The 1938 Bridgwater by-election was a
parliamentary by-election 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
Bridgwater
Bridgwater is a large historic market town and civil parish in Somerset, England. Its population currently stands at around 41,276 as of 2022. Bridgwater is at the edge of the Somerset Levels, in level and well-wooded country. The town lies alon ...
,
Somerset
( en, All The People of Somerset)
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, region = South West England
, established_date = Ancient
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, preceded_by =
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, lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset
, lord_ ...
held on 17 November 1938.
Vacancy
The by-election was triggered when
Reginald Croom-Johnson
Sir Reginald Powell Croom-Johnson (27 July 1879 – 29 December 1957) was a British barrister, judge, and Conservative Member of Parliament for Bridgwater. He was a noted philatelist with a specialist collection of the stamps of the British Solo ...
, the sitting
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 was appointed a High Court Judge in October 1938 which required him to resign his seat in parliament. He had been MP here since holding the seat in 1929.
Election history
Ever since the constituency was created in 1885, the Conservatives had won the seat, with the exception of the
Liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* a supporter of liberalism
** Liberalism by country
* an adherent of a Liberal Party
* Liberalism (international relations)
* Sexually liberal feminism
* Social liberalism
Arts, entertainment and m ...
landslide of
1906
Events
January–February
* January 12 – Persian Constitutional Revolution: A nationalistic coalition of merchants, religious leaders and intellectuals in Persia forces the shah Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar to grant a constitution, ...
and the
General Election of 1923, when the Liberals had won. The
Labour party had always polled poorly and always coming last, except in 1923 when the Liberals won. At the last General Election, the Liberal challenge was not as strong as it had been;
Background
On 29 September 1938,
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
Neville Chamberlain
Arthur Neville Chamberlain (; 18 March 18699 November 1940) was a British politician of the Conservative Party who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from May 1937 to May 1940. He is best known for his foreign policy of appeasemen ...
had signed the
Munich Agreement
The Munich Agreement ( cs, Mnichovská dohoda; sk, Mníchovská dohoda; german: Münchner Abkommen) was an agreement concluded at Munich on 30 September 1938, by Nazi Germany, Germany, the United Kingdom, French Third Republic, France, and Fa ...
, handing over the
Sudetenland
The Sudetenland ( , ; Czech and sk, Sudety) is the historical German name for the northern, southern, and western areas of former Czechoslovakia which were inhabited primarily by Sudeten Germans. These German speakers had predominated in the ...
to German control. This issue polarised British politics at the time, with many
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 ...
supporters,
Liberals, and some Conservatives strongly opposed to this policy of
appeasement
Appeasement in an international context is a diplomatic policy of making political, material, or territorial concessions to an aggressive power in order to avoid conflict. The term is most often applied to the foreign policy of the UK governm ...
. Many by-elections in the autumn of 1938 were fought around this issue, notably the
Oxford by-election, where Liberals and Labour united in support of an Independent anti-appeasement candidate.
Candidates
The Conservative Party selected 26-year-old lawyer and former
Territorial Army officer
Patrick Gerald Heathcoat-Amory of
Tiverton as its candidate. He was thought to be assured of a sizeable agricultural vote, half of the electorate lived in rural areas at this time.
Vernon Bartlett
Charles Vernon Oldfield Bartlett, CBE (30 April 1894 – 18 January 1983) was an English journalist, politician and author. He served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1938 to 1950: first as an Independent Progressive advocating a Popular Fron ...
was a journalist and broadcaster with extensive experience of foreign affairs. He was approached by
Richard Acland
Sir Richard Thomas Dyke Acland, 15th Baronet (26 November 1906 – 24 November 1990) was one of the founding members of the British Common Wealth Party in 1942, having previously been a Liberal Member of Parliament (MP). He joined the Labour Pa ...
, Liberal MP for
Barnstaple
Barnstaple ( or ) is a river-port town in North Devon, England, at the River Taw's lowest crossing point before the Bristol Channel. From the 14th century, it was licensed to export wool and won great wealth. Later it imported Irish wool, bu ...
, a seat bordering Bridgwater, about standing as an anti-appeasement candidate in the by-election. Bartlett agreed to do so providing he had the support of the Liberal and Labour parties. The Bridgwater Liberal Party unanimously backed Bartlett's candidature.
Before the by-election vacancy was known, the local Labour Party had already re-adopted Arthur Loveys their previous candidate, to contest a General Election expected to occur in 1939. Loveys withdrew and Labour generally supported Bartlett, although many in the Labour Party were unenthusiastic about co-operation with the Liberals.
Campaign
The campaign was intense and focused almost entirely on foreign affairs. Heathcoat-Amory supported Chamberlain's appeasement policy. Bartlett opposed appeasement and was a very persuasive speaker on the subject. His voice was already well known due to his radio broadcasts. His experience of foreign affairs and erudite speeches were very effective at a time when public meetings were a vital part of electioneering.
Many Liberal personalities came to support Bartlett, including
Megan Lloyd George
Lady Megan Arvon Lloyd George, (22 April 1902 – 14 May 1966) was a Welsh politician and the first female Member of Parliament (MP) for a Welsh constituency. She also served as Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party, before later becoming a Labo ...
,
Lady Violet Bonham Carter and
Sir Charles Hobhouse. Some Labour voters were reluctant to support Bartlett, believing he was really a Liberal candidate. However, he did receive a letter of support from 39 Labour MPs just before polling day.
Result
The intensive campaign caused turnout to increase from 72.7% at the last election to 82.3%. Bartlett won the seat with a majority of 2,332 or 6.3%. He hailed the result as a defeat for Chamberlain, saying that it showed people understood the dangers of the Government's foreign policy.
Aftermath
At the following General Election, Bartlett, retaining support from the Liberals, but now opposed by the Labour party, managed to hang onto the seat;
In popular culture
A Monty Python skit called
The North Minehead By-Election was influenced by this event, whereby
Minehead
Minehead is a coastal town and civil parish in Somerset, England. It lies on the south bank of the Bristol Channel, north-west of the county town of Taunton, from the boundary with the county of Devon and in proximity of the Exmoor National P ...
, another town in Somerset, is having a by-election. One of the candidates, played by
John Cleese
John Marwood Cleese ( ; born 27 October 1939) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. Emerging from the Cambridge Footlights in the 1960s, he first achieved success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and as a scriptwriter and ...
, is an Adolf Hitler looking man who calls himself "Mr Hilter" and who espouses a philosophy called "National Bocialism".
See also
*
Lists of United Kingdom by-elections
The list of by-elections in the United Kingdom is divided chronologically by parliament:
Parliament of the United Kingdom
*List of United Kingdom by-elections (1801–1806)
* List of United Kingdom by-elections (1806–1818)
*List of United Kingd ...
References
External links
Vernon Bartlett website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bridgwater By-Election, 1938
By-elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom in Somerset constituencies
1938 in England
1938 elections in the United Kingdom
Bridgwater
20th century in Somerset