Whitechapel and St George's by-election, 1942

The Whitechapel and St. George's by-election, 1942 was a by-election

By-election

A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....

held on 8 August 1942 for the British House of Commons

British House of Commons

The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...

constituency

United Kingdom constituencies

In the United Kingdom , each of the electoral areas or divisions called constituencies elects one or more members to a parliament or assembly.Within the United Kingdom there are now five bodies with members elected by constituencies:...

of Whitechapel and St. George's

Whitechapel and St Georges (UK Parliament constituency)

Whitechapel and St George's was a parliamentary constituency in east London, which returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom....

, which covered Whitechapel

Whitechapel

Whitechapel is a built-up inner city district in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, London, England. It is located east of Charing Cross and roughly bounded by the Bishopsgate thoroughfare on the west, Fashion Street on the north, Brady Street and Cavell Street on the east and The Highway on the...

, Shadwell

Shadwell

Shadwell is an inner-city district situated within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets located on the north bank of the Thames between Wapping to the south and Ratcliff to the east...

, Wapping

Wapping

Wapping is a place in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets which forms part of the Docklands to the east of the City of London. It is situated between the north bank of the River Thames and the ancient thoroughfare simply called The Highway...

, and St George in the East

St George in the East (parish)

St George in the East was a parish in the metropolitan area of London, England.-History:The parish was largely rural at the time of its creation, the main settlement a hamlet known as Wapping Stepney...

in the Metropolitan Borough of Stepney

Metropolitan Borough of Stepney

The Metropolitan Borough of Stepney was a Metropolitan borough in the County of London created in 1900. In 1965 it became part of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets.-Boundaries:...

.

The by-election was caused by the death of the constituency's Labour Party

Labour 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...

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

(MP) James Henry Hall

James Henry Hall

James Henry Hall , known as J. H. Hall, was a British trade unionist and Labour Party politician who served as the Member of Parliament for the Whitechapel and St Georges division of Stepney from 1930 to 1931 and from 1935 to 1942.- Career :Hall became interested in trade unionism in his youth,...

, who had held the seat since the 1935 general election

United Kingdom general election, 1935

The United Kingdom general election held on 14 November 1935 resulted in a large, though reduced, majority for the National Government now led by Conservative Stanley Baldwin. The greatest number of MPs, as before, were Conservative, while the National Liberal vote held steady...

, having previously been the seat's MP between 1930 and 1931

United Kingdom general election, 1931

The United Kingdom general election on Tuesday 27 October 1931 was the last in the United Kingdom not held on a Thursday. It was also the last election, and the only one under universal suffrage, where one party received an absolute majority of the votes cast.The 1931 general election was the...

.

In accordance with the war-time

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

electoral pact, neither the Conservative

Conservative 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...

nor the Liberal

Liberal Party (UK)

The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...

parties fielded a candidate. Labour's candidate was Walter James Edwards, a stoker.

There being no other candidates, Edwards was returned unopposed.

Election results

See also