The by-election was caused by the elevation of the sitting ConservativeMP, Rt Hon. Herwald Ramsbotham in August 1941. He was raised to the peerage as Baron Soulbury, of Soulbury in the County of Buckingham. He had been MP here since holding the seat in 1929.[citation needed]
Election historyedit
Lancaster had been won by the Conservatives at every election since 1929 when they gained the seat from the Liberal, Robert Parkinson Tomlinson. The result at the last general election was as follows;
1935 general election : Lancaster [1] Electorate 62,792
The local Conservatives selected first time candidate, 30-year-old Lt. Fitzroy MacLean. Before the war, he worked as a diplomat. In 1939 he enlisted as a private in the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders. He was soon promoted to lance corporal and was commissioned in 1941.
The Liberals had selected 63-year-old Lt-Col. William Charles Ross to contest a general election expected to occur in 1939–40.[2] He had contested Manchester Withington in 1935. He was retired from the Indian Medical Service. Before the war, the Labour party had selected Albert Edward Victor Ainsworth Farrer as prospective candidate.[3] At the declaration of war, the Conservative, Liberal and Labour parties had agreed an electoral truce which meant that when a by-election occurred, the party that was defending the seat would not be opposed by an official candidate from the other two parties. When the Labour and Liberal parties joined the Coalition government in May 1940, it was agreed that any by-election candidate defending a government seat would receive a letter of endorsement jointly signed by all the party leaders. This was enough to persuade Farrer, the Labour candidate, to withdraw. However, Ross, the Liberal candidate, decided to put his name forward.
Although there was no Labour candidate, 53-year-old Fenner Brockway stood as candidate for the Independent Labour Party, who were not part of the electoral truce. Brockway stood for Parliament several times, including in 1924 in Westminster Abbey. In 1929, he was elected Member of Parliament for Leyton East as a Labour Party candidate. In 1931 Brockway lost his seat and the following year he disaffiliated from the Labour Party along with the rest of the ILP. He stood unsuccessfully for the ILP in the 1934 West Ham Upton by-election and in Norwich in the 1935 election. The ILP were opposed to British participation in the Second World War, a position that Brockway did not share, though he served as Chair of the Central Board for Conscientious objectors.
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Polling day was set for 15 October 1941. When nominations closed, it was to reveal a three horse race.
MacLean received a joint letter of endorsement from all the leaders of the parties in the coalition.
Resultedit
The Conservative Party held the seat with an increased majority.
^Report of the Annual Conference of the Labour Party, 1937–40
January 01, 1970
1941, lancaster, election, parliamentary, election, british, house, commons, constituency, lancaster, lancashire, october, 1941, contents, vacancy, election, history, candidates, campaign, result, aftermath, also, referencesvacancy, editthe, election, caused, . The 1941 Lancaster by election was a parliamentary by election for the British House of Commons constituency of Lancaster Lancashire on 15 October 1941 Contents 1 Vacancy 2 Election history 3 Candidates 4 Campaign 5 Result 6 Aftermath 7 See also 8 ReferencesVacancy editThe by election was caused by the elevation of the sitting Conservative MP Rt Hon Herwald Ramsbotham in August 1941 He was raised to the peerage as Baron Soulbury of Soulbury in the County of Buckingham He had been MP here since holding the seat in 1929 citation needed Election history editLancaster had been won by the Conservatives at every election since 1929 when they gained the seat from the Liberal Robert Parkinson Tomlinson The result at the last general election was as follows 1935 general election Lancaster 1 Electorate 62 792 Party Candidate Votes Conservative Herwald Ramsbotham 26 632 53 7 22 0 Liberal Robert Parkinson Tomlinson 13 054 26 3 New Labour Charles Royle 9 938 20 0 4 2 Majority 13 578 27 4 23 1 Turnout 49 624 79 0 Conservative hold SwingCandidates editThe local Conservatives selected first time candidate 30 year old Lt Fitzroy MacLean Before the war he worked as a diplomat In 1939 he enlisted as a private in the Queen s Own Cameron Highlanders He was soon promoted to lance corporal and was commissioned in 1941 The Liberals had selected 63 year old Lt Col William Charles Ross to contest a general election expected to occur in 1939 40 2 He had contested Manchester Withington in 1935 He was retired from the Indian Medical Service Before the war the Labour party had selected Albert Edward Victor Ainsworth Farrer as prospective candidate 3 At the declaration of war the Conservative Liberal and Labour parties had agreed an electoral truce which meant that when a by election occurred the party that was defending the seat would not be opposed by an official candidate from the other two parties When the Labour and Liberal parties joined the Coalition government in May 1940 it was agreed that any by election candidate defending a government seat would receive a letter of endorsement jointly signed by all the party leaders This was enough to persuade Farrer the Labour candidate to withdraw However Ross the Liberal candidate decided to put his name forward Although there was no Labour candidate 53 year old Fenner Brockway stood as candidate for the Independent Labour Party who were not part of the electoral truce Brockway stood for Parliament several times including in 1924 in Westminster Abbey In 1929 he was elected Member of Parliament for Leyton East as a Labour Party candidate In 1931 Brockway lost his seat and the following year he disaffiliated from the Labour Party along with the rest of the ILP He stood unsuccessfully for the ILP in the 1934 West Ham Upton by election and in Norwich in the 1935 election The ILP were opposed to British participation in the Second World War a position that Brockway did not share though he served as Chair of the Central Board for Conscientious objectors Campaign editPolling day was set for 15 October 1941 When nominations closed it was to reveal a three horse race MacLean received a joint letter of endorsement from all the leaders of the parties in the coalition Result editThe Conservative Party held the seat with an increased majority Lancaster by election 1941 1 Electorate 66 290 Party Candidate Votes Conservative Fitzroy MacLean 15 783 56 9 3 2 Independent Liberal William Charles Ross 6 551 23 6 New Ind Labour Party Fenner Brockway 5 418 19 5 New Majority 9 232 33 3 5 9 Turnout 27 752 41 9 37 1 Conservative hold Swing 1 5Aftermath editThe result at the following general election General election 1945 Lancaster 1 Electorate 73 063 Party Candidate Votes Conservative Fitzroy Maclean 27 090 49 42 Labour Albert Farrer 19 367 35 33 Liberal Eric Johnson 8 357 15 25 Majority 7 723 14 09 Turnout 54 814 Conservative hold SwingSee also editList of United Kingdom by elections United Kingdom by election recordsReferences edit a b c F W S Craig British Parliamentary Election Results 1918 1949 Political Reference Publications Glasgow 1949 The Liberal Magazine 1939 Report of the Annual Conference of the Labour Party 1937 40 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title 1941 Lancaster by election amp oldid 1190870268, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
