1940 Birmingham Edgbaston By-election
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The 1940 Birmingham Edgbaston by-election was a parliamentary by-election held 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 Birmingham Edgbaston on 18 December 1940. The seat had become vacant when
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 ...
, the constituency's Conservative Party Member of Parliament had died from
stomach cancer Stomach cancer, also known as gastric cancer, is a cancer that develops from the lining of the stomach. Most cases of stomach cancers are gastric carcinomas, which can be divided into a number of subtypes, including gastric adenocarcinomas. Lymph ...
on 9 November. Chamberlain had been Prime Minister until May 1940, and had held the Edgbaston seat since the 1929 general election. The Conservative candidate, Peter Bennett, was returned unopposed. During World War II, unopposed by-elections were common, since the major parties had agreed not to contest by-elections when vacancies arose in seats held by the other parties; contests occurred only when independent candidates or minor parties chose to stand, and the Common Wealth Party was formed in 1942 with the specific aim of contesting war-time by-elections.


See also

* Birmingham Edgbaston (UK Parliament constituency) * 1898 Birmingham Edgbaston by-election *
1953 Birmingham Edgbaston by-election The Birmingham Edgbaston by-election was held on 2 July 1953. It was held when the incumbent Conservative MP, Peter Bennett was elevated to a hereditary peerage. It was won by the Conservative candidate Edith Pitt Dame Edith Maud Pitt, (1 ...
* The suburb of Edgbaston * List of United Kingdom by-elections


References

* * {{By-elections to the 37th UK Parliament 1940 elections in the United Kingdom 1940 in England 1940s in Birmingham, West Midlands December 1940 events Edgbaston, 1940 Unopposed by-elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom (need citation)