The 1940 Cambridge University by-election was a parliamentary

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 ...

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 of

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

on 23 February 1940. Cambridge University was a two-member constituency.

Vacancy

The by-election was caused by the death of 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 ...

MP, Sir John James Withers on 29 December 1939 at the age of 76. He had been one of the MPs here since holding the seat in the 1926 Cambridge University by-election.

Election history

In the 1935 general election it elected two Conservative MPs. Cambridge University had been won by Conservatives at every election since 1922 when an Independent Liberal won one of the seats. The result at the last General election was as follows;

Candidates

Due to the wartime electoral truce, the party who were defending the seat were assured of not facing an official candidate from the other political parties. However, the Conservative party, who were defending the seat, did not put forward an official candidate. Keynes 1933

In 1939, before Withers had died, his health was not good and it was expected that a by-election would need to take place. The Master of

Magdalene College Magdalene College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1428 as a Benedictine hostel, in time coming to be known as Buckingham College, before being refounded in 1542 as the College of St Mary ...

, Allen Beville Ramsay had obtained agreement that none of the major parties would field a candidate if prominent economist,

John Maynard Keynes John Maynard Keynes, 1st Baron Keynes, ( ; 5 June 1883 – 21 April 1946), was an English economist whose ideas fundamentally changed the theory and practice of macroeconomics and the economic policies of governments. Originally trained in ...

chose to stand. Keynes was a Liberal party member and so unlikely to win the seat if a Conservative was standing. Keynes declined the invitation as he felt he would wield greater influence on events if he remained a free agent.Clarke, Peter (2009). Keynes : The Twentieth Century's Most Influential Economist. Archibald Vivian Hill

Eventually, Keynes brother in law, 54-year-old Prof. Archibald Hill became a candidate, standing as an Independent Conservative. He was professor of physiology at

University College, London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = � ...

. In 1933, he became a founder member and vice-president of the Academic Assistance Council (which became the Society for the Protection of Science and Learning in 1936). By the start of the Second World War, the organisation had saved 900 academics from the Nazi persecution. Fifty-one-year-old Prof. John Ryle came forward to stand as an Independent Progressive. He was appointed in 1935 Regius Professor of Physic at the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

. Ryle was politically active at Cambridge, helping Jewish scholars emigrate from Germany and Austria before

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. During the early stages of the war, he was working at

Guy's Hospital Guy's Hospital is an NHS hospital in the borough of Southwark in central London. It is part of Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust and one of the institutions that comprise the King's Health Partners, an academic health science centre. ...

to help them prepare for the Blitz.

Result

Polling took place over four days from 19 to 23 February. Hill took the seat from the Conservatives as an Independent Conservative

Aftermath

Hill did not contest 1945 general election, in which the two seats were won by one Conservative and one Independent;

Vacancy

Election history

Candidates

Result

Aftermath

References

See also