The 1942

Chichester Chichester () is a cathedral city and civil parish in West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton B2 edition. Publishing Date:2009. It is the only ci ...

by-election was held on 18 May 1942. It was held due to the death of the incumbent Conservative MP, John Courtauld. It was won by the Conservative candidate Lancelot Joynson-Hicks.

Candidates

Under the wartime electoral truce between the Coalition government parties, Conservative candidate Joynson-Hicks could not expect to be opposed by Labour candidates nor Liberals. He was instead opposed by two independents: A.W. Tribe and Gerald Kidd. Before the outbreak of war, Kidd had been adopted by Chichester Liberal association as their candidate for a general election expected to take place in 1939/40.Bognor Regis Observer 30 December 1939 Kidd was a local solicitor who joined the RAF in 1940. The chairman of the Bognor Regis Conservative Club invited to hear the views of all three at the Club in the campaign period, whom he stated were "All conservatives...Tribe...a former secretary...Kidd...worked in the Conservative interest some years ago, but is not a member". The NFU had them address its committee and "having heard the three candidates and asked questions of them, we make no recommendations to our members". The heading "Liberal leader's message" then featured in ''The Times'', endorsing Joynson-Hicks.From Our Special Correspondent. "A By-Election Surprise." Times, 15 May 1942, p. 2. The Times Digital Archive, http://tinyurl.gale.com/tinyurl/CKpF3X. Accessed 23 Nov. 2019. Kidd was allowed to allege incompetence allowed key German warships the '' Gneisenau'' and ''

Scharnhorst Gerhard Johann David von Scharnhorst (12 November 1755 – 28 June 1813) was a Hanoverian-born general in Prussian service from 1801. As the first Chief of the Prussian General Staff, he was noted for his military theories, his reforms of the Pru ...

'' through the

Channel Channel, channels, channeling, etc., may refer to: Geography * Channel (geography), in physical geography, a landform consisting of the outline (banks) of the path of a narrow body of water. Australia * Channel Country, region of outback Austral ...

(recently to Norway/Germany) and that he would if allowed by the RAF join the Merchant Navy, if not elected, "whose task adbeen made the more perilous" ''The Times'' reported the outcome as "Chichester held by Government". Kidd survived the war and polled third in the 1945 election, taking of the vote, about half that of 1942, but again enough to keep his deposit.

Result

References

{{By-elections to the 37th UK Parliament 1942 elections in the United Kingdom 1942 in England 20th century in Sussex Chichester District By-elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom in West Sussex constituencies Chichester