Normanton by-election, 1947
Encyclopedia
The Normanton by-election, 1947 was a parliamentary by-election
held for the British House of Commons
constituency
of Normanton
on 11 February 1947. The seat had become vacant when the Labour
Member of Parliament Tom Smith
had resigned
, take up the post of Labour Director of the North-Eastern Divisional Coal Board
. Smith had held the seat since the by-election in 1933
.
The Labour candidate, George Sylvester
, held the seat for his party. The Conservative Party
candidate was Enoch Powell
, the first time he had stood for election, but he was heavily defeated.
By-election
A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....
held for the British House of Commons
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
constituency
United Kingdom constituencies
In the United Kingdom , each of the electoral areas or divisions called constituencies elects one or more members to a parliament or assembly.Within the United Kingdom there are now five bodies with members elected by constituencies:...
of Normanton
Normanton (UK Parliament constituency)
Normanton was a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.-Boundaries:...
on 11 February 1947. The seat had become vacant when the Labour
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
Member of Parliament Tom Smith
Tom Smith (Labour politician)
Tom Smith was a Labour Party politician in England.At the 1922 general election, he was elected as Member of Parliament for the previously Liberal-held seat of Pontefract in West Yorkshire. He was re-elected at the 1923 election, but at the 1924 general election he lost his seat by 701 votes to...
had resigned
Resignation from the British House of Commons
Members of Parliament sitting in the House of Commons in the United Kingdom are technically forbidden to resign. To circumvent this prohibition, a legal fiction is used...
, take up the post of Labour Director of the North-Eastern Divisional Coal Board
National Coal Board
The National Coal Board was the statutory corporation created to run the nationalised coal mining industry in the United Kingdom. Set up under the Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946, it took over the mines on "vesting day", 1 January 1947...
. Smith had held the seat since the by-election in 1933
Normanton by-election, 1933
The Normanton by-election, 1933 was a parliamentary by-election held for the British House of Commons constituency of Normanton on 8 May 1933. The seat had become vacant on the death of the Labour Member of Parliament Frederick Hall, who had held the seat since a previous by-election in 1905.The...
.
The Labour candidate, George Sylvester
George Sylvester
George Oscar Sylvester was a Labour Party politician in England.He was elected as Member of Parliament for Normanton in West Yorkshire at a by-election in 1947 following the resignation of the Labour MP Tom Smith.At the 1950 general election, he was returned for the neighbouring Pontefract...
, held the seat for his party. The Conservative Party
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
candidate was Enoch Powell
Enoch Powell
John Enoch Powell, MBE was a British politician, classical scholar, poet, writer, and soldier. He served as a Conservative Party MP and Minister of Health . He attained most prominence in 1968, when he made the controversial Rivers of Blood speech in opposition to mass immigration from...
, the first time he had stood for election, but he was heavily defeated.
See also
- Normanton (UK Parliament constituency)Normanton (UK Parliament constituency)Normanton was a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.-Boundaries:...
- Normanton by-election, 1904Normanton by-election, 1904The Normanton by-election, 1904 was held to elect a member to the Parliament of the United Kingdom.-Vacancy:The death of Benjamin Pickard the sitting Lib-Lab Member of Parliament for Normanton in 1904 meant a vacancy and a by-election in the division...
- Normanton by-election, 1905
- Normanton by-election, 1933Normanton by-election, 1933The Normanton by-election, 1933 was a parliamentary by-election held for the British House of Commons constituency of Normanton on 8 May 1933. The seat had become vacant on the death of the Labour Member of Parliament Frederick Hall, who had held the seat since a previous by-election in 1905.The...
- List of United Kingdom by-elections