1931 Gateshead by-election

UK parliamentary by-election June 2025 December 2020 July 2015 The 1931 Gateshead by-election was a parliamentary by-election held on 8 June 1931 for the British House of Commons constituency of Gateshead. Previous MP The seat had become vacant on when the constituency's Labour Member of Parliament (MP), Sir James Melville, had died on 1 May, aged 46. He had been Gateshead's MP since the 1929 general election, and had been Solicitor-General from 1929 to 1930. Candidates The Conservative Party candidate was Cuthbert Headlam, who had been MP for Barnard Castle from 1924 until his defeat in 1929. Labour selected Herbert Evans, who had stood unsuccessfully at the 1929 election in the Maldon constituency in Essex. In 1929, there had been both a Liberal and an independent candidate in Gateshead, but the by-election was a two-way contest between Labour and Conservative. Result The result was a narrow victory for Evans. His 51.6% share of the votes was only a small fall from his predecessor's result in 1929, but Headlam picked up the votes which had previously gone to Liberal and independent candidates, and cut the Labour majority from a safe 31.1% to a precarious 3.2%. However, Evans did not live to defend the seat; he died on 7 October, the day on which Parliament was dissolved for the 1931 general election. The Gateshead seat was then won by the National Liberal Party candidate, Thomas Magnay, and Headlam was re-elected in Barnard Castle. Gateshead by-election, 8 June 1931 Labour Party (UK) Herbert Evans 22,893 51.6 −1.0 Conservative Party (UK) Cuthbert Headlam 21,501 48.4 +26.9 1,392 3.2 −27.9 44,394 60.8 −13.1 Labour Party (UK) See also Gateshead constituency Gateshead List of United Kingdom by-elections (1918–1931) United Kingdom by-election records References Craig F. W. S. F. W. S. Craig British parliamentary election results 1918–1949 1969 3rd 1983 Parliamentary Research Services Chichester 0-900178-06-X March 2012 Category:1931 elections in the United Kingdom Category:1931 in England Category:20th century in County Durham Category:Politics of Gateshead Category:Elections in Tyne and Wear Category:By-elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom in County Durham constituencies Category:June 1931 in the United Kingdom