Wednesbury by-election, 1932

The Wednesbury by-election, 1932 was a by-election held on 26 July 1932 for the British House of Commons constituency of Wednesbury in Staffordshire. The by-election was triggered by the elevation to the peerage of the sitting Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) Viscount Ednam.

The seat had been held by Labour since 1918, but had fallen to the Conservatives with a majority of over 4,000 as part of the 1931 election landslide less than a year earlier. The election was dominated by the continuing effects of the Great Depression. Labour, whose candidate was John William Banfield, General Secretary of the Amalgamated Union of Operative Bakers and Confectioners, fought on the issue of the means test for unemployment benefit. The Conservative candidate was Captain Rex G. Davis, whose election address focused on the economy, employment and the Empire.^[1]

The Labour party had every reason to hope to regain the seat, normally a safe one for the party. 'There will be acute surprise and disappointment if Mr Banfield is not elected,' according to a report in The Times, which pointed out that the constituency had 12,000 unemployed and several factories had closed down. The newspaper felt that Davis had the better of the argument, but the contest 'had resolved itself into a fight between the Socialist and Conservative machines'.^[2]

The result was a victory for Labour, as expected, with a majority of well over 3,000. Captain Davis accused the party of misrepresenting the facts about the means test and complained that in the three weeks of the campaign he 'had not had the time to dispel the fears created in the minds of the local unemployed'.^[3] The seat continued in Labour hands until its abolition in 1974.

Result

Wednesbury by-election, 1932 Electorate 51,498
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	John William Banfield	21,977	54.7
	Conservative	Capt. Rex Graham Davis MC	18,198	45.3
Majority			3,779	9.4
Turnout				78.0
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

References

↑ 'The Wednesbury Election: Labour Appeal to Discontent', The Times, 18 July 1932
↑ 'The Wednesbury Election: Polling To-Day', The Times, 26 July 1932
↑ 'The Wednesbury Election: Seat Won By Labour', The Times, 28 July 1932

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1932	February: Croydon South New Forest and Christchurch Henley March: Dunbartonshire April: Richmond-upon-Thames Wakefield Eastbourne St Marylebone June: Dulwich Montrose Burghs July: Westminster Abbey North Cornwall Wednesbury September: Twickenham Cardiganshire

1933	January Liverpool Exchange February: East Fife Rotherham March: Ashford Rhondda East May: Normanton June: Hitchin Altrincham September: Clay Cross October: Fulham East November: Kilmarnock Skipton Manchester Rusholme Rutland and Stamford Harborough December: Wentworth

1934	February: Cambridge Lowestoft Portsmouth North March: Combined Scottish Universities April: Basingstoke Hammersmith North May:West Ham Upton Hemsworth June: Merthyr Monmouth Twickenham Weston-super-Mare Fermanagh and Tyrone July: Rushcliffe October: Lambeth North Swindon November: Putney

1935	February: Liverpool Wavertree Cambridge University March: Norwood Eastbourne April: Perth May: Edinburgh West Tamworth Aberdeen South June: Combined Scottish Universities City of London July: Liverpool West Derby Liverpool West Toxteth Sevenoaks September: Dumfriesshire

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Wednesbury by-election, 1932

Result

References

See also