The

Torquay Torquay ( ) is a seaside town in Devon, England, part of the unitary authority area of Torbay. It lies south of the county town of Exeter and east-north-east of Plymouth, on the north of Tor Bay, adjoining the neighbouring town of Paig ...

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 ...

of 15 December 1955 was held after the death of

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 in ...

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) Charles Williams:

Electoral history

The seat was safe, having been won by Williams at the 1955 general election with a majority of over 17,000 votes The seat had been Conservative since Williams gained the seat from the Liberals in 1924. At the 1955 general election, the Labour Party had come second, as it had done at every election since 1945.

Candidates

Frederic Bennett Sir Frederic Mackarness Bennett (2 December 1918 – 14 September 2002) was a British journalist, author, barrister and Conservative politician who served as a Member of Parliament for 35 years. He was appointed a Privy Counsellor in 1985, a ...

was the Conservative candidate selected to hold the seat. He was the former MP for Reading North, who had lost his seat at the 1955 general election. His father had been an MP for both the Liberal and Labour parties. * William Hamling was the new Labour candidate. He defeated Thomas Ponsonby (grandson of the Lord Ponsonby who lead the Labour Party in the House of Lords in the early 1930s) and C. B. Attlee (nephew of the former Labour leader and Prime Minister, Clement Attlee). *

Peter Bessell Peter Joseph Bessell (24 August 1921 – 27 November 1985) was a British Liberal Party politician, and Member of Parliament for Bodmin in Cornwall from 1964 to 1970. Early life Bessell was educated at Lynwyd School, Bath, Somerset, and was a C ...

had been selected at the last minute to be the Liberal candidate at the 1955 general election and was re-selected for the by-election.

Result

References

1955 elections in the United Kingdom 1955 in England 1950s in Devon December 1955 events in the United Kingdom By-election, 1955 By-elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom in Devon constituencies {{England-UK-Parl-by-election-stub