The

Abertillery Abertillery (; cy, Abertyleri) is a town and a community of the Ebbw Fach valley in the historic county of Monmouthshire, Wales. Following local government reorganisation it became part of the Blaenau Gwent County Borough administrative area ...

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 ...

was held on 30 November 1950 in

, Blaenau Gwent, following the death of the incumbent Labour MP George Daggar. Local minister

Llywelyn Williams Llywelyn Williams (22 July 1911 – 4 February 1965) was a Welsh Labour Party politician. Born in Llanelli, Williams was educated at Llanelli Grammar School and Swansea University, after which he became a Congregational minister. He serv ...

stood for the Labour Party, while

Richard Body Sir Richard Bernard Frank Stewart Body (18 May 1927 – 26 February 2018) was an English politician. He was Conservative Member of Parliament for Billericay from 1955 to 1959, for Holland with Boston from 1966 to 1997, and for Boston and Ske ...

contested it for the Conservative Party. Williams was elected, with a majority of 20,783 (73%).

Background

At the 1950 general election, George Daggar held his seat for the Labour Party. He defeated the challenger from the Conservative Party, O.J. Lewis, with a majority of 25,206. By September that year, Dagger was too ill to attend votes at the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, including one on the steel debate opened by

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 during the Second World War, and again from ...

; the largest opposition vote since 1924. Dagger was one of only two MPs not to be present, alongside

Harold Roberts Harold Roberts may refer to: * Harold W. Roberts Harold William Roberts (October 14, 1895 – October 6, 1918) was a United States Army corporal and a recipient of the United States military's highest decoration, the Medal of Honor, for his act ...

for the Conservative Party. Although around the same time, Dagger was said to be showing signs of improvement. Following his death, the seat was re-contested.

Candidates

The candidates put forward by the parties were the Rev.

for Labour, and

for the Conservative Party. Williams resigned his ministry of the Welsh Congregational Church at Abertillery in order to contest the seat. Body did not have any local links, and had contested the

Rotherham Rotherham () is a large minster and market town in South Yorkshire, England. The town takes its name from the River Rother which then merges with the River Don. The River Don then flows through the town centre. It is the main settlement of ...

constituency at the 1950 general election.

Result

The by-election was held on 30 November, with the result announced the following day. It was the same day as the by-election in the Bristol South East constituency. Williams held the seat for the Labour Party, with 26,622 votes and a share increase by just over half of one per cent, while Body received 3,839 and saw his share decrease by the same amount.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abertillery by-election, 1950 1950 in Wales 1950s elections in Wales 1950 elections in the United Kingdom By-election, 1950 By-elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom in Welsh constituencies Elections in Monmouthshire 20th century in Monmouthshire November 1950 events in the United Kingdom Abertillery