The 1940 Rochdale 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 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, ...

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

on 20 July 1940.

Vacancy

The seat had become vacant when the

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 ...

Member of Parliament William Kelly, had resigned his seat in Parliament by the procedural device of accepting the post of Steward of the Manor of Northstead, a notional 'office of profit under the crown'. Kelly had been Rochdale's MP since winning the seat from the Conservatives at the 1935 general election.

Candidates

The Labour Party candidate was Dr

Hyacinth Morgan Hyacinth or Hyacinthus may refer to: Nature Plants * Hyacinth (plant), genus ''Hyacinthus'' ** ''Hyacinthus orientalis'', common hyacinth * Grape hyacinth, '' Muscari'', a genus of perennial bulbous plants native to Eurasia * Hyacinth bean, ''La ...

, a doctor born in the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...

to Irish parents, who had studied medicine in Glasgow. After three unsuccessful attempts, he won the Camberwell North West seat at the 1929 general election, but lost it at the 1931 election. This was his first candidacy since his defeat. During the Second World War the political parties in the

Coalition Government A coalition government is a form of government in which political parties cooperate to form a government. The usual reason for such an arrangement is that no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an election, an atypical outcome in ...

had agreed not to contest by-elections when a vacancy arose in any of the seats held by the other coalition parties. Although many later by-elections were contested by independent or minor party candidates, none were nominated in Rochdale.

Result

As there was only one candidate, no vote needed to be held, and Morgan was returned unopposed.

Aftermath

Morgan represented the constituency until the 1950 general election, when he moved to the safer seat of

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...

. Rochdale was won by the Conservatives at the 1951 election.

Vacancy

Candidates

Result

Aftermath

See also