The 1942 Rugby 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
Rugby
Rugby may refer to:
Sport
* Rugby football in many forms:
** Rugby league: 13 players per side
*** Masters Rugby League
*** Mod league
*** Rugby league nines
*** Rugby league sevens
*** Touch (sport)
*** Wheelchair rugby league
** Rugby union: 1 ...
on 29 April 1942.
Vacancy
The by-election was caused by the resignation 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,
David Margesson
Henry David Reginald Margesson, 1st Viscount Margesson, PC (26 July 1890 – 24 December 1965) was a British Conservative politician, most popularly remembered for his tenure as Government Chief Whip in the 1930s. His reputation was of a stern ...
in March 1942. He had been MP here since gaining the seat from the Liberal,
Ernest Brown in 1924. Margesson had been
Secretary of State for War
The Secretary of State for War, commonly called War Secretary, was a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, which existed from 1794 to 1801 and from 1854 to 1964. The Secretary of State for War headed the War Office and ...
until February 1942 when
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...
sacked him following the fall of
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
.
Election history
Rugby had been won by the Conservative Party at every election since 1924 and was a safe seat. The result at the last General election was as follows;
Candidates
The local Conservatives selected 56-year-old Lt-Col. Sir Claude Holbrook. He was a serving officer with the
Royal Army Service Corps
The Royal Army Service Corps (RASC) was a corps of the British Army responsible for land, coastal and lake transport, air despatch, barracks administration, the Army Fire Service, staffing headquarters' units, supply of food, water, fuel and dom ...
who had also served in the European War from 1914 to 1918. He was appointed a
Deputy Lieutenant for
Warwickshire
Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...
in 1931. He had been Chairman of Rugby Conservative Association since 1927. He was Officer-in-Charge of a big Ordnance Depot.
The Labour party had selected A E Millett to contest a General Election expected to take place in 1939–40. He had fought
Yeovil
Yeovil ( ) is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the district of South Somerset, England. The population of Yeovil at the last census (2011) was 45,784. More recent estimates show a population of 48,564. It is close to Somer ...
in 1935, coming third behind the Liberal. Although the General Election had not taken place because of the war, he had remained active for the Labour party in Rugby and was still officially their candidate. In accordance with the terms of the wartime electoral truce, Millett was not put forward by the Rugby Labour party.
The Liberals had not fought the constituency since 1929 and had no candidate in place. The Rugby Liberals had remained active through their chairman, M E Avery, but did not put forward a candidate.
However an Independent candidate did emerge to challenge the Conservatives, in the shape of 48-year-old
William Brown. He had a history of going up against the party machines. Although he was elected Labour MP for
Wolverhampton West in 1929 he had resigned from the party in 1930 along with
Oswald Mosley
Sir Oswald Ernald Mosley, 6th Baronet (16 November 1896 – 3 December 1980) was a British politician during the 1920s and 1930s who rose to fame when, having become disillusioned with mainstream politics, he turned to fascism. He was a member ...
when the Labour government failed to tackle unemployment. However, he did not join Mosley's
New Party and instead continued in parliament as an Independent Labour member. Under that label, he was defeated in the 1931 elections even though no official Labour candidate opposed him. By the 1935 elections, the Wolverhampton West Labour party did oppose him but did very poorly, while Brown came second standing as an Independent. Brown did however have a political power-base, having been General Secretary of the
Civil Service Clerical Association since he founded the organisation in 1921. The union had been affiliated to the Labour party until the
Trade Disputes and Trade Unions Act 1927
The Trade Disputes and Trade Unions Act 1927 ( 17 and 18 Geo V c 22) was a British Act of Parliament passed in response to the General Strike of 1926, introduced by the Attorney General for England and Wales, Sir Douglas Hogg MP.
Provisions
R ...
was passed following the
General Strike of 1926
The 1926 general strike in the United Kingdom was a general strike that lasted nine days, from 4 to 12 May 1926. It was called by the General Council of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) in an unsuccessful attempt to force the British governmen ...
.
Campaign
Polling day was set for 29 April 1942. When nominations closed, it was to reveal a two horse race, the Conservative local man, Holbrook, against the Independent outsider, Brown. Holbrook demonstrated what he thought about the situation by stating that the electors of the division were against holding an election.
Brown chose as his election agent, another outsider in
Reg Hipwell who was a Services Journalist and had himself fought the
1941 Hampstead by-election as an Independent candidate.
On 14 April 1942 Brown's 6 point policy plan was released in the
Birmingham Post
The ''Birmingham Post'' is a weekly printed newspaper based in Birmingham, England, with a circulation of 2,545 and distribution throughout the West Midlands. First published under the name the ''Birmingham Daily Post'' in 1857, it has had a s ...
;
1. Total efficiency in total war effort.
2. Reconstitution of the Government on a non-party basis.
3. Breaking through the contradictions in production, the Civil Service, politics and propaganda, which hinder the war effort.
4. Maintenance of the freedom of the public Press and of public criticism against the growing tendency of the Government towards suppression.
5. Democratisation of the Army.
6. Real equality of sacrifice.
At the start of the campaign Holbrook was sharply criticised by a
Magistrate
The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judici ...
in open Court for being very unhelpful to the police, who had been trying to enquire into thefts from the Ordnance Depot of which he was the Officer-in-Charge. The case had been widely reported in the Press. Brown telegraphed Prime Minister
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...
drawing attention to the reports asking if Churchill proposed to send a letter commending Holbrook to the electors of Rugby. Churchill did not reply but did as Brown had expected.
As was usual, Holbrook received a joint letter of endorsement from all the leaders of the parties in the coalition. One of these signatories was
Ernest Brown the leader of the
Liberal Nationals, who had been the MP in the constituency until defeated by Margesson in 1924.
The Rugby Labour party was split over Brown's candidature. Some members wanted to support him because he was a leading trade unionist and easily to the left of Holbrook, while others felt that it was important to follow the party leader,
Clement Attlee
Clement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee, (3 January 18838 October 1967) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1935 to 1955. He was Deputy Prime Mini ...
, who had endorsed Holbrook. The National Council of Labour passed a resolution condemning Brown as a disruptive individual, not a fit and proper person to represent the working classes.
Holbrook lost his temper and made some very damaging statements about Brown, which seemed to gain Brown public sympathy. Embarrassed by Brown's telegram to Churchill, which had become front-page news, he issued a writ of libel against Brown. This ensured that Brown would be kept quiet on further raising issues in connection with the depot. Holbrook was to later drop the case and paid all costs.
Campaign slogans played their part; the Conservative campaign for Holbrook - "Vote for Holbrook, the man whom Churchill wants". The Brown campaign countered this with "Vote for Brown, the man whom Churchill needs!"
The issue of the Second Front in Europe came to the fore late in the campaign. Holbrook's position was that it was too soon to establish it. This upset the local Communist party, who had been instructed by their headquarters in London to call on their supporters to vote for Holbrook as the best way of getting it. Brown belatedly came out in support of the Second Front. The retired Rugby Conservative MP, David Margesson warned voters that
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
would gloat if Brown got in.
On the eve of poll, Holbrook wrote an article for the local press entitled "Why I Won".
[By-Elections in British Politics by Cook and Ramsden]
Result
Holbrook had been premature with his article for the papers as he lost.
Aftermath
In 1945, free from the restrictions of the electoral truce, the Labour party fielded a candidate against Brown and finished last. Brown held onto his seat, the result at the following General election;
See also
*
List of United Kingdom by-elections
The list of by-elections in the United Kingdom is divided chronologically by parliament:
Parliament of the United Kingdom
*List of United Kingdom by-elections (1801–1806)
* List of United Kingdom by-elections (1806–1818)
* List of United King ...
*
United Kingdom by-election records
Parliamentary by-elections in the United Kingdom occur when a Member of Parliament (MP) vacates a House of Commons seat (due to resignation, death, disqualification or expulsion) during the course of a parliament.
Scope of these records
Altho ...
References
{{By-elections to the 37th UK Parliament
1942 elections in the United Kingdom
By-elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom in Warwickshire constituencies
1942 in England
Rugby, Warwickshire
20th century in Warwickshire