The 1937 Tonbridge by-election was held on 23 March 1937. The by-election was held due to the death of the incumbent Conservative MP, Herbert Spender-Clay. It was won by the Conservative candidate Adrian Baillie.[1]
Candidates
editAdrian Baillie had previously been the Unionist MP for the normally Labour seat of Linlithgowshire from 1931 to 1935.
The Liberal challenger was 59 year-old[2] Borlase Matthews. He was Liberal candidate at Henley for the 1931 general election, the 1932 Henley by-election and at Ashford for the 1935 general election.[3] He was an engineer but left engineering to take up farming. He was a Member of the Council of the Royal Agricultural Society. He was a Member of the Electricity Commissioners Rural Electrification Conference. He was Chairman of the Rural Reconstruction Association. He was also an author of several books and papers on farming.[4]
Result
edit| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Adrian Baillie | 18,802 | 56.9 | −4.4 | |
| Labour | H Smith | 8,147 | 24.7 | +0.1 | |
| Liberal | Richard Borlase Matthews | 6,073 | 18.4 | +4.3 | |
| Majority | 10,655 | 32.2 | −4.5 | ||
| Turnout | 33,022 | 58.2 | −10.0 | ||
| Conservative hold | Swing | -2.2 | |||
References
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