1938 Oxford by-election

1938 UK parliamentary by-election September 2020 June 2013 1938 Oxford by-election United Kingdom parliamentary no 1935 United Kingdom general election 1935 27 October 1938 1945 United Kingdom general election 1945 Oxford constituency 76.3% (9.0 pp) 150x150px Quintin Hogg Conservative Party (UK) 15,797 56.1% 6.7 pp Independent Progressive Sandy Lindsay Independent Progressive 12,363 43.9% New MP Robert Bourne Conservative Quintin Hogg Conservative The 1938 Oxford by-election was a parliamentary by-election for the British House of Commons constituency of Oxford, held on 27 October 1938. The by-election was triggered when Robert Croft Bourne, the sitting Conservative Member of Parliament died on 7 August 1938. He had served as MP for the constituency since a 1924 by-election. Background On 29 September 1938, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain had signed the Munich Agreement, handing over the Sudetenland to German control. This issue polarised British politics at the time, with many Labour supporters, Liberals, and some Conservatives strongly opposed to this policy of appeasement.The Times 4 October 1938 Many by-elections in the autumn of 1938 were fought around this issue, including this one and also the Bridgwater by-election, three weeks later, where Liberals and Labour again united in support of an Independent anti-appeasement candidate. Candidates The Liberal Party had selected Ivor Davies,Liberal History, Spring 2002 https://web.archive.org/web/20140224051007/http://liberalhistory.org.uk/uploads/34-35-Spring-Summer%25202002.pdf 24 February 2014 a 23-year-old graduate of Edinburgh University, despite the fact that he was the candidate for Central Aberdeenshire at the same time. The Labour Party selected Patrick Gordon Walker, who had contested the seat at the 1935 general election. On 13 September, Davies offered to stand down from the by-election if Labour did the same and backed a Popular Front candidate against the Conservatives.By-Elections in British Politics Eventually, Gordon Walker reluctantly stood down and both parties supported Sandy Lindsay, who was the Master of Balliol, as an Independent Progressive.Eaden James Renton David The Communist Party of Great Britain since 1920 https://archive.org/details/communistpartygr1920eade limited 2002 Palgrave 0-333-94968-4 67 On 14 September, the Conservatives selected Quintin Hogg, who was a fellow of All Souls and a former President of the Oxford Union Society.The Times 15 September 1938 Campaign The campaign was intense and focused almost entirely on foreign affairs. Hogg supported Chamberlain's appeasement policy. Lindsay opposed appeasement; his campaigners used the slogan "A vote for Hogg is a vote for Hitler." Lindsay was supported by many dissident Conservatives such as Harold Macmillan who were opposed to the Munich Agreement. A number of future politicians such as Edward Heath and Roy Jenkins, at the University of Oxford at the time, cut their teeth in the Michaelmas campaign. In popular culture A 1988 TV drama-documentary A Vote for Hitler dramatized the events surrounding the by-election, and included interviews with Denis Healey and Frank Pakenham, 7th Earl of Longford, who had campaigned for Labour during the election, and Quintin Hogg, by then Lord Hailsham of St Marylebone. Actors played their younger versions and included John Woodvine as Lindsay, and James Coombes as Richard Crossman. The by-election forms the basis of part 'XIV' of poet Louis MacNeice's masterwork, Autumn Journal, which he wrote in the autumn of 1938 strongly influenced by the shadow of impending war. The persona in part 'XIV' apparently campaigns for Lindsay: "use your legs and leave a blank for Hogg / And put a cross for Lindsay". Result The intensive campaign caused turnout to increase from 67.3% at the last election to 76.3%. Hogg won the seat with a reduced majority of 3,434 or 12.2 points. Oxford by-election, 1938 Conservative Party (UK) Quintin Hogg 15,797 56.1 -6.7 Independent Progressive Sandy Lindsay 12,363 43.9 New 3,434 12.2 -13.4 28,160 76.3 +9.0 Conservative Party (UK) -25.3 Previous election 1935 general election: Oxford Conservative Party (UK) Robert Bourne 16,306 62.8 N/A Labour Party (UK) Patrick Gordon-Walker 9,661 37.2 New 6,645 25.6 N/A 25,967 67.3 N/A Conservative Party (UK) Notwithstanding his pro-appeasement campaign, Hogg would subsequently vote against Neville Chamberlain in the Norway Debate of May 1940. References Category:1938 in England Category:1938 elections in the United Kingdom Category:Elections in Oxford Category:By-elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom in Oxfordshire constituencies Category:20th century in Oxford