1940 Leeds North East by-election
The 1940 Leeds North East by-election was a parliamentary by-election in England held on 13 March 1940 to elect a new Member of Parliament (MP) for the House of Commons constituency of Leeds North East.
The vacancy was caused by the resignation on 8 February 1940 of the sitting Member, Sir John Birchall, through the procedural device of appointment as Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds.[1] He had held the seat since its creation for the 1918 general election.[2]
The by-election was held during World War II, and the five largest political parties – Conservative, Labour, Liberal, National Labour and National Liberal – were all members of the Coalition Government. As such, they maintained an electoral pact and agreed not to contest any by-elections in seats held by any other party in the Government.
The Conservative candidate, John Craik-Henderson, was opposed only by Sydney Allen of the British Union of Fascists. Henderson won with 97.1% of the vote, but gained only 37.5% and lost his seat in the 1945 general election, when the seat was also contested by Labour and Liberal party candidates.[3]
Results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | John Craik-Henderson | 23,882 | 97.1 | +32.3 | |
| British Union of Fascists | Sydney Allen | 722 | 2.9 | New | |
| Majority | 23,160 | 94.1 | +64.5 | ||
| Turnout | 24,604 | ||||
| Conservative hold | Swing | N/A | |||
References
- Department of Information Services (9 June 2009). "Appointments to the Chiltern Hundreds and Manor of Northstead Stewardships since 1850" (PDF). House of Commons Library. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 February 2011. Retrieved 30 November 2009.
- Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "L" (part 1)
- Craig, F. W. S. (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918–1949 (3rd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 162. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.