1935 Liverpool Wavertree by-election

The 1935 Liverpool Wavertree by-election was a by-election held in England for the House of Commons constituency of Liverpool Wavertree on 6 February 1935. It was won by the Labour Party candidate Joseph Cleary.

Vacancy

The seat had become vacant when the sitting Conservative Member of Parliament (MP), Ronald Nall-Cain had succeeded to the peerage as Baron Brocket. He had held the seat since a by-election in 1931.

Electoral history

General election October 1931: Liverpool Wavertree
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ronald Nall-Cain	33,476	77.9	+12.9
	Labour	C. G. Clark	9,504	22.1	−12.9
Majority			23,972	55.8	+25.8
Turnout			42,980	75.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	+12.9

Candidates

The Conservative candidate was James Platt, but Randolph Churchill (son of the future Prime Minister Winston Churchill) stood as an "independent Conservative". The Labour Party candidate was 32-year-old Joseph Cleary, a local magistrate.

The Liberal Party selected 49 year-old Liverpool solicitor, Tudor Artro Morris as their candidate. Morris had contested Wallasey for the Liberals at the 1922 and 1923 general elections. He was educated at the Liverpool Institute and Liverpool University.^[1]

Result

With the Conservative vote split between the official candidate and the independent Churchill, the result was a victory for the Labour candidate, Joseph Jackson Cleary, who took the seat on a swing of 30%.

Liverpool Wavertree by-election, 1935
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Joseph Cleary	15,611	35.3	+13.2
	Conservative	James Platt	13,711	31.2	−46.7
	Ind. Conservative	Randolph Churchill	10,575	23.9	New
	Liberal	Tudor Artro Morris	4,208	9.5	New
Majority			1,840	4.1	N/A
Turnout			44,165	72.3	−2.9
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	−30.0

Aftermath

Cleary was unseated at the 1935 general election by the Conservative Peter Shaw, who held the seat until he stood down at the 1945 general election.

Sources

^ The Liberal Year Book, 1927

Craig, F. W. S. (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918-1949 (3rd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.
Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs

[1] The Liberal Year Book, 1927

[1]

v t e By-elections in Liverpool
1801–1832	Liverpool, 1830
1832–1885	Liverpool, 1842 Liverpool, 1853 Liverpool, 1855 Liverpool, 1873 Liverpool, 1874 Liverpool, February 1880 Liverpool, August 1880 Liverpool, 1882
1885–1900	Walton, 1886 Exchange, 1887 West Derby, 1888 Everton, 1892 West Derby, 1893 East Toxteth, 1895 Exchange, 1897 Kirkdale, 1898
1900–1918	East Toxteth, 1902 West Derby, 1903 Everton, 1905 Kirkdale, 1907 Kirkdale, 1910 Kirkdale, 1915 East Toxteth, 1916 Abercromby, 1917
1918–1945	West Derby, 1919 Exchange, 1922 Edge Hill, 1923 West Toxteth, 1924 Scotland, 1929 East Toxteth, 1929 Wavertree, 1931 East Toxteth, 1931 Exchange, 1933 West Derby, 1935 Wavertree, 1935 West Toxteth, 1935
1945–present	Edge Hill, 1947 West Derby, 1954 Garston, 1957 Scotland, 1964 Scotland, 1971 Edge Hill, 1979 Walton, 1991
Lists of UK by-elections 1868–1885 1885–1900 1900–1918 1918–1931 1931–1950 1950–1979 1979–2010 2010–present

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1932	February: Croydon South New Forest and Christchurch Henley March: Dunbartonshire April: Richmond-upon-Thames Wakefield Eastbourne St Marylebone June: Dulwich Montrose Burghs July: Westminster Abbey North Cornwall Wednesbury September: Twickenham Cardiganshire
1933	January Liverpool Exchange February: East Fife Rotherham March: Ashford Rhondda East May: Normanton June: Hitchin Altrincham September: Clay Cross October: Fulham East November: Kilmarnock Skipton Manchester Rusholme Rutland and Stamford Harborough December: Wentworth
1934	February: Cambridge Lowestoft Portsmouth North March: Combined Scottish Universities April: Basingstoke Hammersmith North May: Upton Hemsworth June: Merthyr Monmouth Twickenham Weston-super-Mare Fermanagh and Tyrone July: Rushcliffe October: Lambeth North Swindon November: Putney
1935	Liverpool Wavertree Cambridge University March: Norwood Eastbourne April: Perth May: Edinburgh West Tamworth Aberdeen South June: Combined Scottish Universities City of London July: Liverpool West Derby Liverpool West Toxteth Sevenoaks September: Dumfriesshire
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