1956 Hereford by-election

UK Parliamentary by-election

The Hereford by-election of 14 February 1956 was held after the resignation of Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) Jim Thomas.[1]

The seat was safe, having been won by Thomas at the 1955 United Kingdom general election albeit with a reduced majority of over 2,000 votes.[2] The Liberals, who had already polled nearly one-quarter of the vote in 1955, increased their share to 36.4%.

## Candidates[edit]

* David Gibson-Watt was the Conservative candidate to hold the seat. He had served in the Welsh Guards and was a former local councillor.
* Frank Owen A local man who had served in his youth as the Liberal MP for Hereford between 1929 and 1931. At the 1955 general election, he had contested the seat for the first time since losing it in 1931, and polled a good second place.
* Labour candidate Bryan Stanley was, at the time, a technical engineer and member of the Labour National Executive Committee.

## Result of the previous general election[edit]

General election 1955: Hereford  Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Conservative | James Thomas | 18,058  | 51.79  |
| Liberal | Frank Owen | 8,658  | 24.83  |
| Labour | E.L.P. Seers  | 8,154  | 23.38  |
Majority  | 9,400  | 26.96  |
Turnout | 34,870  |  |
| Conservative hold | Swing |  |

## Result of the by-election[edit]

Hereford by-election, 14 February 1956[3] Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Conservative | David Gibson-Watt | 12,129  | 44.29  | -7.50
| Liberal | Frank Owen | 9,979  | 36.44  | +11.61
| Labour | Bryan Stanley | 5,277  | 19.27  | -4.11
Majority  | 2,150  | 7.85  | -19.11
Turnout | 27,385  |  |
| Conservative hold | Swing |  |

## References[edit]

1. ^ Full results Archived 2012-10-10 at the Wayback Machine
2. ^ Election results Archived 11 August 2011 at the Wayback Machine PoliticsResources.net
3. ^ "1956 By Election Results". Archived from the original on 10 October 2012. Retrieved 14 August 2015.

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1955|

* August: Mid Ulster
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1956|

* February: Blaydon
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* March: Walthamstow West
* May: Mid Ulster
* June: Tonbridge
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1957|

* February: Lewisham North
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* March: Bristol West
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* May: Edinburgh South
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* Hornsey
* June: North Dorset
* September: Gloucester
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* November: Leicester South East
* December: Liverpool Garston

1958|

* February: Rochdale
* March: Glasgow Kelvingrove
* Torrington
* May: Islington North
* June: Argyll
* Ealing South
* St Helens
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* Wigan
* November: Morecambe and Lonsdale
* Chichester
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* Shoreditch and Finsbury

1959|

* January: Southend West
* March: Belfast East
* Harrow East
* South West Norfolk
* April: Galloway
* June: Penistone
* Whitehaven

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