1943 Daventry by-election

UK by-election April 2022 The 1943 Daventry by-election was a parliamentary by-election for the British House of Commons constituency of Daventry, Northamptonshire, on 20 April 1943. Vacancy The by-election was caused by the death of the sitting MP and Speaker, Edward FitzRoy on 3 March 1943. He had been MP here since winning the seat as a Conservative when the seat was created in 1918. Election history The result at the last general election was as follows: 1935 general election: DaventryF W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949; Political Reference Publications, Glasgow 1949 Speaker of the House of Commons (United Kingdom) Edward FitzRoy 18,934 63.75 N/A Labour Party (UK) TE Barnes 10,767 36.25 New 8,167 27.50 N/A 29,701 76.00 N/A Speaker of the House of Commons (United Kingdom) N/A Candidates The local Conservatives selected 38-year-old Reginald Manningham-Buller.Who's Who The Labour Party had selected Paul Williams.Report of the Annual Conference of the Labour Party 1937-40 At the outbreak 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, 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. Dennis Webb was Chairman of the Common Wealth Party's Northampton branch.The Times, 1942 and came forward as a candidate. Liberal Party member William Dyer decided to break the electoral truce and stand as an Independent Liberal. Campaign Polling day was set for 20 April 1943, 48 days after the death of Fitzroy, allowing for a long campaign. When nominations closed, it was to reveal a three horse race. Manningham-Buller received a joint letter of endorsement from all the leaders of the parties in the coalition. Manningham-Buller addressing a campaign meeting said "Three countries will be pleased if I am defeated - Germany, Italy and Japan."By-Elections in British Politics by Cook & Ramsden Result Daventry by-election, 1943 Conservative Party (UK) Reginald Manningham-Buller 9,043 45.8 -18.0 Common Wealth Party Dennis Webb 6,391 33.4 New Independent Liberal William George Ernest Dyer 4,093 20.8 New 2,652 12.4 -15.1 19,527 48.8 -27.2 Conservative Party (UK) Speaker of the House of Commons (United Kingdom) N/A Aftermath Paul Williams, who had been Labour's prospective candidate at the start of the war, ran Manningham-Buller close. Dyer, now standing officially as the Liberal Party candidate. The result at the following General election; General election 1945: Daventry Conservative Party (UK) Reginald Manningham-Buller 14,863 42.8 N/A Labour Party (UK) Paul Williams 13,693 39.5 +3.2 Liberal Party (UK) William George Ernest Dyer 6,130 17.7 N/A 1,170 3.4 -24.1 34,686 75.0 -1.0 Conservative Party (UK) See also List of United Kingdom by-elections United Kingdom by-election records References Daventry by-election Category:By-elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom in Northamptonshire constituencies Daventry by-election Category:20th century in Northamptonshire Daventry