1939 Wells by-election

UK parliamentary by-election

The 1939 Wells by-election was a parliamentary by-election held for the British House of Commons constituency of Wells in Somerset on 13 December 1939. The seat had become vacant when Anthony Muirhead, the constituency's Conservative Party Member of Parliament had died on 29 October, aged 48. He had held the seat since the 1929 general election. It was viewed as a significant turning point for politics in the local area.

The Conservative candidate, Lt. Colonel Dennis Boles,[1] was returned unopposed.[2]

This was the ninth election since the start of World War II, when unopposed by-elections were common, since the major parties had agreed not to contest by-elections when vacancies arose in seats held by the other parties. Contests occurred only when independent candidates or minor parties chose to stand, and the Common Wealth Party was formed in 1942 with the specific aim of contesting war-time by-elections.

## See also

[edit]

* Wells (UK Parliament constituency)
* The town of Wells
* List of United Kingdom by-elections

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Lieut-Colonel Denis Boles". They Work for You. Retrieved 6 October 2012.
2. ^ "Noted Horseman Now MP". Glasgow Herald. 14 December 1939. Retrieved 5 September 2016.

* Craig, F. W. S. (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918-1949 (3rd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.

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1936|

* January: Combined Scottish Universities
* February: Ross and Cromarty
* March: Dunbartonshire
* Llanelli
* May: Peckham
* June: Lewes
* July: Derby
* Balham and Tooting
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* November: Clay Cross
* Preston
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1937|

* February: St Pancras North
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* Oxford University
* Richmond-upon-Thames
* March: Combined English Universities
* Tonbridge
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* April: Stalybridge and Hyde
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* July: Kingston-upon-Thames
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* September: Glasgow Springburn
* October: Islington North
* November: Hastings

1938|

* January: Farnworth
* February: Pontypridd
* Ipswich
* Combined Scottish Universities
* April: City of London
* Fulham West
* May: Lichfield
* Aylesbury
* June: West Derbyshire
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* July: Willesden East
* October: Oxford
* November: Dartford
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* Fylde
* December: Kinross and Western Perthshire

1939|

* January: East Norfolk
* February: Holderness
* Ripon
* March: Batley and Morley
* Kincardineshire and Western Aberdeenshire
* April: South Ayrshire
* May: Down
* Sheffield Hallam
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* July: Caerphilly
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* October: Fareham
* High Peak
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* November: Macclesfield
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* Stretford
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1940|

* February: Southampton
* City of London
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* Belfast East
* Southwark Central
* Silvertown
* Cambridge University
* March: Kettering
* City of Chester
* Leeds North East
* April: Argyllshire
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* May: Brighton
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* Rochdale
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* August: Middlesbrough West
* Mitcham
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* September: Bolton
* Manchester Exchange
* Preston
* November: Queen's University of Belfast
* Aldershot
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* December: Northampton
* Birmingham Edgbaston

1941|

* February: Doncaster
* South Dorset
* Petersfield
* Dunbartonshire
* March: Hitchin
* Bodmin
* Carmarthen
* April: Great Yarmouth
* West Bromwich
* Mansfield
* May: Birmingham King's Norton
* Hornsey
* June: West Dorset
* July: Greenock
* Edinburgh West
* Dudley
* Pontefract
* August: Berwick-upon-Tweed
* September: Scarborough and Whitby
* The Wrekin
* October: Lancaster
* November: Brighton
* Hampstead
* December: Harrow
* Edinburgh Central

1942|

* February: North East Derbyshire
* Keighley
* March: Nuneaton
* Manchester Gorton
* Newcastle-under-Lyme
* Wigan
* Grantham
* April: Tavistock
* Cardiff East
* Glasgow Cathcart
* Wallasey
* Rugby
* May: Putney
* Chichester
* June: Llandaff and Barry
* Maldon
* Windsor
* July: Salisbury
* Spennymoor
* August: Rothwell
* Whitechapel and St Georges
* Poplar South
* Sheffield Park
* October: Manchester Clayton
* Ince

1943|

* January: Hamilton
* University of Wales
* February: Belfast West
* Ashford
* Antrim
* Midlothian and Peebles
* King's Lynn
* Portsmouth North
* Bristol Central
* Watford
* April: Buckingham
* Eddisbury
* Daventry
* June: The Hartlepools
* Newark
* Birmingham Aston
* July: Burton-on-Trent
* August: Chippenham
* October: St Albans
* Peterborough
* November: Woolwich West
* December: Consett
* Darwen
* Acton

1944|

* January: Skipton
* February: Brighton
* West Derbyshire
* Kirkcaldy Burghs
* Sheffield Attercliffe
* Bury St Edmunds
* March: Camberwell North
* April: Clay Cross
* July: Manchester Rusholme
* September: Bilston
* October: Chelsea
* Berwick-upon-Tweed

1945|

* April: Motherwell
* Combined Scottish Universities
* Chelmsford
* Caernarvon Boroughs
* May: Middlesbrough West
* Neath
* Newport

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