1939 Monmouth by-election

The 1939 Monmouth by-election was a by-election held for the British House of Commons constituency of Monmouth in Wales on 25 July 1939.

Vacancy

The Conservative MP John Herbert had resigned his seat on 1 July 1939, having been appointed as Governor of Bengal.

General election 1935: Monmouth^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Herbert	23,262	63.4	−1.6
	Labour	Michael Mackintosh Foot	13,454	36.6	+1.6
Majority			9,808	26.8	−3.2
Turnout			36,716	76.8	+7.4
Registered electors			47,792
	Conservative hold		Swing	-1.6

The Conservative candidate was 55-year-old Leslie Pym, who had not had previously contested a parliamentary election.

The Labour Party candidate at the 1935 general election had been 22-year-old Michael Foot, who later became Leader of the Labour Party. Foot did not contest the by-election, when the Labour candidate was F.R. Hancock, who had been unsuccessful in Salisbury at the 1929 general election and at a by-election in 1931. He had also been an unsuccessful candidate in Lewes at the 1931 and 1935 general elections.^[1] He was also a Quaker and thus opposed to all war.

On a slightly reduced turnout, Pym held the seat for the Conservatives, with a reduced but still large majority of 5,815.

1939 Monmouth by-election^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Leslie Pym	17,358	60.1	−3.3
	Labour	Frank Rivers Hancock	11,543	39.9	+3.3
Majority			5,815	20.2	−6.6
Turnout			28,901	58.2	−18.6
Registered electors			49,690
	Conservative hold		Swing	-3.3

General election July 1945: Monmouth^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Leslie Pym	22,195	51.9	−8.2
	Labour	A. B. L. Oakley	20,543	48.1	+8.2
Majority			1,652	3.8	−16.4
Turnout			42,738	72.0	+13.8
Registered electors			39,359
	Conservative hold		Swing	-8.2

Pym was re-elected at the 1945 general election, but died five days later.

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Craig, F. W. S. (1969). British parliamentary election results 1918-1949 (1 ed.). Glasgow: Political Reference Publications. ISBN 0-900178-019. Page 567