The 1956 Newport by-election was a
parliamentary by-election held on 6 July 1956 for the
British House of Commons constituency of
Newport in
Monmouthshire.
The seat had become vacant when the constituency's
Labour 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),
Peter Freeman had died on 19 May 1956, aged 67. He had held the seat since the
1945 general election
The following elections occurred in the year 1945.
Africa
* 1945 South-West African legislative election
Asia
* 1945 Indian general election
Australia
* 1945 Fremantle by-election
Europe
* 1945 Albanian parliamentary election
* 1945 Bulgarian ...
, having previously been MP for
Brecon and Radnorshire from
1929
This year marked the end of a period known in American history as the Roaring Twenties after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 ushered in a worldwide Great Depression. In the Americas, an agreement was brokered to end the Cristero War, a Catholic ...
to
1931
Events
January
* January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics.
* January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa.
* January 22 – Sir I ...
.
Candidates
The Labour candidate was
Sir Frank Soskice, who had been
Solicitor General and then
Attorney General in the
Labour Government 1945-1951. His
Sheffield Neepsend constituency had been abolished for the
1955 general election.
The Conservative Party selected as its candidate
Donald Box, a stockbroker from
Cardiff
Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...
who had contested the seat at the 1955 general election. The
Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left.
__TOC__ Active liberal parties
This is a li ...
did not field a candidate, and third candidate was
Emrys Roberts Emrys Roberts may refer to:
* Emrys Roberts (Liberal politician) (1910–1990), Welsh Liberal politician and businessman
* Emrys Roberts (Plaid Cymru politician) (born 1931), Welsh nationalist political activist
* Emrys Roberts (poet) (1929–2012), ...
of
Plaid Cymru
Plaid Cymru ( ; ; officially Plaid Cymru – the Party of Wales, often referred to simply as Plaid) is a centre-left to left-wing, Welsh nationalist political party in Wales, committed to Welsh independence from the United Kingdom.
Plaid wa ...
.
Results
Soskice held the seat with a majority higher than that achieved by Freeman the previous year. He held the seat until he retired from 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 ...
at the
1966 general election, having been
Home Secretary
The secretary of state for the Home Department, otherwise known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom. The home secretary leads the Home Office, and is responsible for all national s ...
from 1964 to 1965.
Box was elected at the
1959 general election in
Cardiff North, and held that seat until 1966.
Votes
See also
*
Newport constituency
*
1922 Newport by-election
The 1922 Newport by-election was by-election held in the parliamentary constituency of Newport on 18 October 1922. The by-election attracted especial attention, both at the time and since, as it was seen as a crucial electoral test of the viab ...
*
1945 Newport by-election
*
Newport
*
Lists 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 Kin ...
*
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
* "The Times House of Commons Supplement" Issued June 1957.
British parliamentary by-elections: 1956*
{{Westminster by-elections in Wales 1950–present
Newport by-election
Newport by-election
Newport by-election, 1956
Newport by-election
By-elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom in Welsh constituencies
History of Newport, Wales
Politics of Newport, Wales
20th century in Monmouthshire
Elections in Monmouthshire