1945 Smethwick by-election

UK parliamentary by-election November 2019 The 1945 Smethwick by-election was a by-election held on 1 October 1945 for the British House of Commons constituency of Smethwick in Staffordshire (now in the West Midlands county). The by-election was caused by the death of the town's newly elected Labour Party Member of Parliament (MP), 63-year-old Alfred Dobbs, who was killed in a car accident on 27 July 1945, only one day after his election at the 1945 general electionM.P. Killed in Car Crash Hartlepool Northern Daily Mail 28 July 1945 27 May 2016 http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000378/19450728/027/0002 British Newspaper Archive subscription Apart from some MPs who were elected posthumously, Dobbs remains the United Kingdom's shortest-serving MP. There were only two candidates in the by-election, Labour and Conservative; the Liberal Party had not fielded a candidate in Smethwick since the 1929 general election. The result was a victory for the Labour candidate Patrick Gordon Walker, who held the seat comfortably with a slightly increased majority on a modestly reduced turnout. Gordon Walker was an MP for nearly 30 years, serving twice as a Cabinet minister. Votes By-election 1945: Smethwick 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 http://by-elections.co.uk/45.html https://web.archive.org/web/20120206224812/http://by-elections.co.uk/45.html 1945 By Election Results 2012-02-06 dead 2015-08-11 Labour Party (UK) Patrick Gordon Walker 19,364 68.8 +2.9 Conservative Party (UK) G.H. Edgar 8,762 31.2 −2.9 10,602 37.6 +5.8 43,020 65.4 −7.0 Labour Party (UK) +2.9 References See also List of United Kingdom by-elections Smethwick constituency 1926 Smethwick by-election Smethwick by-election Smethwick by-election Smethwick by-election Category:By-elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom in West Midlands (county) constituencies Category:Smethwick Category:By-elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom in Staffordshire constituencies Category:20th century in Staffordshire