The 1940 Rochdale by-election was a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

held for the

British House of Commons The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 memb ...

constituency An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England, and the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. In the United Kingdom 2021 Census, 2021 Census, the town had a population of 111,261, compared to 223,773 for the wid ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

on 20 July 1940.

Vacancy

The seat became vacant when the Labour Member of Parliament William Kelly resigned his seat in Parliament by accepting the post of

Steward of the Manor of Northstead The office of Crown Steward and Bailiff of the Manor of Northstead functions as a procedural device to allow a member of Parliament (MP) to resign from the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. As members of the House of Commons are forbidde ...

, a notional 'office of profit under the crown'. Kelly had been Rochdale's MP since winning the seat from the

Conservatives Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilizati ...

at the 1935 general election.

Candidates

The Labour Party candidate was Dr

Hyacinth Morgan Hyacinth Bernard Wenceslaus Morgan (11 September 1885 – 7 May 1956) was a Labour Party politician in the United Kingdom. He was a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1929 to 1931, and 1940 to 1955. He was born, of Irish descent, in Grenada, Wes ...

, a doctor born in the

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

to Irish parents, who had studied medicine in Glasgow. After three unsuccessful attempts, he won the Camberwell North West seat at the 1929 general election, but lost it at the 1931 election. This was his first candidacy since his defeat. During the Second World War, the political parties in the

Coalition Government A coalition government, or coalition cabinet, is a government by political parties that enter into a power-sharing arrangement of the executive. Coalition governments usually occur when no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an ...

had agreed not to contest by-elections when a vacancy arose in any of the seats held by the other coalition parties. Although many later by-elections were contested by independent or minor party candidates, none were nominated in Rochdale.

Result

As there was only one candidate, no vote needed to be held, and Morgan was returned unopposed.

Aftermath

Morgan represented the constituency until the 1950 general election, when he moved to the safer seat of

Warrington Warrington () is an industrial town in the Borough of Warrington, borough of the same name in Cheshire, England. The town sits on the banks of the River Mersey and was Historic counties of England, historically part of Lancashire. It is east o ...

. Rochdale was won by the

at the 1951 election.

References

Rochdale by-election Rochdale by-election Rochdale by-election, 1940 Elections in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale By-elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom in Greater Manchester constituencies By-elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom in Lancashire constituencies Unopposed ministerial by-elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom in English constituencies Rochdale by-election {{England-UK-Parl-by-election-stub

Vacancy

Candidates

Result

Aftermath

See also

References