The 1932 Croydon South by-election was a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

held on 9 February 1932 for the

British House of Commons The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 mem ...

constituency An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger State (polity), state (a country, administrative region, ...

of Croydon South in

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

Vacancy

The seat had become vacant when the

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP), Sir William Mitchell-Thomson had been elevated to the peerage as

Baron Selsdon Baron Selsdon, of Croydon in the County of Surrey, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 14 January 1932 for the Conservative politician Sir William Mitchell-Thomson, 2nd Baronet. His son, the second Baron, was a s ...

. He had held the seat since the 1923 general election.

Candidates

The Conservative candidate was Herbert Williams, who had been MP for

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

until his defeat at the 1929 general election. His only opponent was the Labour Party candidate, Rudolph Putnam Messel, who had contested

South Molton South Molton is a town in Devon, England. It is part of the North Devon local government district. The town is on the River Mole. According to the 2001 census the civil parish of South Molton had a population of 4,093, increasing to 5,108 at the ...

in 1929 and 1931. The local Liberal association, who had polled a strong third in 1929 but had not stood in 1931 selected barrister Alun Llewellyn to run as their candidate. However, a week later, Llewellyn decided to withdraw.Dundee Courier Angus, 21 Jan 1932 He did contest the seat at the subsequent general election.

Result

On a low turnout, the result was a victory for Williams: a swing of 12.8% to Labour merely reduced the Conservative majority from huge to large. He was re-elected in 1935, but defeated at the 1945 general election.

Votes

References

Sources