The 1929 Battersea South by-election was held on 7 February 1929. The by-election was held when the incumbent Conservative MP, Francis Curzon, succeeded to the peerage as

Earl Howe Earl Howe is a title that has been created twice in British history, for members of the Howe and Curzon-Howe family respectively. The first creation, in the Peerage of Great Britain, was in 1788 for Richard Howe, but became extinct on his ...

. It was won by the

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

candidate

William Bennett William John Bennett (born July 31, 1943) is an American conservative politician and political commentator who served as secretary of education from 1985 to 1988 under President Ronald Reagan. He also held the post of director of the Office of ...

in a three-way contest.

Candidates

The local Liberal association selected 40 year-old Vivian Claude Albu as their candidate. Albu had stood for the Liberals in the 1922 general election at Battersea North.The Liberal Year Book, 1926 Labour selected

, who had been their candidate in

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, around southwest of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The name "Guildf ...

in three general elections between 1918 and 1923. The Conservative Party selected Harry Selley, a builder and member of the

London County Council London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today kno ...

for Battersea South.

Result

Aftermath

A few months later at the next general election Bennett again defeated Selley, this time by 418 votes in a much increased poll. The Liberals were again third, though with a new candidate, the former Mayor of Battersea, Captain William J. West. In

1931 Events January * January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics. * January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa. * January 22 – Sir I ...

Selley won the seat at the third attempt, defeating Bennett with a majority of over 15,000 votes.

References

Battersea South by-election Battersea South,1929 Battersea South by-election Battersea Battersea South,1929 {{London-UK-Parl-by-election-stub