Rhondda East by-election, 1933
Encyclopedia
The Rhondda East by-election, 1933 was a parliamentary by-election
held on 28 March 1933 for the British House of Commons
constituency
of Rhondda East
in Wales
.
Member of Parliament
(MP) Lt-Col David Watts-Morgan had died on 23 February 1933, aged 65. He had held the seat since the constituency was created for the 1918 general election
.
. There was no candidate standing in support of the National Government.
, was standing here for the third time. The new Labour candidate, William Mainwaring
, a local miners agent, was contesting a parliamentary election for the first time. None of the leading Labour figures who had lost their seats at the last General Election expressed an interest in standing here. The Liberal Party, who had not contested this seat last time, fielded another first time candidate in Professor William D. Thomas. Thomas stood in opposition to the National Government. Still no candidate supporting the National Government was prepared to stand here.
As a result, the election campaign remained an essentially local affair.
William Mainwaring's victory started his parliamentary career which went on unbroken until 1959. Arthur Horner, despite having built a local electoral base for the Communist Party, was replaced as candidate for 1935 by the party's national leader, Harry Pollitt. Horner never made it to parliament. William Thomas did not stand for parliament again.
By-election
A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....
held on 28 March 1933 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 Rhondda East
Rhondda East (UK Parliament constituency)
Rhondda East was a parliamentary constituency which returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons to the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1918 until 1974...
in Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
.
Vacancy
The seat had become vacant when the LabourLabour 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
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(MP) Lt-Col David Watts-Morgan had died on 23 February 1933, aged 65. He had held the seat since the constituency was created for the 1918 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1918
The United Kingdom general election of 1918 was the first to be held after the Representation of the People Act 1918, which meant it was the first United Kingdom general election in which nearly all adult men and some women could vote. Polling was held on 14 December 1918, although the count did...
.
1931 General Election
The previous contest was comfortably won by Labour; Watts-Morgan polled 68.1% of the vote in a two-way contest with the Communist, Arthur HornerArthur Horner (politician)
Arthur Lewis Horner was a Welsh trade union leader and communist politician. During his periods of office as President of the South Wales Miners Federation from 1936, and as General Secretary of the National Union of Mineworkers from 1946, he became one of the most prominent and influential...
. There was no candidate standing in support of the National Government.
Candidates
The Communist, Arthur HornerArthur Horner (politician)
Arthur Lewis Horner was a Welsh trade union leader and communist politician. During his periods of office as President of the South Wales Miners Federation from 1936, and as General Secretary of the National Union of Mineworkers from 1946, he became one of the most prominent and influential...
, was standing here for the third time. The new Labour candidate, William Mainwaring
William Mainwaring
William Henry Mainwaring was a British coal miner, lecturer and trade unionist, who became a long-serving Labour Party Member of Parliament. Both as a trade unionist and a politician he struggled, largely successfully to counter Communist influence...
, a local miners agent, was contesting a parliamentary election for the first time. None of the leading Labour figures who had lost their seats at the last General Election expressed an interest in standing here. The Liberal Party, who had not contested this seat last time, fielded another first time candidate in Professor William D. Thomas. Thomas stood in opposition to the National Government. Still no candidate supporting the National Government was prepared to stand here.
As a result, the election campaign remained an essentially local affair.
Votes
Aftermath
If the Communist Party was to re-gain a parliamentary foothold, its best prospects were always going to be in a seat like Rhondda East at a time when the Labour Party was demoralised. Despite having such ideal conditions, it could not make the breakthrough.William Mainwaring's victory started his parliamentary career which went on unbroken until 1959. Arthur Horner, despite having built a local electoral base for the Communist Party, was replaced as candidate for 1935 by the party's national leader, Harry Pollitt. Horner never made it to parliament. William Thomas did not stand for parliament again.
See also
- Rhondda East constituencyRhondda East (UK Parliament constituency)Rhondda East was a parliamentary constituency which returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons to the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1918 until 1974...
- Rhondda West by-election, 1920Rhondda West by-election, 1920The Rhondda West by-election, 1920 was a parliamentary by-election held on 21 December 1920 for the British House of Commons constituency of Rhondda West in Wales....
- Rhondda West by-election, 1967Rhondda West by-election, 1967The Rhondda West by-election, 1967 was a parliamentary by-election held in 1967 for the British House of Commons constituency of Rhondda West in Wales....
- Rhondda (district)Rhondda (district)Rhondda was a local government district based around the geographical area of the Rhondda Valley, south Wales.The district was initially created as Ystradyfodwg Local Government District from parts of Ystradyfodwg, Llanwonno and Llantrisant parishes, Glamorgan, in 1877, when the Local Government...
- List of United Kingdom by-elections
- United Kingdom by-election recordsUnited Kingdom by-election recordsUK by-election records is an annotated list of notable records from UK Parliamentary by-elections. A by-election occurs when a Member of Parliament resigns, dies, or is disqualified or expelled, and an election is held to fill the vacant seat...