1957 Carmarthen by-election

UK Parliamentary by-election in Wales June 2022 June 2022 1957 Carmarthen by-election parliamentary Wales Constituency of Carmarthen no 1955 United Kingdom general election 1955 1959 United Kingdom general election 1959 28 February 1957 Megan Lloyd George x160px Welsh Labour 23,679 47.33% 4.60% John Morgan Davies Lib Liberal Party (UK) 20,610 41.20% 8.29% Jennie Eirian Davies PC Plaid Cymru 5,741 11.48% 3.70% 200px MP Rhys Hopkin Morris Liberal Megan Lloyd George Welsh Labour 87.40% The Carmarthen by-election of 1957 in Carmarthenshire, Wales, was notable for resulting in the nadir of the British Liberal Party. Background The seat became vacant as a result of the death of Sir Rhys Hopkin Morris on 22 November 1956. The Liberal Party was in a period of decline and Hopkin Morris had been one of only six Liberal Members of Parliament. Hopkin Morris's majorities had been narrow and it was recognised that a significant number of voters had favoured him personally and might not transfer their allegiance to a new Liberal candidate. Further distress for the Liberals was caused by the announcement that Lady Megan Lloyd George, a former Liberal MP with a national reputation, would be running as the Labour candidate. Previously selected prospective candidate for Labour, Brynley Thomas, stood down in her favour. The local Liberals created another dilemma by choosing John Morgan Davies as their candidate; the Liberals were seeking to challenge the ruling Conservatives over the ongoing Suez Crisis and Morgan Davies, like Hopkin Morris, had publicly taken a pro-government stand on the issue. Jo Grimond, who had assumed leadership of the Liberal Party only a few weeks before, had to choose whether to support or disown Morgan Davies. He chose to support him. The other candidate who ran for the seat was Jennie Eirian Davies of Plaid Cymru. The Conservatives did not run a candidate. They had not contested the seat since 1935, as one of several seats where the local Conservative and Liberal parties came to agreements where one party would not field a candidate, in order to avoid vote-splitting that could allow Labour to win. This was the second to last by-election in Great Britain, during the 20th century, in which they did not stand, the last being the unusual circumstances of the 1963 Bristol South East by-election. Result The election was held on 28 February 1957. Lloyd George won the seat, swinging the constituency from Liberal to Labour and dropping the Liberal Party to their historic low of only five seats in Parliament. 1957 Carmarthen by-electionhttp://by-elections.co.uk/57.html https://web.archive.org/web/20120329041134/http://by-elections.co.uk/57.html 1957 By Election Results 2012-03-29 dead 2015-08-14Craig, F. W. S. (1971). British parliamentary election results 1950-1970 (1 ed.). Chichester: Political Reference Publications. 9780900178023. Page 570 Welsh Labour Megan Lloyd George 23,679 47.3 +4.6 Liberal Party (UK) John Morgan Davies 20,610 41.2 -8.3 Plaid Cymru Jennie Eirian Davies 5,741 11.5 +3.7 3,069 6.1 N/A 50,030 87.5 +2.4 57,183 Welsh Labour Liberal Party (UK) +6.5 See also 1882 Carmarthen Boroughs by-election 1924 Carmarthen by-election 1928 Carmarthen by-election 1941 Carmarthen by-election 1966 Carmarthen by-election References Category:By-elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom in Welsh constituencies Carmarthen by-election Carmarthen by-election, 1957 Carmarthen by-election Carmarthen by-election Category:Elections in Carmarthenshire Category:20th century in Carmarthenshire