The 1945 Newport by-election was a parliamentary by-election held on 17 May 1945 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 Newport in

Monmouthshire Monmouthshire ( cy, Sir Fynwy) is a county in the south-east of Wales. The name derives from the historic county of the same name; the modern county covers the eastern three-fifths of the historic county. The largest town is Abergavenny, with ...

. It was the last by-election of the 1935–1945 Parliament. The seat had become vacant on the death of the constituency's

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 ...

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP), Sir Reginald Clarry, on 17 January 1945, aged 62. He had held the seat since a 1922 by-election, with a two-year gap after his defeat at the 1929 general election (he was re-elected at the 1931 election).

Candidates

The Conservative Party selected as its candidate Ronald Bell, an

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

-educated barrister who had been defeated at the Caerphilly by-election in 1939. In keeping with a

war-time electoral pact The war-time electoral pact was an electoral pact established by the member parties of the UK coalition governments in the First World War, and re-established in the Second World War. Under the pact, in the event of a by-election only the party whi ...

, 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 ...

and

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

parties did not field candidates, and Bell's only opponent was Robert Edwards, the Chairman of the

Independent Labour Party The Independent Labour Party (ILP) was a British political party of the left, established in 1893 at a conference in Bradford, after local and national dissatisfaction with the Liberals' apparent reluctance to endorse working-class candidates ...

(ILP).

Results

On a considerably reduced turnout, Bell held the seat for the Conservatives with a majority of 2,702 votes; Edwards had won 45.5% of the votes, one of the ILP's best results for years. However, Bell's tenure as MP for Newport was brief. The date of the general election was announced on 23 May, and

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

was dissolved on 15 June. In the Labour Party's landslide victory at general election on 5 July 1945, Bell was heavily defeated by the Labour Party candidate, Peter Freeman. He returned to the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

at the 1950 general election as MP for

South Buckinghamshire South Bucks was one of four local government districts in the non-metropolitan county of Buckinghamshire, in South East England. The district was formed on 1 April 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972, by the amalgamation of the area of Bea ...

Votes

References

Sources

* {{Westminster by-elections in Wales 1900–1949 Newport by-election Newport by-election Newport by-election, 1945 Newport, 1945 History of Newport, Wales Politics of Newport, Wales Newport by-election, 1945 Newport by-election, 1945 Newport by-election

Candidates

Results

Votes

See also

References

Sources