1954 Harwich by-election

1954 UK Parliamentary by-election November 2019 August 2022 1954 Harwich by-election parliamentary Harwich constituency no 1951 United Kingdom general election 1951 1955 United Kingdom general election 1955 11 February 1954 File:Harwich1918.png 280px Boundary of the Harwich constituency in Essex Julian Ridsdale 105 105 140 0 0 Conservative and National Liberal 19,532 59.1% 0.2% Shirley Williams, 1984.jpg 105 105 140 0 0 Shirley Catlin Labour Party (UK) 13,535 40.9% 0.2% MP Stanley Holmes Conservative and National Liberal Julian Ridsdale Conservative and National Liberal The 1954 Harwich by-election was a parliamentary by-election held on 11 February 1954 for the British House of Commons constituency of Harwich. Background Constituency The seat consisted of the port town of Harwich, the seaside towns of Clacton-on-Sea, Brightlingsea, Frinton-on-Sea and Walton-on-the-Naze, and most of the primarily rural Tendring District. Trigger The seat had become vacant when the National Liberal Member of Parliament (MP) Stanley Holmes was elevated to the peerage as Baron Dovercourt, having held the seat since the 1935 general election. Candidates National Liberal The National Liberal party chose Julian Ridsdale, the nephew both of former Conservative Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin and Liberal MP Sir Aurelian Ridsdale as its candidate. He had contested Paddington North at the 1951 general election as the Conservative Party candidate. Labour In the autumn of 1952 the Harwich Labour party selected the 22 year old former chair of Oxford University Labour Club Shirley Catlin as its prospective candidate, after the only other candidate made it clear that he had no interest in running.Shirley Williams Climbing The Bookshelves: Autobiography of Shirley Williams, Virago, 2009 Result The Conservative and Liberal candidate, Julian Ridsdale held the seat for the government. He remained the constituency's MP until his retirement 38 years later at the 1992 general election. Shirley Catlin would later, under her married name Shirley Williams; be elected as MP for Hitchin and would serve in the Cabinets of Harold Wilson and James Callaghan.http://www.parliament.uk/biographies/lords/shirley-williams/26630 Baroness Williams of Crosby 2013-03-03 https://web.archive.org/web/20130304122635/http://www.parliament.uk/biographies/lords/shirley-williams/26630 2013-03-04 dead 1954 Harwich by-electionhttp://by-elections.co.uk/54.html https://web.archive.org/web/20120204032418/http://by-elections.co.uk/54.html 1954 By Election Results 2012-02-04 dead 2015-08-14 Conservative and National Liberal Julian Ridsdale 19,532 59.1 +0.2 Labour Party (UK) Shirley Catlin 13,535 40.9 -0.2 5,997 18.2 +0.4 33,067 Conservative and National Liberal References Harwich by-election Harwich by-election Category:Harwich Category:By-elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom in Essex constituencies Category:1950s in Essex