- North Cornwall by-election, 1932
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The North Cornwall by-election, 1932 was a parliamentary by-election held on 22 July 1932 for the British House of Commons constituency of North Cornwall.
Contents
Previous Member of Parliament
The seat had become vacant when the constituency's Liberal Member of Parliament (MP), the Rt Hon. Sir Donald Maclean died.
Maclean (9 January 1864 – 15 June 1932), practised as a solicitor before becoming a Liberal Member of Parliament. He represented a number of constituencies, first Bath (1906-Jan 1910), next Peebles and Selkirk (Dec 1910-1918), Peebles and South Midlothian (1918–1922), and finally this seat from 1929 to 1932.
He was knighted and became a Privy Councillor in 1916, and was Chairman of the Liberal Parliamentary Party from 1919 to 1922. As the nominal leader of the Liberal Party, Herbert Henry Asquith had lost his seat in the House of Commons, from 1919 until 1920 Maclean also served as parliamentary leader of the party. He also functioned as Leader of the Opposition as Labour had no official leader and Sinn Féin refused to participate in parliamentary government.
Towards the end of his life, Maclean joined the National Government, a coalition. He served as President of the Board of Education from 1931 to 1932, when he died from cardiovascular disease at the age of sixty-eight.
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 Rt Hon. Sir Francis Dyke Acland, Bt. was the Liberal candidate.
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.
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 elected for this seat in the by-election and retained it until his death.
2. The Conservative candidate was Alfred Martyn Williams, who had been born in 1897. He had previously been MP for the seat between 1924 and 1929. He had unsuccessfully contested the division at the general elections of 1929 and 1931.
Result
22 July 1932 by-election: North Cornwall Party Candidate Votes % ±% Liberal Sir Francis Dyke Acland, Bt. 16,933 52.4 +3.3 Conservative Alfred Martyn Williams 15,387 47.6 +2.3 Majority 1,546 4.8 +1.0 Turnout 32,320 80.8 -4.9 Registered electors 40,020 Liberal hold Swing General Election 1931 result
1931 general election: North Cornwall Party Candidate Votes % ±% Liberal Sir Donald Maclean 16,867 49.1 -0.6 Conservative Alfred Martyn Williams 16,526 45.3 +3.0 Labour A. Bennett 1,907 5.6 -2.4 Majority 1,341 3.8 -3.6 Turnout 35,300 85.7 -0.4 Registered electors 40,020 Liberal hold Swing See also
- North Cornwall by-election, 1939
- 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)
- Who's Who of British Members of Parliament, Volume III 1919-1945, edited by M. Stenton and S. Lees (Harvester Press 1979)
« 35th Parliament « By-elections to the 36th Parliament of the United Kingdom » 37th Parliament » 1932 February: Croydon South • New Forest and Christchurch • Henley • March: Dunbartonshire • April: Richmond-upon-Thames • Wakefield • Eastbourne • St Marylebone • June: Dulwich • Montrose • July: Westminster Abbey • North Cornwall • Wednesbury • September: Twickenham • Cardiganshire1933 January Liverpool Exchange • February: East Fife • Rotherham • March: Ashford • Rhondda East • May: Normanton • June: Hitchin • Altrincham • September: Clay Cross • October: Fulham East • November: Kilmarnock • Skipton • Manchester Rusholme • Rutland and Stamford • Harborough • December: Wentworth1934 February: Cambridge • Lowestoft • Portsmouth North • March: Combined Scottish Universities • April: Basingstoke • Hammersmith North • May:West Ham Upton • Hemsworth • June: Merthyr • Monmouth • Twickenham • Weston-super-Mare • Fermanagh and Tyrone • July: Rushcliffe • October: Lambeth North • Swindon • November: Putney1935 February: • Liverpool Wavertree • Cambridge University • March: Lambeth Norwood • Eastbourne • April: Perth • May: Edinburgh West • Tamworth • Aberdeen South • June: Combined Scottish Universities • City of London • July: Liverpool West Derby • Liverpool West Toxteth • Sevenoaks • September: DumfriesshireLists of UK by-elections: 1868–1885 • 1885–1900 • 1900–1918 • 1918–1931 • 1931–1950 • 1950–1979 • 1979–present Categories:- 1932 elections in the United Kingdom
- 1932 in England
- By-elections to the United Kingdom Parliament in South West England constituencies
- Elections in Cornwall
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