1940 Silvertown by-election

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The Silvertown by-election of 1940 was a wartime by-election.

Silvertown was a safe Labour seat, and none of the major parties stood against the Labour candidate.[1]

It was one of the last by-elections contested by the British Union of Fascists which campaigned on a platform calling for an immediate peace with Nazi Germany, a policy which won them only 151 votes.[2]

By-election, 22 February 1940: Silvertown
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour James Hollins 14,343 92.8 +11.8
Communist Harry Pollitt 966 6.2
British Union of Fascists Tommy Moran 151 1.0
Majority 13,377 86.6
Turnout 15,460
Labour hold Swing

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Labour Victory At Silvertown", The Times, 24 February 1940, p. 6.
  2. ^ Robert Benewick, Political Violence and Public Order, p. 291-2