1938 Dartford by-election

The 1938 Dartford by-election was held on 7 November 1938. The by-election was held due to the death of the incumbent Conservative MP, Frank Edward Clarke. It was won by the Labour candidate Jennie Adamson.[1] Adamson afterwards stated that she won, because the voters "were ashamed of Mr. Chamberlain's betrayal of Czechoslovakia and of democracy."[2] This was in reference to the Munich Pact, in which the United Kingdom under Prime Minister Chamberlain, accepted Nazi Germany's annexation of the Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia.[3]

1938 Dartford by-election

← 1935 7 November 1938 1945 →

Constituency of Dartford
  First party Second party
 
Con
Candidate Jennie Adamson Godfrey Mitchell
Party Labour Conservative
Popular vote 46,514 42,276
Percentage 52.4% 47.6%

MP before election

Frank Clarke
Conservative

Elected MP

Jennie Adamson
Labour

Dartford by-election, 1938 [2][4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Jennie Adamson 46,514 52.4
Conservative Godfrey Mitchell 42,276 47.6
Majority 4,238 4.8 N/A
Turnout 88,790 68.0
Labour gain from Conservative Swing

References

edit
  1. ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs
  2. ^ a b "LABOUR GAINS". The Sydney Morning Herald. 9 November 1938. p. 17. Retrieved 2 December 2017 – via Newspapers.com.  
  3. ^ Chamberlain, Neville; Mussolini, Benito; Hitler, Adolf; Daladier, Edouard (1938). Munich Agreement – via Wikisource.
  4. ^ Craig, F. W. S. (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918–1949 (3rd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 383. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.