1937 Farnham by-election
The 1937 Farnham by-election was held on 23 March 1937. The by-election was held due to the elevation to the peerage of the incumbent Conservative MP, Arthur Samuel. It was won by the Conservative candidate Godfrey Nicholson.[1]
Peter Pain, a recently qualified barrister, contested the election for the Labour Party. Earlier in the decade, he had visited a Hitler Youth camp, and this experience convinced him that a war was inevitable, and that he should oppose Nazism by becoming a socialist.[2]
Linton Thorp, who contested the election as an independent conservative, was a former Conservative MP who had left the party believing that some of its policies were too close to socialism. He stood with the support of the pro-Nazi Liberty Restoration League.[3]
The election was won by the Conservative candidate Godfrey Nicholson.[1]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Godfrey Nicholson | 20,580 | 66.7 | -11.8 | |
| Labour | Peter Pain | 7,792 | 25.3 | +3.8 | |
| Ind. Conservative | Linton Thorp | 2,327 | 7.5 | New | |
| Independent | Edward Miller | 154 | 0.5 | New | |
| Majority | 12,788 | 41.4 | -15.6 | ||
| Turnout | 30,853 | ||||
| Conservative hold | Swing | ||||
References
- Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "F"
- Church, Rex (27 February 2003). "Obituary: Sir Peter Pain". The Guardian.
- Michael Stenton and Stephen Lees, Who's Who of British Members of Parliament, vol.3, p.356