1942 Windsor by-election

The 1942 Windsor by-election, was a by-election held for the British House of Commons constituency of Windsor in Berkshire on 30 June 1942. The by-election was won by the Conservative candidate Charles Mott-Radclyffe.

## Vacancy[edit]

The Conservative MP Annesley Somerville had died on 15 May 1942, aged 84. He had held the seat since the 1922 general election and had been returned unopposed in 1931 and 1935.

## Candidates[edit]

The Conservative candidate was 30-year-old Charles Mott-Radclyffe, who had not previously contested a parliamentary election.

During the Second World War, the political parties in the Coalition Government had agreed not to contest by-elections when a vacancy arose in any of the seats held by the other coalition parties. However, many by-elections were contested by independent or minor party candidates, and in Windsor William Douglas-Home, the younger brother of the future Prime Minister Alec Douglas-Home, stood as an "Independent Progressive" candidate, opposing Winston Churchill's war aim of an unconditional surrender by Germany.[1] Douglas-Home, a Second Lieutenant in the Royal Armoured Corps, had previously contested the Glasgow Cathcart by-election in April 1942. He had supported appeasement in the 1930s.

Both candidates were in the army and had been schoolfriends at Eton.

## Result[edit]

On a low turnout, Mott-Radclyffe held the seat for the Conservatives, but with a majority of only 17%, a surprisingly good result for Douglas-Home. Mott-Radclyffe served as Windsor's MP until he retired from the House of Commons at the 1970 general election

Douglas-Home went on to contest the Clay Cross by-election in April 1944, where he came a poor third, and was later imprisoned for a year with hard labour after being court-martialled for refusing to fight in the attack on Le Havre after the allied forces had refused a German request to suspend hostilities to allow civilian evacuation.[1]

## Votes[edit]

By-Election 30 June 1942: Windsor  Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Conservative | Charles Mott-Radclyffe | 9,557  | 58.37  | N/A
| Independent Progressive | William Douglas-Home | 6,817  | 41.63  | New
Majority  | 2,740  | 16.74  | N/A
Turnout | 16,374  | 27.88  | N/A
| Conservative hold | Swing | N/A |
Registered electors | 58,726  |  |
General election 1935: Windsor  Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Conservative | Annesley Somerville | Unopposed  | N/A | N/A
| Conservative hold

## See also[edit]

* Windsor (UK Parliament constituency)
* Windsor, Berkshire
* List of United Kingdom by-elections (1931–1950)

## Notes[edit]

1. ^ a b William Douglas-Home in the Dictionary of National Biography

## References[edit]

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

* v
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« 36th Parliament « By-elections to the 37th Parliament of the United Kingdom » 38th Parliament »

1936|

* January: Combined Scottish Universities
* February: Ross and Cromarty
* March: Dunbartonshire
* Llanelli
* May: Peckham
* June: Lewes
* July: Derby
* Balham and Tooting
* East Grinstead
* October: Birmingham Erdington
* November: Clay Cross
* Preston
* Greenock

1937|

* February: St Pancras North
* Manchester Gorton
* Oxford University
* Richmond-upon-Thames
* March: Combined English Universities
* Tonbridge
* Farnham
* April: Stalybridge and Hyde
* Wandsworth Central
* Birmingham West
* May: York
* June: Glasgow Hillhead
* Buckingham
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* Cheltenham
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* July: Kingston-upon-Thames
* Chertsey
* North Dorset
* 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
* Stafford
* Barnsley
* July: Willesden East
* October: Oxford
* November: Dartford
* Walsall
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* Doncaster
* Lewisham West
* 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
* Westminster Abbey
* Birmingham Aston
* Southwark North
* Kennington
* July: Caerphilly
* Portsmouth South
* North Cornwall
* Hythe
* Monmouth
* Colne Valley
* August: Brecon and Radnorshire
* October: Fareham
* High Peak
* Clackmannanshire and East Stirlingshire
* Ormskirk
* Ashton-under-Lyne
* November: Macclesfield
* December: Streatham
* Stretford
* Wells

1940|

* February: Southampton
* City of London
* Swansea East
* Belfast East
* Southwark Central
* Silvertown
* Cambridge University
* March: Kettering
* City of Chester
* Leeds North East
* April: Argyllshire
* Lonsdale
* Battersea North
* Glasgow Pollok
* May: Brighton
* East Renfrewshire
* Middleton and Prestwich
* June: Spen Valley
* Newcastle North
* Bow and Bromley
* Croydon North
* Wandsworth Central
* Bournemouth
* July: Newcastle West
* Montrose Burghs
* Nottingham Central
* Rochdale
* Wansbeck
* August: Middlesbrough West
* Mitcham
* Heywood and Radcliffe
* September: Bolton
* Manchester Exchange
* Preston
* November: Queen's University of Belfast
* Aldershot
* Southampton
* 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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