1940 Bow and Bromley by-election
{{Short description|British House of Commons by-election}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2015}}
The 1940 Bow and Bromley by-election, was a parliamentary by-election held on 12 June 1940 for the British House of Commons constituency of Bow and Bromley in the Metropolitan Borough of Poplar in the East End of London.
The seat became vacant when the constituency's Labour member of Parliament (MP), George Lansbury, died on 7 May 1940, aged 81. A leader of the Labour Party, he had held the seat since the 1922 general election, and previously from 1910 to 1912.
Candidates
During World War II, the political parties in the coalition government agreed not to contest by-elections in seats held by the other parties in the coalition. The Labour Party selected as its candidate Charles Key, a local Alderman and leader of the Borough of Poplar. Key was a teacher, who left the classroom when war broke out to become the deputy controller of civil defence in Poplar.
His only opponent was Isabel Brown of the Communist Party of Great Britain. Brown had twice before been a Parliamentary candidate in Scotland (in Kilmarnock and Motherwell); she previously worked in the Ministry of Education in Moscow.
The British Union of Fascists intended to put up Mick Clarke as a candidate; this was abandoned when he became one of the first group of members rounded up under Defence Regulation 18B.R. Benewick, Political Violence and Public Order, London: Allan Lane, 1969, p. 294
Results
On a reduced turnout, Key held the seat for Labour with 95.8% of the votes. He remained Bow and Bromley's MP until the constituency was abolished for the 1950 general election, when he was elected as MP for the new Poplar constituency. He held that seat until 1964.
Votes
{{Election box begin |
|title=Bow and Bromley by-election, 12th June 1940
}}
{{Election box winning candidate with party link|
|party = Labour Party (UK)
|candidate = Charles Key
|votes = 11,594
|percentage = 95.8
|change = +18.2
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link|
|party = Communist Party of Great Britain
|candidate = Isabel Brown
|votes = 506
|percentage = 4.2
|change = New
}}
{{Election box majority|
|votes = 11,088
|percentage = 91.6
|change = +3.6
}}
{{Election box turnout|
|votes = 12,100
|percentage = 32.4
|change = −27.1
}}
{{Election box hold with party link|
|winner = Labour Party (UK)
|swing =
}}
{{Election box end}}
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
Bibliography
- {{cite book |last=Craig |first=F. W. S. |author-link= F. W. S. Craig |title=British parliamentary election results 1918–1949 |orig-year=1969 |edition= 3rd |year=1983 |publisher= Parliamentary Research Services |location=Chichester |isbn= 0-900178-06-X}}
- {{cite book |last=Cazalet-Keir |first=Thelma |author-link= Thelma Cazalet-Keir |title=From the Wings:An Autobiography |orig-year=1967 |edition= 1st |year=1967 |publisher= The Bodley Head |location= London }}
- {{Rayment|date=February 2012}}
{{By-elections to the 37th UK Parliament}}