- Chester-le-Street by-election, 1956
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The Chester-le-Street by-election, 1956 was a parliamentary by-election held for the British House of Commons constituency of Chester-le-Street on 27 September 1956.
Contents
Vacancy
The by-election had been caused by the death aged 47 years on 25 June 1956 of the sitting Labour Member of Parliament (MP) Patrick Bartley. Bartley had held the seat since 1950.
Candidates
In what was to be a straight fight between the two main parties, Labour chose Norman Pentland, a colliery checkweighman from Fatfield, County Durham as their candidate and the Conservatives selected the journalist William Rees-Mogg.[1]
Issues
The main political topic of the day was the Suez Crisis [2] but the cost of living and the performance of the government on the economy were also mentioned by Labour as issues in the campaign.[3]
The result
In what was a safe Labour seat during a period of Conservative government Pentland was easily elected with a majority of 21,287 votes.
The votes
Chester-le-Street by-election, 1956 [4] Party Candidate Votes % ±% Labour Norman Pentland 27,912 80.8 Conservative William Rees-Mogg 6,625 19.2 Majority 27,287 Turnout 34,537 65.0 - Labour hold Swing References
- ^ The Times, 13 September 1956, p6
- ^ The Times, 21 September 1956, p4
- ^ The Times, 26 September 1956, p6
- ^ http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http://www.geocities.com/by_elections/56.html%23chesterlestreet&date=2009-10-25+16:45:33
See also
« 40th Parliament « By-elections to the 41st Parliament of the United Kingdom » 42nd Parliament » 1956 February: Blaydon • Leeds North East • Hereford • Gainsborough • Taunton • March: Walthamstow West • May: Mid Ulster • June: Tonbridge • July: Newport • September: Chester-le-Street • November: City of Chester • December: Melton1957 February: Lewisham North • Wednesbury • Carmarthen • March: Bristol West • Warwick and Leamington • Beckenham • Newcastle-upon-Tyne North • May: Edinburgh North • East Ham South • Hornsey • June: North Dorset • September: Gloucester • October: Ipswich • November: Leicester South East • December: Liverpool Garston1958 February: Rochdale • March: Glasgow Kelvingrove • Torrington • May: Islington North • June: Argyll • Ealing South • St Helens • Weston-super-Mare • Wigan • November: Morecambe and Lunesdale • Chichester • Pontypool • East Aberdeenshire • Shoreditch and Finsbury1959 January: Southend West • March: Belfast East • Harrow East • South West Norfolk • April: Galloway • June: Penistone • WhitehavenCategories:- 1956 elections in the United Kingdom
- By-elections to the United Kingdom Parliament in North East England constituencies
- Politics of County Durham
- History of County Durham
- 1956 in England
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