Bosworth by-election, 1927
Encyclopedia
The Bosworth by-election, 1927 was a parliamentary by-election
for the House of Commons constituency of Bosworth
in Leicestershire
on 31 May 1927.
MP, Robert Gee
. Gee had formerly been MP for Woolwich East
from 1921
to 1922
and had held his Bosworth seat since the 1924 general election
. He was clearly disillusioned with Parliamentary life however because he was reported to have been absent from his political duties for over a year at the time of the by-election, having emigrated to the backwoods of Western Australia
with no intention of returning.
and who was from 1922-1924 the National Liberal
MP for Loughborough
.
from 1916-1923 and was a former government whip
.
settled upon John Minto, originally from Kilmarnock
a member of Leicester City Council
since 1922 and an engineer
working for Leicester Co-operative Society
.
which outlawed secondary strike action
and any strike whose purpose was to coerce the government of the day directly or indirectly. He attacked Minto and Edge for opposing the Bill. In so doing he tried to paint Edge as a socialist
who stood against Parliamentary government and the liberty of the workers. He also began by offering himself as the party of safeguarding of industry.
Edge’s supporters too entered the campaign with public declarations of forthcoming victory and Spears’ team seemed less inclined to predict a good result than their candidate. Labour were also confident but wary of making an early public announcement of their prospects. Minto hoped to make headway on the Trade Unions Bill in the Coalville
area of the constituency. The town was the main coal mining
centre, where nearly a third of the electorate of the constituency lived and Labour stronghold on the local Urban District Council
. He attacked the Bill vehemently. Edge tried to steer a middle path on the trades disputes issue, accusing the Labour Party of bringing the law on themselves by their behaviour over the general strike but attacking the Tories for damaging industrial relations and trade and inviting accusations of class animosity.
The letters sent by the Labour and Conservative party leaders to their candidates concentrated almost exclusively on the Trade Union Bill. Ramsay MacDonald
called it a “disruptive and partisan attack upon the trades unions” and appealed to the electors of Bosworth to reject this “attack upon the workers.” The prime minister
Stanley Baldwin
called the Bill. “the great issue before the country at the present time.” He said it was a measure against “tyranny and intimidation” and urged those who valued “the maintenance of the democratic institutions of [the] country” to vote for Spears.
were made public on 23 May 1927, it was the Liberals who seemed to have the advantage if the numbers of supporting signatures was an accurate reflection of opinion in the contest. The Liberals had submitted 330 nomination sheets, signed by 3,300 electors in the constituency. They claimed that one was signed wholly by former Conservative voters and one signed wholly by trade unionists. They had submitted 75 papers signed by 750 electors from the Coalville electoral districts where the voters were largely miners, which would have been seen as a blow to Labour hopes. Compared to this show of support, Spears put in 66 papers, including some signed by ex-Liberals and Minto submitted 33. In other indications of the way things were going, Lloyd George addressed a crowd estimated at 10,000 strong in Coalville, while Arthur Henderson
attracted about one quarter of that number for Labour; and one reporter who travelled through the constituency estimated that Liberal window bills in private houses outnumbered those of their rivals by more than twenty times.
It is also difficult to estimate the success or otherwise of election publicity but Edge appears to have scored a goal with the working class electorate when he arranged for the visit to the constituency of two former professional football players with Bolton Wanderers
. Edge had an association with the Club from his former time as MP for the city and the men supported his candidacy from friendship and on the basis of his personal qualities as good man and a ‘good sport’.
a controversial document published by the British press in 1924, allegedly sent from the Communist International in Moscow
to the Communist Party of Great Britain
. The letter, took its name from Bolshevik
revolutionary Grigory Zinoviev
. Later revealed to be a forgery
, purported to be a directive from Moscow calling for intensified Communist agitation in Britain and helped ensure the fall of the MacDonald’s Labour government at the 1924 general election
. In his letter of support to Minto, Ramsay MacDonald referred to the Conservatives as “having gained its Parliamentary power by a trick.“ This provoked a letter to The Times
from Walter Blake Odgers (1880-1969), a barrister
at the Middle Temple
claiming this was a reference to the Zinoviev letter and re-opening the controversy. MacDonald responded with his own letter, again accusing the Tories of having “created a stampede of fear in the minds of the electorate.” A number of developments followed, further letters to the press, a speech by J. R. Clynes at Manchester accusing the government of making political capital from forgery and a letter to Spears from the Home Secretary
, Sir William Joynson-Hicks
accusing Labour of continually displaying the utmost sympathy for the Russian Communists. Edge tried to take advantage of this Tory-Labour spat and the fears of socialism that it evoked by painting Minto as being supported by extremist elements in his party. Edge appealed to moderate electors to vote for him “or they [would] hand over the Bosworth division as a gift to the Reds.”
of the whole constituency and that their organisation was better developed and more effectively directed than the other parties. Spears announced that on the basis of the canvass returns he was sure to win. Labour now sounded more self-assured as well, more optimistic about the turnout from the Labour and mining areas around Coalville and predicting a victory over the Liberals with Spears at the bottom of the poll. Edge’s supporters would go no further than saying the result was ‘fifty-fifty’ between their candidate and the Labour Party.
in 1918
, a Tory in 1922
, was Liberal in 1923
and Conservative again in 1924. Although Labour had not yet won the seat, the party consistently polled about a third of the vote in all these recent contests, coming second in 1922.
A tight contest could clearly be expected therefore and the result was indeed a narrow victory for Sir William Edge by 271 votes over Labour, gaining the seat from the Conservatives. At the 1924 general election Robert Gee had had a majority of 358 votes over the Liberal candidate. The turnout in the by-election was 84.6%. The result was declared after an understandable Labour call for a recount.
The Liberal victory was part of a pattern of anti-government success which had started in late 1925 when Labour won a by-election at Stockport
. This period was a difficult time for the Liberal Party but in 1926 the General Strike, the retirement of H H Asquith as Liberal leader and his replacement by Lloyd George began to turn the tide for them. In March 1927, the Liberals gained a Labour seat in a by-election at Southwark North
. Edge’s victory at Bosworth followed in May and there was more good news at Lancaster
, St Ives
and Eddisbury
. These results caused the Conservatives to fear the possibility of a Liberal revival but they should however have been more worried about the rise of Labour. Over the course of the 1924-1929 Parliament, Labour made thirteen by-election gains in all, eleven from the Tories, and two from the Liberals and went on to win the 1929 general election
. Labour had to wait until 1945
however before finally gaining Bosworth.
By-election
A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....
for the House of Commons constituency of Bosworth
Bosworth (UK Parliament constituency)
Bosworth is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.-Boundaries:...
in Leicestershire
Leicestershire
Leicestershire is a landlocked county in the English Midlands. It takes its name from the heavily populated City of Leicester, traditionally its administrative centre, although the City of Leicester unitary authority is today administered separately from the rest of Leicestershire...
on 31 May 1927.
Vacancy
The by-election was caused by the resignation of the sitting ConservativeConservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
MP, Robert Gee
Robert Gee
Captain Robert Gee VC MC was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces....
. Gee had formerly been MP for Woolwich East
Woolwich East (UK Parliament constituency)
Woolwich East was a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1918 until 1983...
from 1921
Woolwich East by-election, 1921
The Woolwich East by-election, 1921 was a parliamentary by-election held on 2 March 1921 for the British House of Commons constituency of Woolwich East, in the Metropolitan Borough of Woolwich in London....
to 1922
United Kingdom general election, 1922
The United Kingdom general election of 1922 was held on 15 November 1922. It was the first election held after most of the Irish counties left the United Kingdom to form the Irish Free State, and was won by Andrew Bonar Law's Conservatives, who gained an overall majority over Labour, led by John...
and had held his Bosworth seat since the 1924 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1924
- Seats summary :- References :* F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987* - External links :* * *...
. He was clearly disillusioned with Parliamentary life however because he was reported to have been absent from his political duties for over a year at the time of the by-election, having emigrated to the backwoods of Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
with no intention of returning.
Conservatives
The Conservatives selected 40 year old Brigadier General Edward Spears, a noted First World War soldier who had been head of the British Military Mission in ParisParis
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
and who was from 1922-1924 the National Liberal
National Liberal Party (UK, 1922)
The National Liberal Party was a liberal political party in the United Kingdom from 1922 to 1923. It was led by David Lloyd George and was, at the time, separate to the original Liberal Party.-History:...
MP for Loughborough
Loughborough (UK Parliament constituency)
Loughborough is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first-past-the-post system of election.-Boundaries:...
.
Liberals
The Liberals chose Sir William Edge, a 45 year old manufacturer who had been MP for BoltonBolton (UK Parliament constituency)
Bolton was a borough constituency centred on the town of Bolton in the county of Lancashire. It returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons for the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the bloc vote system....
from 1916-1923 and was a former government whip
Whip (politics)
A whip is an official in a political party whose primary purpose is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. Whips are a party's "enforcers", who typically offer inducements and threaten punishments for party members to ensure that they vote according to the official party policy...
.
Labour
The Labour PartyLabour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
settled upon John Minto, originally from Kilmarnock
Kilmarnock
Kilmarnock is a large burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland, with a population of 44,734. It is the second largest town in Ayrshire. The River Irvine runs through its eastern section, and the Kilmarnock Water passes through it, giving rise to the name 'Bank Street'...
a member of Leicester City Council
Leicester City Council
Leicester City Council is a unitary authority responsible for local government in the city of Leicester, England. It consists of 54 councillors, representing 22 wards in the city, overseen by a directly elected mayor. It is currently controlled by the Labour Party and has been led by Mayor Sir...
since 1922 and an engineer
Engineer
An engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality,...
working for Leicester Co-operative Society
Cooperative
A cooperative is a business organization owned and operated by a group of individuals for their mutual benefit...
.
Issues
Spears began the campaign with a public announcement that the political tide was running in favour of the government and the Conservative Party. The major issue throughout the campaign was the Trade Unions Bill, a measure brought in following the General Strike of 19261926 United Kingdom general strike
The 1926 general strike in the United Kingdom was a general strike that lasted nine days, from 4 May 1926 to 13 May 1926. It was called by the general council of the Trades Union Congress in an unsuccessful attempt to force the British government to act to prevent wage reduction and worsening...
which outlawed secondary strike action
Sympathy strike
Secondary action is industrial action by a trade union in support of a strike initiated by workers in another, separate enterprise...
and any strike whose purpose was to coerce the government of the day directly or indirectly. He attacked Minto and Edge for opposing the Bill. In so doing he tried to paint Edge as a socialist
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
who stood against Parliamentary government and the liberty of the workers. He also began by offering himself as the party of safeguarding of industry.
Edge’s supporters too entered the campaign with public declarations of forthcoming victory and Spears’ team seemed less inclined to predict a good result than their candidate. Labour were also confident but wary of making an early public announcement of their prospects. Minto hoped to make headway on the Trade Unions Bill in the Coalville
Coalville
Coalville is a town in North West Leicestershire, England, with a population estimated in 2003 to be almost 33,000. It is situated on the A511 trunk road between Leicester and Burton upon Trent, close to junction 22 of the M1 motorway where the A511 meets the A50 between Ashby-de-la-Zouch and...
area of the constituency. The town was the main coal mining
Coal mining
The goal of coal mining is to obtain coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content, and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from iron ore and for cement production. In the United States,...
centre, where nearly a third of the electorate of the constituency lived and Labour stronghold on the local Urban District Council
Urban district
In the England, Wales and Ireland, an urban district was a type of local government district that covered an urbanised area. Urban districts had an elected Urban District Council , which shared local government responsibilities with a county council....
. He attacked the Bill vehemently. Edge tried to steer a middle path on the trades disputes issue, accusing the Labour Party of bringing the law on themselves by their behaviour over the general strike but attacking the Tories for damaging industrial relations and trade and inviting accusations of class animosity.
The letters sent by the Labour and Conservative party leaders to their candidates concentrated almost exclusively on the Trade Union Bill. Ramsay MacDonald
Ramsay MacDonald
James Ramsay MacDonald, PC, FRS was a British politician who was the first ever Labour Prime Minister, leading a minority government for two terms....
called it a “disruptive and partisan attack upon the trades unions” and appealed to the electors of Bosworth to reject this “attack upon the workers.” The prime minister
Prime minister
A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
Stanley Baldwin
Stanley Baldwin
Stanley Baldwin, 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley, KG, PC was a British Conservative politician, who dominated the government in his country between the two world wars...
called the Bill. “the great issue before the country at the present time.” He said it was a measure against “tyranny and intimidation” and urged those who valued “the maintenance of the democratic institutions of [the] country” to vote for Spears.
Campaign strengths
When the candidates’ nominations which had been handed into the Returning OfficerReturning Officer
In various parliamentary systems, a returning officer is responsible for overseeing elections in one or more constituencies.-Australia:In Australia a returning officer is an employee of the Australian Electoral Commission or a State Electoral Commission who heads the local divisional office...
were made public on 23 May 1927, it was the Liberals who seemed to have the advantage if the numbers of supporting signatures was an accurate reflection of opinion in the contest. The Liberals had submitted 330 nomination sheets, signed by 3,300 electors in the constituency. They claimed that one was signed wholly by former Conservative voters and one signed wholly by trade unionists. They had submitted 75 papers signed by 750 electors from the Coalville electoral districts where the voters were largely miners, which would have been seen as a blow to Labour hopes. Compared to this show of support, Spears put in 66 papers, including some signed by ex-Liberals and Minto submitted 33. In other indications of the way things were going, Lloyd George addressed a crowd estimated at 10,000 strong in Coalville, while Arthur Henderson
Arthur Henderson
Arthur Henderson was a British iron moulder and Labour politician. He was the 1934 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and he served three short terms as the Leader of the Labour Party from 1908–1910, 1914–1917 and 1931-1932....
attracted about one quarter of that number for Labour; and one reporter who travelled through the constituency estimated that Liberal window bills in private houses outnumbered those of their rivals by more than twenty times.
It is also difficult to estimate the success or otherwise of election publicity but Edge appears to have scored a goal with the working class electorate when he arranged for the visit to the constituency of two former professional football players with Bolton Wanderers
Bolton Wanderers F.C.
Bolton Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the area of Horwich in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester. They began their current spell in the Premier League in 2001....
. Edge had an association with the Club from his former time as MP for the city and the men supported his candidacy from friendship and on the basis of his personal qualities as good man and a ‘good sport’.
Zinoviev letter
The by-election also re-awakened the divisive issue of the Zinoviev letterZinoviev Letter
The "Zinoviev Letter" refers to a controversial document published by the British press in 1924, allegedly sent from the Communist International in Moscow to the Communist Party of Great Britain...
a controversial document published by the British press in 1924, allegedly sent from the Communist International in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
to the Communist Party of Great Britain
Communist Party of Great Britain
The Communist Party of Great Britain was the largest communist party in Great Britain, although it never became a mass party like those in France and Italy. It existed from 1920 to 1991.-Formation:...
. The letter, took its name from Bolshevik
Bolshevik
The Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists , derived from bol'shinstvo, "majority") were a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party which split apart from the Menshevik faction at the Second Party Congress in 1903....
revolutionary Grigory Zinoviev
Grigory Zinoviev
Grigory Yevseevich Zinoviev , born Ovsei-Gershon Aronovich Radomyslsky Apfelbaum , was a Bolshevik revolutionary and a Soviet Communist politician...
. Later revealed to be a forgery
Forgery
Forgery is the process of making, adapting, or imitating objects, statistics, or documents with the intent to deceive. Copies, studio replicas, and reproductions are not considered forgeries, though they may later become forgeries through knowing and willful misrepresentations. Forging money or...
, purported to be a directive from Moscow calling for intensified Communist agitation in Britain and helped ensure the fall of the MacDonald’s Labour government at the 1924 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1924
- Seats summary :- References :* F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987* - External links :* * *...
. In his letter of support to Minto, Ramsay MacDonald referred to the Conservatives as “having gained its Parliamentary power by a trick.“ This provoked a letter to The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
from Walter Blake Odgers (1880-1969), a barrister
Barrister
A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...
at the Middle Temple
Middle Temple
The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers; the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn and Lincoln's Inn...
claiming this was a reference to the Zinoviev letter and re-opening the controversy. MacDonald responded with his own letter, again accusing the Tories of having “created a stampede of fear in the minds of the electorate.” A number of developments followed, further letters to the press, a speech by J. R. Clynes at Manchester accusing the government of making political capital from forgery and a letter to Spears from the Home Secretary
Home Secretary
The Secretary of State for the Home Department, commonly known as the Home Secretary, is the minister in charge of the Home Office of the United Kingdom, and one of the country's four Great Offices of State...
, Sir William Joynson-Hicks
William Joynson-Hicks, 1st Viscount Brentford
William Joynson-Hicks, 1st Viscount Brentford PC, PC , DL , known as Sir William Joynson-Hicks, Bt, from 1919 to 1929 and popularly known as Jix, was an English solicitor and Conservative Party politician, best known as a long-serving and controversial Home Secretary from 1924 to 1929, during which...
accusing Labour of continually displaying the utmost sympathy for the Russian Communists. Edge tried to take advantage of this Tory-Labour spat and the fears of socialism that it evoked by painting Minto as being supported by extremist elements in his party. Edge appealed to moderate electors to vote for him “or they [would] hand over the Bosworth division as a gift to the Reds.”
Final days
Liberal confidence was beginning to wane with the approach of polling day, although on the eve of poll, Edge declared the race was between himself and the Labour man. However it was reported that only the Conservatives had managed to compete a thorough canvassCanvassing
Canvassing is the systematic initiation of direct contact with a target group of individuals commonly used during political campaigns. A campaign team will knock on doors of private residences within a particular geographic area, engaging in face-to-face personal interaction with voters...
of the whole constituency and that their organisation was better developed and more effectively directed than the other parties. Spears announced that on the basis of the canvass returns he was sure to win. Labour now sounded more self-assured as well, more optimistic about the turnout from the Labour and mining areas around Coalville and predicting a victory over the Liberals with Spears at the bottom of the poll. Edge’s supporters would go no further than saying the result was ‘fifty-fifty’ between their candidate and the Labour Party.
The result
Bosworth was clearly a three-way marginal at this time. It had been won by a Coalition LiberalCoalition Government 1916-1922
The Coalition Government of David Lloyd George came to power in the United Kingdom in December 1916, replacing the earlier wartime coalition under H.H. Asquith, which had been held responsible for reverses during the Great War. Those Liberals who continued to support Asquith served as the Opposition...
in 1918
United Kingdom general election, 1918
The United Kingdom general election of 1918 was the first to be held after the Representation of the People Act 1918, which meant it was the first United Kingdom general election in which nearly all adult men and some women could vote. Polling was held on 14 December 1918, although the count did...
, a Tory in 1922
United Kingdom general election, 1922
The United Kingdom general election of 1922 was held on 15 November 1922. It was the first election held after most of the Irish counties left the United Kingdom to form the Irish Free State, and was won by Andrew Bonar Law's Conservatives, who gained an overall majority over Labour, led by John...
, was Liberal in 1923
United Kingdom general election, 1923
-Seats summary:-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987*-External links:***...
and Conservative again in 1924. Although Labour had not yet won the seat, the party consistently polled about a third of the vote in all these recent contests, coming second in 1922.
A tight contest could clearly be expected therefore and the result was indeed a narrow victory for Sir William Edge by 271 votes over Labour, gaining the seat from the Conservatives. At the 1924 general election Robert Gee had had a majority of 358 votes over the Liberal candidate. The turnout in the by-election was 84.6%. The result was declared after an understandable Labour call for a recount.
The Liberal victory was part of a pattern of anti-government success which had started in late 1925 when Labour won a by-election at Stockport
Stockport by-election, 1925
The Stockport by-election, 1925 was a by-election held for the British House of Commons constituency of Stockport in Cheshire on 17 September 1925. The by-election was won by the Labour Party candidate Arnold Townend.- Vacancy :...
. This period was a difficult time for the Liberal Party but in 1926 the General Strike, the retirement of H H Asquith as Liberal leader and his replacement by Lloyd George began to turn the tide for them. In March 1927, the Liberals gained a Labour seat in a by-election at Southwark North
Southwark North (UK Parliament constituency)
Southwark North was a parliamentary constituency in the Metropolitan Borough of Southwark, in South London. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.-History:...
. Edge’s victory at Bosworth followed in May and there was more good news at Lancaster
Lancaster by-election, 1928
The Lancaster by-election, 1928 was a parliamentary by-election held in England for the House of Commons constituency of Lancaster on 9 February 1928.-Vacancy:...
, St Ives
St Ives by-election, 1928
The St Ives by-election, 1928 was a by-election held on 6 March 1928 for the British House of Commons constituency of St Ives in Cornwall.-Cause:...
and Eddisbury
Eddisbury by-election, 1929
The Eddisbury by-election, 1929 was a by-election held on 20 March 1929 for the British House of Commons constituency of Eddisbury.The election was triggered by the death of the sitting Conservative Member of Parliament , Harry Barnston and was a straight fight between the Conservative,...
. These results caused the Conservatives to fear the possibility of a Liberal revival but they should however have been more worried about the rise of Labour. Over the course of the 1924-1929 Parliament, Labour made thirteen by-election gains in all, eleven from the Tories, and two from the Liberals and went on to win the 1929 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1929
-Seats summary:-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987*-External links:***...
. Labour had to wait until 1945
United Kingdom general election, 1945
The United Kingdom general election of 1945 was a general election held on 5 July 1945, with polls in some constituencies delayed until 12 July and in Nelson and Colne until 19 July, due to local wakes weeks. The results were counted and declared on 26 July, due in part to the time it took to...
however before finally gaining Bosworth.
The votes
See also
- List of United Kingdom by-elections
- United Kingdom by-election recordsUnited Kingdom by-election recordsUK 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...