1940 Leeds North East by-election

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

The 1940 Leeds North East by-election was a parliamentary by-election in England held on 13 March 1940 to elect a new Member of Parliament (MP) for the House of Commons constituency of Leeds North East.

The vacancy was caused by the resignation on 8 February 1940 of the sitting Member, Sir John Birchall, through the procedural device of appointment as Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds.{{cite web

|url=http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons/lib/research/briefings/snpc-04731.pdf

|title=Appointments to the Chiltern Hundreds and Manor of Northstead Stewardships since 1850

|author=Department of Information Services

|publisher=House of Commons Library

|date=9 June 2009

|access-date=30 November 2009

|url-status=dead

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110206041753/http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons/lib/research/briefings/snpc-04731.pdf

|archive-date= 6 February 2011

}} He had held the seat since its creation for the 1918 general election.{{Rayment-hc|l|1|date=March 2012}}

The by-election was held during World War II, and the five largest political parties – Conservative, Labour, Liberal, National Labour and National Liberal – were all members of the Coalition Government. As such, they maintained an electoral pact and agreed not to contest any by-elections in seats held by any other party in the Government.

The Conservative candidate, John Craik-Henderson, was opposed only by Sydney Allen of the British Union of Fascists. Henderson won with 97.1% of the vote, but gained only 37.5% and lost his seat in the 1945 general election, when the seat was also contested by Labour and Liberal party candidates.{{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

|page=162

}}