The 1954 Harwich by-election was a parliamentary by-election held on 11 February 1954 for 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. T ...

constituency of Harwich.

Background

Constituency

The seat consisted of the port town of Harwich, the seaside towns of

Clacton-on-Sea Clacton-on-Sea is a seaside town in the Tendring District in the county of Essex, England. It is located on the Tendring Peninsula and is the largest settlement in the Tendring District with a population of 56,874 (2016). The town is situated ...

Brightlingsea Brightlingsea is a coastal town and an electoral ward in the Tendring district of Essex, England. It is situated between Colchester and Clacton-on-Sea, at the mouth of the River Colne, on Brightlingsea Creek. At the 2011 Census, it had a pop ...

, Frinton-on-Sea and

Walton-on-the-Naze Walton-on-the-Naze is a seaside town on the North Sea coast and (as Walton le Soken) a former civil parish, now in the parish of Frinton and Walton, in the Tendring district in Essex, England. It is north of Clacton and south of the port of H ...

, and most of the primarily rural

Tendring District Tendring District is a local government district in north-east Essex, England. It extends from the River Stour in the north, to the coast and the River Colne in the south, with the coast to the east and the city of Colchester to the west. It ...

Trigger

The seat had become vacant when the

National Liberal National liberalism is a variant of liberalism, combining liberal policies and issues with elements of nationalism. Historically, national liberalism has also been used in the same meaning as conservative liberalism (right-liberalism). A seri ...

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 o ...

(MP) Stanley Holmes was elevated to the peerage as Baron Dovercourt, having held the seat since the 1935 general election.

Candidates

National Liberal

party chose Julian Ridsdale, the nephew both of former Conservative Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin 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 ...

MP Sir Aurelian Ridsdale as its candidate. He had contested Paddington North at the 1951 general election as the Conservative Party candidate.

Labour

In the autumn of 1952 the Harwich Labour party selected the 22 year old former chair of

Oxford University Labour Club Oxford University Labour Club (OULC) was founded in 1919 to promote democratic socialism and is today the home of the Labour Party and of social democracy at Oxford University. OULC is the largest and oldest university Labour club in the count ...

Shirley Catlin as its prospective candidate, after the only other candidate made it clear that he had no interest in running.

Result

The Conservative and Liberal candidate,

Julian Ridsdale Sir Julian Errington Ridsdale (8 June 1915 – 21 July 2004) was a British National Liberal and later Conservative politician and long-serving Member of Parliament (MP) for Harwich. He took a particular interest in Japan. The son of a stoc ...

held the seat for the government. He remained the constituency's MP until his retirement 38 years later at the 1992 general election. Shirley Catlin would later, under her married name Shirley Williams; be elected as MP for Hitchin and would serve in the Cabinets of Harold Wilson and James Callaghan.

References

{{By-elections to the 40th UK Parliament Harwich by-election Harwich by-election Harwich By-elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom in Essex constituencies 1950s in Essex