The 1939 East Norfolk by-election was a parliamentary by-election held on 26 January 1939 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 East Norfolk.

Previous MP

The seat had become vacant on 14 November 1938, when the constituency's

National Liberal National liberalism is a variant of liberalism, combining liberal policies and issues with elements of nationalism. Historically, national liberalism has also been used in the same meaning as conservative liberalism (right-liberalism). A seri ...

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), William Lygon, Viscount Elmley had succeeded to the peerage as the 8th

Earl Beauchamp Earl Beauchamp () was a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. The peerage was created in 1815 for William Lygon, 1st Baron Beauchamp, along with the subsidiary title Viscount Elmley, in the County of Worcester. He had already been creat ...

. He had been East Norfolk's MP since he was first elected as a

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 ...

at the 1929 general election, when he gained the seat from the Conservatives. He joined the breakaway National Liberals in 1931, and at the following General election was not opposed by the Conservatives.

Previous result

Candidates

Only two candidates contested the by-election:

Frank Medlicott Brigadier Sir Frank Medlicott CBE (10 November 1903 – 9 January 1972) was a National Liberal Party and later Liberal Party politician in the United Kingdom. He first stood for parliament as a Liberal, contesting Acton in 1929. He was elected ...

for the National Liberals, and Norman Tillett for the Labour Party. Medlicott was a 36-year-old London solicitor who had not contested an election since standing for the Liberal party at Acton in 1929. Tillett was a Norwich solicitor, whose great-grandfather and uncle were both Liberal MPs for Norwich. Tillett had fought the seat at the last General Election. A number of local Conservatives who were unhappy about supporting Medlicott tried to get an Independent Conservative candidate to stand. For a while, it seemed as if James F. Wright, the Secretary of the Norfolk Farmers Union would run as an Independent Conservative, but by close of nominations, there were just the two candidates.

Result

Medlicott held the seat for the National Liberals, with a reduced but still substantial majority.

Aftermath

The

1945 general election The following elections occurred in the year 1945. Africa * 1945 South-West African legislative election Asia * 1945 Indian general election Australia * 1945 Fremantle by-election Europe * 1945 Albanian parliamentary election * 1945 Bulgaria ...

was again a two-way contest between Medlicott and Tilett, and Medlicott held the seat. When the East Norfolk constituency was abolished for the 1950 general election, he was returned for the new Central Norfolk seat.

References

* * 1939 elections in the United Kingdom 1939 in England

East East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fa ...