William Reginald Hipwell

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William Reginald Hipwell or Reg Hipwell (died 1966) was a populist forces journalist and parliamentary candidate.

Contents

Background

Hipwell was born in Olney, Buckinghamshire. He attended Rugby School. He was President of the Horse-Brass Society. [1]

Career

Hipwell was the founder [2] and editor of Reveille, a " barrack room newspaper for the fighting forces", [3] and stood as an Independent Progressive in four Parliamentary by-elections during the Second World War when the major parties honoured a war time electoral truce. His campaigns focused on complaints about the conditions of services personnel. [4] He campaigned for an increase in pay for servicemen and their dependents. He said that he admired "many of the planks in the Conservative platform, yet he felt he also stood for the best that the Labour and Liberal parties had to offer". [5] He was also the agent for the successful independent candidate, William Brown in the 1942 Rugby by-election. At the 1945 General Election he contested Eastbourne as an Independent National, finishing fourth and did not stand for parliament again.

Electoral record

1941 Hampstead by-election
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Charles Challen 7,63067.4−5.8
National Noel Pemberton Billing 2,73424.1N/A
Independent Progressive William Hipwell6365.6N/A
Independent A.L. Dolland3262.9N/A
Majority 4,89643.3N/A
Turnout 65,51117.3−41.7
Conservative hold Swing N/A
1941 Scarborough and Whitby by-election
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Alexander Spearman 12,51860.8
Independent Progressive William Hipwell8,08639.2
Majority 4,432
Turnout 35.9
Conservative hold Swing
1942 Salisbury by-election
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative John Morrison 12,07667.83.7
Independent Progressive William Hipwell3,21818.1N/A
Independent DemocratJ. D. Monro2,51914.1N/A
Majority 8,85849.7+6.7
Turnout 17,81339.726.5
Conservative hold Swing
1943 The Hartlepools by-election [6]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Thomas Greenwell 13,33364.1+16.3
Common Wealth Elaine Burton 3,63417.4n/a
The People's CandidateOswald Tupton2,35111.3n/a
Independent Progressive William Hipwell1,5107.2n/a
Majority 9,69946.7+36.0
Turnout 39.5−43.8
Conservative hold Swing n/a
General Election 1945: Eastbourne
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Charles Taylor 18,17353.24
Labour Duncan Newman Smith12,63737.02
Liberal John Stafford Gowland2,7978.19
Independent NationalWilliam Hipwell5241.54
Majority 5,53616.22
Turnout 77.35
Conservative hold Swing

References

  1. Mr. John Gawsworth. "Mr. W. R. Hipwell." Times [London, England] 10 Mar. 1966: 12. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 30 Apr. 2016.
  2. By-Elections in British Politics, Cook & Ramsden
  3. "Investigation into the affairs of W.R. Hipwell of "The Reveille"". The National Archives . Retrieved 4 September 2012.
  4. "An Outbreak of 'Ginger'". The Times. 29 September 1941.
  5. By-Elections in British Politics, Cook & Ramsden
  6. British parliamentary election results 1918-1949, Craig, F. W. S.