1956 Walthamstow West by-election

UK Parliamentary by-election

The Walthamstow West by-election of 1 March 1956 was held after the elevation to the Peerage of former Prime Minister, Labour MP (MP) Clement Attlee.

The seat was safe, having been won by Attlee at the 1955 general election by over 9,000 votes

Candidates

Edward Redhead for Labour was a councillor and Alderman
The Conservatives nominated Richard Hornby, who at the time was a copywriter for JWT
The Liberal Party chose Oliver Smedley, who in 1955 had helped found the Institute of Economic Affairs
Perennial candidate Bill Boaks stood as an independent, which was one of his earliest parliamentary candidacies.

General election 1955: Walthamstow West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Clement Attlee	19,327	65.73
	Conservative	Richard Hornby	10,077	34.27
Majority			9,250	31.46
Turnout			29,404
	Labour hold		Swing

Walthamstow West by-election, 1 March 1956
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Edward Redhead	13,388	64.68	−1.05
	Conservative	Richard Hornby	4,184	20.21	−14.06
	Liberal	Oliver Smedley	3,037	14.67	New
	Independent	Bill Boaks	89	0.43	New
Majority			9,204	44.47	+13.01
Turnout			20,698
	Labour hold		Swing

Election results PoliticsResources.net
"1956 By Election Results". Archived from the original on 10 October 2012. Retrieved 14 August 2015.

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1955	August: Mid Ulster December: Gateshead West Greenock Torquay
1956	February: Blaydon Leeds North East Hereford Gainsborough Taunton March: Walthamstow West May: Mid Ulster June: Tonbridge July: Newport September: Chester-le-Street November: City of Chester December: Melton
1957	February: Lewisham North Wednesbury Carmarthen March: Bristol West Warwick and Leamington Beckenham Newcastle-upon-Tyne North May: Edinburgh South East Ham North Hornsey June: North Dorset September: Gloucester October: Ipswich November: Leicester South East December: Liverpool Garston
1958	February: Rochdale March: Glasgow Kelvingrove Torrington May: Islington North June: Argyll Ealing South St Helens Weston-super-Mare Wigan November: Morecambe and Lonsdale Chichester Pontypool East Aberdeenshire Shoreditch and Finsbury
1959	January: Southend West March: Belfast East Harrow East South West Norfolk April: Galloway June: Penistone Whitehaven
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