1932 Wednesbury by-election

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

{{Infobox election

| election_name = 1932 Wednesbury by-election

| type = parliamentary

| country = United Kingdom

| previous_election = 1931 United Kingdom general election

| previous_year = 1931

| next_election = 1935 United Kingdom general election

| next_year = 1935

| election_date = 26 July 1932

| candidate1 = William Banfield

| image1 = x160px

| party1 = Labour Party (UK)

| popular_vote1 = 21,977

| percentage1 = 54.7%

| candidate2 = Rex Davis

| image2 =

| party2 = Conservative Party (UK)

| popular_vote2 = 18,198

| percentage2 = 45.3%

| map_image =

| map_size =

| title = MP

| posttitle = Subsequent MP

| before_election = William Ward

| before_party = Conservative Party (UK)

| after_election = William Banfield

| after_party = Labour Party (UK)

| votes_for_election = Constituency of Wednesbury

| turnout = 78.0% ({{decrease}}11.0%)

| swing1 = {{increase}}9.2%

| swing2 = {{decrease}}9.2%

| registered = 51,498

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

The 1932 Wednesbury by-election was a by-election held on 26 July 1932 for the British House of Commons constituency of Wednesbury in Staffordshire. The by-election was triggered by the elevation to the peerage of the sitting Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) Viscount Ednam.

The seat had been held by Labour since 1918, but had fallen to the Conservatives with a majority of over 4,000 as part of the 1931 election landslide less than a year earlier. The election was dominated by the continuing effects of the Great Depression. Labour, whose candidate was William Banfield, General Secretary of the Amalgamated Union of Operative Bakers and Confectioners, fought on the issue of the means test for unemployment benefit. The Conservative candidate was Captain Rex G. Davis, whose election address focused on the economy, employment and the Empire.'The Wednesbury Election: Labour Appeal to Discontent', The Times, 18 July 1932

The Labour party had every reason to hope to regain the seat, normally a safe one for the party. 'There will be acute surprise and disappointment if Mr Banfield is not elected,' according to a report in The Times, which pointed out that the constituency had 12,000 unemployed and several factories had closed down. The newspaper felt that Davis had the better of the argument, but the contest 'had resolved itself into a fight between the Socialist and Conservative machines'.'The Wednesbury Election: Polling To-Day', The Times, 26 July 1932

The result was a victory for Labour, as expected, with a majority of well over 3,000. Captain Davis accused the party of misrepresenting the facts about the means test and complained that in the three weeks of the campaign he 'had not had the time to dispel the fears created in the minds of the local unemployed'.'The Wednesbury Election: Seat Won By Labour', The Times, 28 July 1932 The seat continued in Labour hands until its abolition in 1974.