North Cornwall by-election, 1939

The North Cornwall by-election, 1939 was a parliamentary by-election held on 13 July 1939 for the British House of Commons constituency of North Cornwall.

The by-election took place shortly before the start of the Second World War. It was the last peacetime by-election won by the Liberal Party until the Torrington by-election, 1958.

Previous Member of Parliament

The seat had become vacant when the constituency's Liberal Member of Parliament (MP), the Rt Hon. Sir Francis Dyke Acland, Bt. died.

Acland (7 March 1874 – 9 June 1939), was a member of a family which provided several Liberal MPs during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. He was sworn of the Privy Council in 1915. He was also the 14th Acland Baronet, having inherited the title on his father's death in 1926.

Acland was a junior minister from 1908 until 1910 and again from 1911 until 1916.

Sir Francis Dyke Acland was first elected to Parliament, to represent Richmond (Yorkshire) from 1906 until January 1910 when he was defeated. He returned to Parliament, representing Camborne from December 1910 until November 1922. He contested Tiverton in 1922 and was later the MP there between June and December 1923. After contesting Hexham in May 1929, Acland was first elected for this seat in the North Cornwall by-election, 1932 and retained it until his death.

Candidates

Two candidates were nominated for the by-election. The list below is set out in descending order of the number of votes received at the by-election.

1. The Liberal Party candidate was Thomas Lewis Horabin (1896 – 26 April 1956). He was a business consultant.

Tom Horabin won the by-election and retained the seat in the 1945 general election. He was the Liberal Party Chief Whip from August 1945 until he resigned and left the party in October 1946. He continued to represent North Cornwall until the 1950 general election, first as an Independent and then as a Labour MP from November 1947. In 1950 Horabin contested Exeter, but did not return to the House of Commons.

2. The Conservative candidate was E.R. Whitehouse. He had previously contested the seat at the United Kingdom general election, 1935.

Votes

1935 general election: North Cornwall
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Sir Francis Dyke Acland, Bt.	16,872	51.3	-1.1
	Conservative	E.R. Whitehouse	16,036	48.7	+1.1
Majority			836	2.6	-2.2
Turnout			32,908	79.9	-0.9
Registered electors			41,164
	Liberal hold		Swing	+1.1 (L to C)

• Note on 1935 result: Change and swing are calculated from the result of the by-election on 22 July 1932.

13 July 1939 by-election: North Cornwall
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Tom Horabin	17,072	52.2	+0.9
	Conservative	E.R. Whitehouse	15,608	47.8	-0.9
Majority			1,464	4.4	+1.8
Turnout			32,680	79.3	-0.6
Registered electors			41,191
	Liberal hold		Swing	-0.9 (L to C)

See also

• North Cornwall by-election, 1932
• North Cornwall constituency
• List of United Kingdom by-elections (1931–1950)
• United Kingdom by-election records

References

• British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Macmillan Press 1977)
• British Parliamentary Election Results 1950-1973, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Parliamentary Research Services 1983)
• Who's Who of British Members of Parliament, Volume III 1919-1945, edited by M. Stenton and S. Lees (Harvester Press 1979)
• Who's Who of British Members of Parliament, Volume IV 1945-1979, edited by M. Stenton and S. Lees (Harvester Press 1981)