Thomas Hubbard		Labour	Resignation (ill-health)
West Derbyshire	17 February 1944 [37 6]	Henry Hunloke		Conservative	Charles Frederick White		Independent	Resignation
Brighton	3 February 1944	Sir Cooper Rawson		Conservative	William Teeling		Conservative	Resignation (ill-health)
Skipton	7 January 1944 [37 1]	George William Rickards		Conservative	Hugh Lawson		Common Wealth	Death
Acton	14 December 1943	Hubert Duggan		Conservative	Henry Longhurst		Conservative	Death (active service)
Darwen	15 December 1943	Stuart Russell		Conservative	Stanley Prescott		Conservative	Death (active service)
Consett	15 November 1943 [37 2]	David Adams		Labour	James Glanville		Labour	Death
Woolwich West	10 November 1943	Kingsley Wood		Conservative	Francis Beech		Conservative	Death
Peterborough	15 October 1943	David Cecil		Conservative	John Hely-Hutchinson		Conservative	Appointment as Governor of Bermuda
St Albans	5 October 1943 [37 2]	Francis Fremantle		Conservative	John Grimston		Conservative	Death
Chippenham	24 August 1943	Victor Cazalet		Conservative	David Eccles		Conservative	Death (active service)
Burton-on-Trent	2 July 1943 [37 2]	John Gretton		Conservative	John Gretton		Conservative	Resignation (ill-health)
Birmingham Aston	9 June 1943	Edward Kellett		Conservative	Redvers Prior		Conservative	Death (active service)
Newark	8 June 1943	William Cavendish-Bentinck		Conservative	Sidney Shephard		Conservative	Succession to the peerage
The Hartlepools	1 June 1943	William George Howard Gritten		Conservative	Thomas George Greenwell		Conservative	Death
Daventry	20 April 1943	Edward Fitzroy		Speaker	Reginald Manningham-Buller		Conservative	Death
Eddisbury	7 April 1943 [37 7]	Richard John Russell		Conservative	John Loverseed		Common Wealth	Death
Buckingham	4 April 1943 [37 2]	John Whiteley		Conservative	Lionel Berry		Conservative	Death (active service)
Watford	23 February 1943	Dennis Herbert		Conservative	William Helmore		Conservative	Elevation to the peerage
Bristol Central	18 February 1943	Allen Apsley		Conservative	Violet Bathurst		Conservative	Death (active service)
Portsmouth North	16 February 1943	Sir Roger Keyes		Conservative	William James		Conservative	Elevation to the peerage
King's Lynn	12 February 1943	Somerset Maxwell		Conservative	Edmund Roche		Conservative	Death (active service)
Midlothian and Peebles Northern	11 February 1943	John Colville		Conservative	Sir David King Murray		Conservative	Appointment as Governor of Bombay
Antrim	11 February 1943	Joseph McConnell		UUP	John Dermot Campbell		UUP	Death
Ashford	10 February 1943	Patrick Spens		Conservative	Edward Percy Smith		Conservative	Appointment as Chief Justice of India
Belfast West	9 February 1943 [37 8]	Alexander Browne		UUP	Jack Beattie		NI Labour	Death
University of Wales	30 January 1943	Ernest Evans		Liberal	William John Gruffydd		Liberal	Appointment as a County Court Judge
Hamilton	29 January 1943	Duncan Graham		Labour	Tom Fraser		Labour	Death
Ince	20 October 1942 [37 2]	Gordon Macdonald		Labour	Tom Brown		Labour	Appointment as North-West Regional Fuel Controller
Manchester Clayton	17 October 1942	John Jagger		Labour	Harry Thorneycroft		Labour	Death (road accident)
Sheffield Park	27 August 1942 [37 2]	George Lathan		Labour	Thomas Burden		Labour	Death
Poplar South	12 August 1942	David Morgan Adams		Labour	William Henry Guy		Labour	Death
Whitechapel and St Georges	8 August 1942 [37 2]	J. H. Hall		Labour	Walter Edwards		Labour	Death
Rothwell	7 August 1942 [37 2]	William Lunn		Labour	T. J. Brooks		Labour	Death
Spennymoor	21 July 1942 [37 2]	Joseph Batey		Labour	James Murray		Labour	Resignation (ill-health)
Salisbury	8 July 1942	James Despencer-Robertson		Conservative	John Morrison		Conservative	Death
Windsor	30 June 1942	Annesley Somerville		Conservative	Charles Mott-Radclyffe		Conservative	Death
Maldon	25 June 1942 [37 9]	Edward Ruggles-Brise		Conservative	Tom Driberg		Independent	Death
Llandaff and Barry	10 June 19421	Patrick Munro		Conservative	Cyril Lakin		Conservative	Death (active service)
Chichester	25 May 1942	John Courtauld		Conservative	Lancelot Joynson-Hicks		Conservative	Death
Putney	8 May 1942	Marcus Samuel		Conservative	Hugh Linstead		Conservative	Death
Rugby	29 April 1942 [37 10]	David Margesson		Conservative	William Brown		Independent	Elevation to the peerage
Wallasey	29 April 1942 [37 1]	John Moore-Brabazon		Conservative	George Reakes		Independent	Elevation to the peerage
Glasgow Cathcart	29 April 1942	John Train		Conservative	Francis Beattie		Conservative	Death
Cardiff East	13 April 1942 [37 11]	Owen Temple-Morris		Conservative	Sir P. J. Grigg		National	Appointment as a County Court Judge
Tavistock	2 April 1942 [37 2]	Colin Patrick		Conservative	Henry Studholme		Conservative	Death
Grantham	25 March 1942 [37 10]	Victor Warrender		Conservative	Denis Kendall		Independent	Elevation to the peerage
Wigan	11 March 1942 [37 2]	John Parkinson		Labour	William Foster		Labour	Death
Newcastle-under-Lyme	11 March 1942 [37 2]	Josiah Wedgwood		Labour	John Mack		Labour	Elevation to the peerage
Manchester Gorton	11 March 1942 [37 2]	William Wedgwood Benn		Labour	William Oldfield		Labour	Elevation to the peerage
Nuneaton	9 March 1942 [37 2]	Reginald Fletcher		Labour	Frank Bowles		Labour	Elevation to the peerage
Keighley	13 February 1942 [37 2]	Hastings Lees-Smith		Labour	Ivor Thomas		Labour	Death
North East Derbyshire	2 February 1942 [37 2]	Frank Lee		Labour	Henry White		Labour	Death
Edinburgh Central	11 December 1941	James Guy		Conservative	Frank Watt		Conservative	Resignation (ill-health)
Harrow	2 December 1941	Isidore Salmon		Conservative	Norman Bower		Conservative	Death
Hampstead	27 November 1941	George Balfour		Conservative	Charles Challen		Conservative	Death
Brighton	15 November 1941 [37 2]	Lord Erskine		Conservative	Anthony Marlowe		Conservative	Resignation
Lancaster	15 October 1941	Herwald Ramsbotham		Conservative	Fitzroy Maclean		Conservative	Elevation to the peerage
The Wrekin	26 September 1941	James Baldwin-Webb		Conservative	Arthur Colegate		Conservative	Death (drowned when the liner City of Benares was torpedoed)
Scarborough and Whitby	24 September 1941	Paul Latham		Conservative	Alexander Spearman		Conservative	Resignation (scandal)
Berwick-upon-Tweed	18 August 1941 [37 2]	Hugh Seely		Liberal	George Charles Grey		Liberal	Elevation to the peerage
Pontefract	24 July 1941 [37 2]	Adam Hills		Labour	Percy Barstow		Labour	Death
Dudley	23 July 1941	Dudley Joel		Conservative	Cyril Edward Lloyd		Conservative	Death (active service)
Edinburgh West	12 July 1941 [37 2]	Thomas Cooper		Conservative	Ian Clark Hutchison		Conservative	Appointed Lord Justice Clerk
Greenock	10 July 1941 [37 2]	Robert Gibson		Labour	Hector McNeil		Labour	Appointment as Chairman of the Scottish Land Court
West Dorset	21 June 1941 [37 2]	Philip Colfox		Conservative	Simon Wingfield-Digby		Conservative	Resignation
Hornsey	28 May 1941	Euan Wallace		Conservative	David Gammans		Conservative	Death
King's Norton	8 May 1941	Ronald Cartland		Conservative	Arthur Peto		Conservative	Death (active service)
Mansfield	22 April 1941 [37 2]	Charles Brown		Labour	Bernard Taylor		Labour	Death
West Bromwich	16 April 1941 [37 2]	Frederick Roberts		Labour	John Dugdale		Labour	Resignation (ill-health)
Great Yarmouth	8 April 1941 [37 2]	Arthur Harbord		National Liberal	Percy Jewson		National Liberal	Death
Carmarthen	26 March 1941 [37 2]	Daniel Hopkin		Labour	Ronw Hughes		Labour	Appointment as a Metropolitan Police Magistrate
Bodmin	11 March 1941 [37 2]	John Rathbone		Conservative	Beatrice Wright		Conservative	Death (active service)
Hitchin	10 March 1941 [37 2]	Arnold Wilson		Conservative	Seymour Berry		Conservative	Death (active service)
Dunbartonshire	27 February 1941	Thomas Cassells		Labour	Adam McKinlay		Labour	Appointment as Sheriff Substitute
Petersfield	22 February 1941 [37 2]	Reginald Dorman-Smith		Conservative	George Jeffreys		Conservative	Appointment as Governor of Burma
South Dorset	22 February 1941 [37 2]	Robert Gascoyne-Cecil		Conservative	Victor Montagu		Conservative	Succession to the peerage by writ of acceleration
Doncaster	6 February 1941 [37 2]	John Morgan		Labour	Evelyn Walkden		Labour	Death
Birmingham Edgbaston	18 December 1940 [37 2]	Neville Chamberlain		Conservative	Peter Bennett		Conservative	Death
Northampton	6 December 1940	Mervyn Manningham-Buller		Conservative	Gerard Summers		Conservative	Resignation
Southampton	27 November 1940 [37 12] [37 2]	Sir John Reith		National	Russell Thomas		National Liberal	Elevation to the peerage
Aldershot	26 November 1940 [37 2]	Roundell Palmer		Conservative	Oliver Lyttelton		Conservative	Succession to the peerage
Queen's University of Belfast	2 November 1940 [37 2]	Thomas Sinclair		UUP	Douglas Savory		UUP	Resignation
Preston	25 September 1940 [37 2]	Adrian Moreing		Conservative	Randolph Churchill		Conservative	Death
Manchester Exchange	21 September 1940 [37 2]	Peter Eckersley		Conservative	Thomas Hewlett		Conservative	Death (active service)
Bolton	13 September 1940 [37 2]	John Haslam		Conservative	Edward Cadogan		Conservative	Death
Heywood and Radcliffe	28 August 1940 [37 2]	Richard Porritt		Conservative	James Wootton-Davies		Conservative	Death (active service)
Mitcham	19 August 1940 [37 2]	Richard Meller		Conservative	Malcolm Robertson		Conservative	Death
Middlesbrough West	7 August 1940 [37 2]	Frank Kingsley Griffith		Liberal	Harcourt Johnstone		Liberal	Appointment as a County Court Judge
Wansbeck	29 July 1940 [37 2]	Bernard Cruddas		Conservative	Robert Scott		Conservative	Resignation
Rochdale	20 July 1940 [37 2]	William Kelly		Labour	Hyacinth Morgan		Labour	Resignation (ill-health)
Nottingham Central	19 July 1940 [37 2]	Terence O'Connor		Conservative	Frederick Sykes		Conservative	Death
Montrose Burghs	5 July 1940 [37 2]	Charles Kerr		National Liberal	John Maclay		National Liberal	Elevation to the peerage
Newcastle upon Tyne West	5 July 1940 [37 2]	Joseph Leech		Conservative	William Nunn		Conservative	Elevation to the peerage
Bournemouth	27 June 1940 [37 2]	Henry Page Croft		Conservative	Leonard Lyle		Conservative	Elevation to the peerage
Wandsworth Central	22 June 1940 [37 2]	Harry Nathan		Labour	Ernest Bevin		Labour	Elevation to the peerage
Croydon North	19 June 1940	Glyn Mason		Conservative	Henry Willink		Conservative	Resignation
Bow and Bromley	12 June 1940	George Lansbury		Labour	Charles Key		Labour	Death
Newcastle upon Tyne North	7 June 1940 [37 13]	Nicholas Grattan-Doyle		Conservative	Cuthbert Headlam		Ind. Conservative	Resignation (ill-health)
Middleton and Prestwich	1 June 1940	Nairne Stewart Sandeman		Conservative	Ernest Gates		Conservative	Death
Spen Valley	1 June 1940 [37 2]	Sir John Simon		National Liberal	William Woolley		National Liberal	Hereditary Peerage on appointment as Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain
East Renfrewshire	9 May 1940	Douglas Douglas-Hamilton		Conservative	Guy Lloyd		Conservative	Succession to the peerage
Brighton	9 May 1940 [37 2]	George Tryon		Conservative	Lord Erskine		Conservative	Elevation to the peerage
Glasgow Pollok	30 April 1940	John Gilmour		Conservative	Thomas Galbraith		Conservative	Death
Battersea North	17 April 1940	William Sanders		Labour	Francis Douglas		Labour	Resignation (ill-health)
Lonsdale	12 April 1940 [37 2]	David Lindsay		Conservative	Ian Fraser		Conservative	Succession to the peerage
Argyll	10 April 1940	Frederick Macquisten		Conservative	Duncan McCallum		Conservative	Death
Leeds North East	13 March 1940	John Birchall		Conservative	John Craik-Henderson		Conservative	Resignation (ill-health)
City of Chester	7 March 1940 [37 2]	Charles Cayzer		Conservative	Basil Nield		Conservative	Apparent murder/suicide [1]
Kettering	6 March 1940	John Eastwood		Conservative	John Profumo		Conservative	Appointment as a Metropolitan Magistrate
Cambridge University	23 February 1940 [37 14]	John James Withers		Conservative	Archibald Hill		Independent Conservative	Death
Silvertown	22 February 1940	Jack Jones		Labour	James Hollins		Labour	Resignation (ill-health)
Southwark Central	10 February 1940	Harry Day		Labour	John Hanbury Martin		Labour	Death
Belfast East	8 February 1940 [37 2]	Herbert Dixon		UUP	Henry Peirson Harland		UUP	Elevation to the peerage
Swansea East	5 February 1940 [37 2]	David Williams		Labour	David Mort		Labour	Resignation (ill-health)
City of London	5 February 1940 [37 2] [37 15]	Alan Anderson		Conservative	Sir Andrew Duncan		National	Resignation (pressure of work at the Wheat Commission)
Southampton	1 February 1940 [37 2] [37 12]	Sir C. C. Barrie		National Liberal	Sir John Reith		National	Resignation (to provide a seat for Sir John Reith)
Wells	13 December 1939 [37 2]	A. J. Muirhead		Conservative	D. C. Boles		Conservative	Death (suicide)
Stretford	8 December 1939	Anthony Crossley		Conservative	Ralph Etherton		Conservative	Death (air crash)
Streatham	7 December 1939 [37 2]	William Lane-Mitchell		Conservative	David Robertson		Conservative	Resignation (to make way for a younger candidate)
Macclesfield	22 November 1939 [37 2]	John Remer		Conservative	W. Garfield Weston		Conservative	Resignation (ill-health)
Ashton-under-Lyne	28 October 1939 [37 2]	Fred Simpson		Labour	William Jowitt		Labour	Death
Ormskirk	27 October 1939 [37 2]	Samuel Rosbotham		National Labour	Stephen King-Hall		National Labour	Resignation (ill-health)
Clackmannanshire and East Stirlingshire	13 October 1939	Lauchlin MacNeill Weir		Labour	Arthur Woodburn		Labour	Death
High Peak	7 October 1939 [37 2]	Alfred Law		Conservative	High Molson		Conservative	Death
Fareham	6 October 1939 [37 2]	Sir Thomas Inskip		Conservative	Dymoke White		Conservative	Hereditary Peerage on appointment as Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain
Brecon and Radnorshire	1 August 1939 [37 10]	Ivor Guest		National	William Jackson		Labour	Succession to the peerage
Colne Valley	27 July 1939	Ernest Marklew		Labour	Glenvil Hall		Labour	Death
Monmouth	25 July 1939	John Herbert		Conservative	Leslie Pym		Conservative	Appointment as Governor of Bengal
Hythe	20 July 1939	Philip Sassoon		Conservative	Rupert Brabner		Conservative	Death
North Cornwall	13 July 1939	Francis Dyke Acland		Liberal	Tom Horabin		Liberal	Death
Portsmouth South	12 July 1939 [37 2]	Herbert Cayzer		Conservative	Jocelyn Lucas		Conservative	Elevation to the peerage
Caerphilly	4 July 1939	Morgan Jones		Labour	Ness Edwards		Labour	Death
Kennington	24 May 1939 [37 10]	George Harvey		Conservative	John Wilmot		Labour	Death
Birmingham Aston	17 May 1939	Arthur Hope		Conservative	Edward Kellett		Conservative	Resignation
Southwark North	19 May 1939 [37 10]	Edward Strauss		National Liberal	George Isaacs		Labour	Death
Westminster Abbey	17 May 1939	Sidney Herbert		Conservative	Harold Webbe		Conservative	Death
Sheffield Hallam	10 May 1939	Louis Smith		Conservative	Roland Jennings		Conservative	Death
Down	10 May 1939 [37 2]	David Reid		UUP	James Little		UUP	Death
South Ayrshire	20 April 1939	James Brown		Labour	Alexander Sloan		Labour	Death
Kincardineshire and West Aberdeenshire	30 March 1939	Malcolm Barclay-Harvey		Conservative	Colin Thornton-Kemsley		Conservative	Resignation
Batley and Morley	9 March 1939	Willie Brooke		Labour	Hubert Beaumont		Labour	Death
Ripon	23 February 1939	John Waller Hills		Conservative	Christopher York		Conservative	Death
Holderness	15 February 1939	Samuel Savery		Conservative	Gurney Braithwaite		Conservative	Death
East Norfolk	26 January 1939	William Lygon		National Liberal	Frank Medlicott		National Liberal	Succession to the peerage
Kinross and Western Perthshire	21 December 1938 [37 16]	The Duchess of Atholl		Conservative/Ind Conservative	William McNair Snadden		Conservative	Sought re-election in opposition to government foreign policy
Fylde	30 November 1938	Edward Stanley		Conservative	Claude Lancaster		Conservative	Death
Lewisham West	24 November 1938	Philip Dawson		Conservative	Henry Brooke		Conservative	Death
Doncaster	17 November 1938	Alfred Short		Labour	John Morgan		Labour	Death
Bridgwater	17 November 1938 [37 17]	Reginald Croom-Johnson		Conservative	Vernon Bartlett		Independent Progressive	Appointment as High Court Judge
Walsall	16 November 1938	Joseph Leckie		National Liberal	George Schuster		National Liberal	Death
Dartford	7 November 1938 [37 18]	Frank Edward Clarke		Conservative	Jennie Adamson		Labour	Death
Oxford	27 October 1938	Robert Bourne		Conservative	Quintin Hogg		Conservative	Death
Willesden East	28 July 1938	Daniel Somerville		Conservative	Samuel Hammersley		Conservative	Death
Barnsley	16 June 1938	John Potts		Labour	Frank Collindridge		Labour	Death
Stafford	9 June 1938	William Ormsby-Gore		Conservative	Peter Thorneycroft		Conservative	Succession to the peerage
West Derbyshire	2 June 1938	Edward Cavendish		Conservative	Henry Hunloke		Conservative	Succession to the peerage
Aylesbury	19 May 1938	Michael Beaumont		Conservative	Stanley Reed		Conservative	Resignation
Lichfield	5 May 1938 [37 10]	James Lovat-Fraser		National Labour	Cecil Poole		Labour	Death
Fulham West	6 April 1938 [37 10]	Cyril Cobb		Conservative	Edith Summerskill		Labour	Death
City of London	6 April 1938 [37 15] [37 2]	Vansittart Bowater		Conservative	George Broadbridge		Conservative	Death
Combined Scottish Universities	25 February 1938 [37 5]	Ramsay MacDonald		National Labour	Sir John Anderson		National	Death
Ipswich	16 February 1938 [37 10]	John Ganzoni		Conservative	Richard Stokes		Labour	Elevation to the peerage
Pontypridd	11 February 1938	David Lewis Davies		Labour	Arthur Pearson		Labour	Death
Farnworth	27 January 1938	Guy Rowson		Labour	George Tomlinson		Labour	Death
Hastings	24 November 1937	Eustace Percy		Conservative	Maurice Hely-Hutchinson		Conservative	Resignation
Islington North	13 October 1937 [37 10]	Albert Goodman		Conservative	Leslie Haden-Guest		Labour	Death
Glasgow Springburn	7 September 1937	George Hardie		Labour	Agnes Hardie		Labour	Death
North Dorset	13 July 1937	Cecil Hanbury		Conservative	Angus Hambro		Conservative	Death
Chertsey	2 July 1937	Archibald Boyd-Carpenter		Conservative	Arthur Marsden		Conservative	Death
Kingston-upon-Thames	1 July 1937	Frederick Penny		Conservative	Percy Royds		Conservative	Elevation to the peerage
St Ives	30 June 1937	Walter Runciman		National Liberal	Alec Beechman		National Liberal	Elevation to the peerage
Ilford	29 June 1937	George Hamilton		Conservative	Geoffrey Hutchinson		Conservative	Resignation
Bewdley	29 June 1937	Stanley Baldwin		Conservative	Roger Conant		Conservative	Elevation to the peerage
Holland with Boston	24 June 1937	James Blindell		National Liberal	Herbert Butcher		National Liberal	Death
Hemel Hempstead	22 June 1937	John Davidson		Conservative	Frances Davidson		Conservative	Elevation to the peerage
Cheltenham	22 June 1937 [37 19]	Walter Preston		Conservative	Daniel Lipson		Independent Conservative	Resignation
Plymouth Drake	15 June 1937	Frederick Guest		Conservative	Henry Guest		Conservative	Death
Buckingham	11 June 1937	George Bowyer		Conservative	John Whiteley		Conservative	Elevation to the peerage
Glasgow Hillhead	10 June 1937	Robert Horne		Conservative	James Reid		Conservative	Elevation to the peerage
York	6 May 1937	Lawrence Lumley		Conservative	Charles Wood		Conservative	Appointed Governor of Bombay
Birmingham West	29 April 1937	Austen Chamberlain		Conservative	Walter Higgs		Conservative	Death
Wandsworth Central	29 April 1937 [37 10]	Henry Jackson		Conservative	Harry Nathan		Labour	Death
Stalybridge and Hyde	28 April 1937	Philip Dunne		Conservative	Horace Trevor-Cox		Conservative	Resignation
Farnham	23 March 1937	Arthur Samuel		Conservative	Godfrey Nicholson		Conservative	Elevation to the peerage
Tonbridge	23 March 1937	Herbert Henry Spender-Clay		Conservative	Adrian Baillie		Conservative	Death
Combined English Universities	22 March 1937 [37 20]	Reginald Craddock		Conservative	Edmund Harvey		Independent Progressive	Death
Oxford University	27 February 1937 [37 10]	Lord Hugh Cecil		Conservative	Arthur Salter		Independent	Appointment as Provost of Eton College
Richmond-upon-Thames	25 February 1937	William Ray		Conservative	George Harvie-Watt		Conservative	Resignation
Manchester Gorton	18 February 1937	Joseph Compton		Labour	William Wedgwood Benn		Labour	Death
St Pancras North	4 February 1937	Ian Fraser		Conservative	Robert Grant-Ferris		Conservative	Resignation
Greenock	26 November 1936 [37 10]	Godfrey Collins		National Liberal	Robert Gibson		Labour	Death
Preston	25 November 1936	William Kirkpatrick		Conservative	Edward Cobb		Conservative	Resignation
Clay Cross	5 November 1936	Alfred Holland		Labour	George Ridley		Labour	Death
Birmingham Erdington	20 October 1936	John Eales		Conservative	John Wright		Conservative	Death
East Grinstead	23 July 1936	Henry Cautley		Conservative	Ralph Clarke		Conservative	Elevation to the peerage
Balham and Tooting	23 July 1936	Sir Alfred Butt, 1st Baronet		Conservative	George Doland		Conservative	Resignation
Derby	9 July 1936 [37 10]	J. H. Thomas		National Labour	Philip Noel-Baker		Labour	Resigned over budget leak
Lewes	18 June 1936	John Loder		Conservative	Tufton Beamish		Conservative	Elevation to the peerage
Peckham	6 May 1936 [37 10]	David Beatty		Conservative	Lewis Silkin		Labour	Succession to peerage
Llanelli	26 March 1936	John Williams		Labour	Jim Griffiths		Labour	Death
Dunbartonshire	18 March 1936 [37 10]	Archibald Cochrane		Conservative	Thomas Cassells		Labour	Governor of Burma
Ross and Cromarty	10 February 1936 [37 1]	Sir Ian Macpherson		National Liberal	Malcolm MacDonald		National Labour	Peerage to provide seat for Dominions Secretary Malcolm MacDonald
Combined Scottish Universities	31 January 1936 [37 5]	Noel Skelton		Conservative	Ramsay MacDonald		National Labour	Death
Gain not retained at the 1945 general election. An uncontested election. Seaborne Davies retained Caernarvon Boroughs for the Liberals in the by-election but lost the seat to the Conservatives in the 1945 general election. In the 1945 general election Millington was the only successful Common Wealth candidate. He joined the Labour Party in April 1946. The Combined Scottish Universities was a three-member constituency which experienced three by-elections in this Parliament, each won by a different party from both the others and the general election. In the 1935 general election it elected two Conservative and one National Liberal MPs. One Conservative (Noel Skelton) died between polling and the declaration of the results and the resulting by-election was won by Ramsay MacDonald for National Labour. He died within two years and the resultant by-election was won by Sir John Anderson as a non-party supporter of the National Government. In 1945 the National Liberal member (George Morrison) resigned and the resulting by-election was won by John Boyd-Orr as an Independent. Both Anderson and Boyd-Orr held their seats at the 1945 general election along with one Conservative. Prior to the by-election White was the Labour prospective parliamentary candidate for the constituency but resigned in order to contest the seat in defiance of the truce between the parties. In Parliament he took the Labour whip and retained the seat in the 1945 general election as an official Labour candidate. Loverseed gained Eddisbury for Common Wealth from the Conservatives in 1943, but subsequently sat as an independent Labour member then took the Labour Party whip. He defended the seat in the 1945 general election for Labour but lost to the National Liberals. Beattie won Belfast West for the Northern Ireland Labour Party but subsequently sat as an independent Labour member, under which label he held the seat in the 1945 general election. In Parliament Driberg took the Labour whip and retained the seat in the 1945 general election as an official Labour candidate. Gain retained at the 1945 UK general election. Grigg was the newly appointed Secretary of State for War and nominally took Cardiff East from the Conservatives but lost it to Labour in the 1945 general election. Southampton was a two-member constituency. In the 1935 general election it elected one National Liberal and one non-party supporter of the National Government. In February 1940 Sir John Reith (the newly appointed Minister of Information) was elected unopposed to fill a National Liberal vacancy as a non-party supporter of the National Government. In November 1940 he was elevated to the peerage and in the resulting unopposed by-election his seat was regained by the National Liberals. In the 1945 general election both seats were won by the Labour Party. Headlam was elected as the nominee of a breakaway Conservative Association who opposed the selection of the official candidate. In Parliament he took the Conservative whip and retained the seat as an official Conservative in the 1945 general election. Cambridge University was a two-member constituency. In the 1935 general election it elected two Conservative MPs. Hill took one seat from the Conservatives as an Independent Conservative, but did not contest 1945 general election, in which the two seats were won by one Conservative and one Independent. The City of London was a two member constituency. In the 1935 general election it elected two Conservative MPs. In February 1940 Sir Andrew Duncan (the newly appointed President of the Board of Trade) was elected unopposed to fill one vacancy as a non-party supporter of the National Government. In the 1945 general election Duncan and a Conservative won the City's two seats. The Duchess of Atholl had resigned the National Government whip over foreign policy and in November 1938 was deselected as a candidate by her local association. She decided to resign her seat and fight a by-election as an Independent in opposition to the policy of appeasement. She lost the seat to the new Conservative candidate. In 1942 Bartlett co-founded the Common Wealth Party and served on its National Committee, but resigned two months later and reverted to being an Independent Progressive MP, retaining the seat in his original colours in the 1945 general election. The Dartford county constituency was divided in a mini redistribution in 1945 into two borough constituencies - Bexley and Dartford. Labour upheld its by-election gain in both constituencies with Adamson carrying the Bexley seat. Lipson was elected as an Independent Conservative but in Parliament supported the National Government. He was re-elected in the 1945 general election as an independent supporter of Churchill's government. The Combined English Universities was a two-member constituency. In the 1935 general election it elected one Conservative and one Independent (Eleanor Rathbone). Harvey took the seat from the Conservatives as an "Independent Progressive" but did not contest the 1945 general election which was won by two Independents (Rathbone and K.M. Lindsay).
By-election	Date	Incumbent	Party		Winner	Party		Cause
Dumfriesshire	12 September 1935	Joseph Hunter		Liberal / National Liberal	Henry Fildes		National Liberal	Death
Sevenoaks	20 July 1935 [36 1]	Edward Young		Conservative	Charles Ponsonby		Conservative	Created Baron Kennet
Liverpool West Toxteth	16 July 1935 [36 2]	Clyde Tabor Wilson		Conservative	Joseph Gibbins		Labour	Appointment as a Metropolitan Police Magistrate
Liverpool West Derby	6 July 1935 [36 1]	John Sandeman Allen		Conservative	David Maxwell Fyfe		Conservative	Death
City of London	26 June 1935 [36 1]	Edward Grenfell		Conservative	Alan Anderson		Conservative	Resigned, [2] later created Baron St Just
Combined Scottish Universities	17–22 June 1935	John Buchan		Conservative	John Graham Kerr		Conservative	Appointed Governor General of Canada
Aberdeen South	21 May 1935	Sir Frederick Thomson		Conservative	Sir Douglas Thomson		Conservative	Death
Tamworth	10 May 1935 [36 1]	Arthur Steel-Maitland		Conservative	John Mellor		Conservative	Death
Edinburgh West	2 May 1935	Wilfrid Normand		Conservative	Thomas Cooper		Conservative	Appointed as Lord Justice General
Perth	16 April 1935	Lord Scone		National Liberal	Francis Norie-Miller		National Liberal	Succession to the peerage
Eastbourne	29 March 1935 [36 1]	John Slater		Conservative	Charles Taylor		Conservative	Death
Norwood	14 March 1935	Walter Greaves-Lord		Conservative	Duncan Sandys		Conservative	Resignation
Cambridge University	23 February 1935 [36 1]	Godfrey Wilson		Conservative	Kenneth Pickthorn		Conservative	Resignation
Liverpool Wavertree	6 February 1935 [36 3]	Ronald Nall-Cain		Conservative	Joseph Cleary		Labour	Succession to the peerage
Putney	28 November 1934	Samuel Samuel		Conservative	Marcus Samuel		Conservative	Death
Swindon	25 October 1934 [36 3]	Reginald Mitchell Banks		Conservative	Christopher Addison		Labour	Appointment as County Court Judge
Lambeth North	23 October 1934 [36 2]	Frank Briant		Liberal	George Strauss		Labour	Death
Rushcliffe	26 July 1934	Henry Betterton		Conservative	Ralph Assheton		Conservative	Resignation
Fermanagh and Tyrone	27 June 1934	Joseph Devlin		Nationalist	Joseph Francis Stewart		Nationalist	Death
Weston-super-Mare	26 June 1934	James Erskine		Conservative	Ian Orr-Ewing		Conservative	Resignation
Twickenham	22 June 1934	Hylton Murray-Philipson		Conservative	Alfred Critchley		Conservative	Death
Monmouth	14 June 1934	Leolin Forestier-Walker		Conservative	J. A. Herbert		Conservative	Death
Merthyr	5 June 1934 [36 2]	Richard Wallhead		Ind. Labour Party / Labour	S. O. Davies		Labour	Death
Hemsworth	17 May 1934 [36 1]	John Guest		Labour	George Griffiths		Labour	Death
Upton	14 May 1934 [36 2]	Alfred Chotzner		Conservative	Benjamin Walter Gardner		Labour	Resignation
Hammersmith North	24 April 1934 [36 2]	Mary Pickford		Conservative	Fielding West		Labour	Death
Basingstoke	19 April 1934	Gerard Wallop		Conservative	Henry Drummond Wolff		Conservative	Resignation
Combined Scottish Universities	7–12 March 1934	Dugald Cowan		Liberal	George Morrison		Liberal	Death
Portsmouth North	19 February 1934	Bertram Godfray		Conservative	Roger Keyes		Conservative	Elevation to the peerage
Lowestoft	15 February 1934	Gervais Rentoul		Conservative	Pierse Loftus		Conservative	Resignation
Cambridge	8 February 1934	George Newton		Conservative	Richard Tufnell		Conservative	Elevation to the peerage
Wentworth	22 December 1933 [36 1]	George Henry Hirst		Labour	Wilfred Paling		Labour	Death
Harborough	28 November 1933	Arthur Stuart		Conservative	Arthur Tree		Conservative	Resignation
Rutland and Stamford	21 November 1933	Neville Smith-Carington		Conservative	Lord Willoughby de Eresby		Conservative	Death
Manchester Rusholme	21 November 1933	Frank Merriman		Conservative	Edmund Radford		Conservative	Appointment to High Court
Skipton	7 November 1933	Ernest Bird		Conservative	George Rickards		Conservative	Death
Kilmarnock	2 November 1933	Craigie Aitchison		National Labour	Kenneth Lindsay		National Labour	Appointment to Scottish bench
Fulham East	25 October 1933 [36 3]	Kenyon Vaughan-Morgan		Conservative	John Charles Wilmot		Labour	Death
Clay Cross	1 September 1933	Charles Duncan		Labour	Arthur Henderson		Labour	Death
Altrincham	14 June 1933	Cyril Atkinson		Conservative	Edward Grigg		Conservative	Appointment to High Court
Hitchin	8 June 1933	Edward Lytton		Conservative	Arnold Wilson		Conservative	Death
Normanton	8 May 1933 [36 1]	Frederick Hall		Labour	Tom Smith		Labour	Death
Rhondda East	28 March 1933	David Watts-Morgan		Labour	William Mainwaring		Labour	Death
Ashford	17 March 1933	Michael Knatchbull		Conservative	Patrick Spens		Conservative	Succession to the peerage
Rotherham	27 February 1933 [36 2]	George Herbert		Conservative	William Dobbie		Labour	Resignation
East Fife	2 February 1933	Sir James Millar		National Liberal	James Henderson-Stewart		National Liberal	Death
Liverpool Exchange	19 January 1933	Sir James Reynolds		Conservative	John Shute		Conservative	Death
Cardiganshire	22 September 1932	Rhys Hopkin Morris		Liberal	Owen Evans		Liberal	Appointment as a Metropolitan Police magistrate
Twickenham	16 September 1932	John Ferguson		Conservative	Hylton Murray-Philipson		Conservative	Death
Wednesbury	26 July 1932 [36 2]	William Ward		Conservative	William Banfield		Labour	Succession to the peerage
North Cornwall	22 July 1932	Donald Maclean		Liberal	Francis Dyke Acland		Liberal	Death
Westminster Abbey	12 July 1932 [36 1]	Otho Nicholson		Conservative	Sidney Herbert		Conservative	Resignation
Montrose Burghs	28 June 1932	Robert Hutchison		National Liberal	Charles Kerr		National Liberal	Elevation to the peerage
Dulwich	8 June 1932	Sir Frederick Hall		Conservative	Bracewell Smith		Conservative	Death
St Marylebone	28 April 1932	Rennell Rodd		Conservative	Alec Cunningham-Reid		Conservative	Resignation
Eastbourne	28 April 1932 [36 1]	Edward Marjoribanks		Conservative	John Slater		Conservative	Death
Wakefield	21 April 1932 [36 2]	George Brown Hillman		Conservative	Arthur Greenwood		Labour	Death
Richmond-upon-Thames	13 April 1932 [36 1]	Newton Moore		Conservative	William Ray		Conservative	Resignation
Dunbartonshire	17 March 1932	John Thom		Conservative	Archibald Cochrane		Conservative	Resignation
Henley	25 February 1932	Robert Henderson		Conservative	Sir Gifford Fox, Bt.		Conservative	Death
New Forest and Christchurch	9 February 1932	Wilfrid Ashley		Conservative	John Mills		Conservative	Elevation to the peerage
Croydon South	9 February 1932	William Mitchell-Thomson		Conservative	Herbert Williams		Conservative	Resignation
An uncontested by-election. Gain retained at the 1935 general election. Gain not retained at the 1935 general election.

References

1. The Times, 20 February 1940, p. 5.
2. "No. 34175". The London Gazette . 28 June 1935. p. 4160.

Bibliography

• British Parliamentary By-Elections since 1945
• List of MPs since 1660 ^[usurped]
• F. W. S. Craig, British Parliamentary Election Statistics 1832-1987
• F. W. S. Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-49
• F. W. S. Craig, Chronology of British Parliamentary By-elections 1833-1987