1931 Sunderland by-election

{{Short description|UK Parliamentary by-election}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2019}}

{{Use British English|date=August 2019}}

The 1931 Sunderland by-election was held on 26 March 1931. The by-election was held due to the death of the incumbent Labour MP, Alfred Smith. Smith and his Labour colleague Dr Marion Phillips had gained the two-member seat at the last general election from the Conservatives Luke Thompson and Walter Raine, who had first won it in 1922{{cite book |title=The Times House of Commons 1929 |date=1929 |publisher=The Times Office |location=London |page=62}} Another defeated candidate in 1929 was the Liberal Dr Betty Morgan, then aged 24. Both Thompson and Morgan contested the by-election.

The by-election saw Luke Thompson narrowly regain the seat he had lost in 1929 for the Conservatives. At the general election held later in the year, Thompson was returned with a greatly increased majority of over 23,000 votes, and his fellow Conservative Samuel Storey was also comfortably elected as the seat's second member.{{cite book |title=The Times House of Commons 1931 |date=1931 |publisher=The Times Office |location=London |page=58}}

{{Election box begin |

|title=General election 1929: SunderlandBritish parliamentary election results 1918-1949, Craig, F.W.S.

Electorate 101,875}}

{{Election box winning candidate with party link|

|party = Labour Party (UK)

|candidate ={{Y}}Marion Phillips

|votes = 31,794

|percentage = 19.5

|change = +0.2

}}

{{Election box winning candidate with party link|

|party = Labour Party (UK)

|candidate = {{Y}}Alfred Smith

|votes = 31,085

|percentage = 19.0

|change = N/A

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link|

|party = Conservative Party (UK)

|candidate = Walter Raine

|votes = 29,180

|percentage = 17.9

|change = -7.4

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link|

|party = Conservative Party (UK)

|candidate = Luke Thompson

|votes = 28,937

|percentage = 17.7

|change = -7.7

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link|

|party = Liberal Party (UK)

|candidate = Betty Morgan

|votes = 21,300

|percentage = 13.0

|change = -4.8

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link|

|party = Liberal Party (UK)

|candidate = John Pratt

|votes = 21,142

|percentage = 12.9

|change = +0.7

}}

{{Election box majority|

|votes = 1,905

|percentage = 1.1

|change = N/A

}}

{{Election box turnout|

|votes = 163,438

|percentage = 81.1

|change = -3.5

}}

{{Election box gain with party link

|winner = Labour Party (UK)

|loser = Conservative Party (UK)

|swing =

}}

{{Election box end}}

{{Election box begin |

|title= 1931 Sunderland by-electionBritish parliamentary election results 1918-1949, Craig, F.W.S.

Electorate 103,363}}

{{Election box winning candidate with party link|

|party = Conservative Party (UK)

|candidate = Luke Thompson

|votes = 30,497

|percentage = 40.3

|change = +3.7

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link|

|party = Labour Party (UK)

|candidate = James Thomas Brownlie

|votes = 30,074

|percentage = 39.8

|change = +1.3

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link|

|party = Liberal Party (UK)

|candidate = Betty Morgan

|votes = 15,020

|percentage = 19.9

|change = -6.0

}}

{{Election box majority|

|votes = 423

|percentage = 0.5

|change = N/A

}}

{{Election box turnout|

|votes = 75,591

|percentage = 73.1

|change = -8.0

}}

{{Election box gain with party link

|winner = Conservative Party (UK)

|loser = Labour Party (UK)

|swing =

}}

{{Election box end}}