Rhondda East by-election, 1933

The Rhondda East by-election, 1933 was a parliamentary by-election held on 28 March 1933 for the British House of Commons constituency of Rhondda East in Wales.

Vacancy

The seat had become vacant when the Labour Member of Parliament (MP) Lt-Col David Watts-Morgan had died on 23 February 1933, aged 65. He had held the seat since the constituency was created for the 1918 general election.

1931 General Election

The previous contest was comfortably won by Labour; Watts-Morgan polled 68.1% of the vote in a two-way contest with the Communist, Arthur Horner. There was no candidate standing in support of the National Government.

Candidates

The Communist, Arthur Horner, was standing here for the third time. The new Labour candidate, William Mainwaring, a local miners agent, was contesting a parliamentary election for the first time. None of the leading Labour figures who had lost their seats at the last General Election expressed an interest in standing here. The Liberal Party, who had not contested this seat last time, fielded another first time candidate in Professor William D. Thomas. Thomas stood in opposition to the National Government. Still no candidate supporting the National Government was prepared to stand here.

As a result, the election campaign remained an essentially local affair.

Votes

Rhondda East by-election, 1933
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	William Henry Mainwaring	14,127	42.5	-25.6
	Communist	Arthur Lewis Horner	11,228	33.8	+1.9
	Liberal	Professor William D. Thomas	7,851	23.6	N/A
Majority			2,899	8.8
Turnout				74.9
	Labour hold		Swing

Aftermath

If the Communist Party was to re-gain a parliamentary foothold, its best prospects were always going to be in a seat like Rhondda East at a time when the Labour Party was demoralised. Despite having such ideal conditions, it could not make the breakthrough.

William Mainwaring's victory started his parliamentary career which went on unbroken until 1959. Arthur Horner, despite having built a local electoral base for the Communist Party, was replaced as candidate for 1935 by the party's national leader, Harry Pollitt. Horner never made it to parliament. William Thomas did not stand for parliament again.

References

Craig, F. W. S. (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918-1949 (3rd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.
Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs

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1932	February: Croydon South New Forest and Christchurch Henley March: Dunbartonshire April: Richmond-upon-Thames Wakefield Eastbourne St Marylebone June: Dulwich Montrose Burghs July: Westminster Abbey North Cornwall Wednesbury September: Twickenham Cardiganshire

1933	January Liverpool Exchange February: East Fife Rotherham March: Ashford Rhondda East May: Normanton June: Hitchin Altrincham September: Clay Cross October: Fulham East November: Kilmarnock Skipton Manchester Rusholme Rutland and Stamford Harborough December: Wentworth

1934	February: Cambridge Lowestoft Portsmouth North March: Combined Scottish Universities April: Basingstoke Hammersmith North May:West Ham Upton Hemsworth June: Merthyr Monmouth Twickenham Weston-super-Mare Fermanagh and Tyrone July: Rushcliffe October: Lambeth North Swindon November: Putney

1935	February: Liverpool Wavertree Cambridge University March: Norwood Eastbourne April: Perth May: Edinburgh West Tamworth Aberdeen South June: Combined Scottish Universities City of London July: Liverpool West Derby Liverpool West Toxteth Sevenoaks September: Dumfriesshire

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