Eustace Willis

List of United Kingdom by-elections (1950–1979)

This is a list of parliamentary by-elections in the United Kingdom, with the names of the incumbent and victor and their respective parties. Where seats changed political party at the election, the result is highlighted: red for a Labour gain, blue for a Conservative gain, oramge for a Liberal gain, yellow for a SNP gain, green for a Plaid Cymru gain and grey for any other gain.

Resignations

See Resignation from the British House of Commons for more details.

Where the cause of by-election is given as "resignation" or "seeks re-election", this indicates that the incumbent was appointed on his or her own request to an "office of profit under the Crown", either the Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds or the Steward of the Manor of Northstead. These appointments are made as a constitutional device for leaving the House of Commons, whose Members are not permitted to resign. Members seeking re-election must therefore resign from the "office of profit" before the result of the by-election is returned.

By-elections

By-election	Date	Incumbent	Party		Winner	Party	Cause
47th Parliament (October 1974–1979)
Liverpool Edge Hill	29 March 1979¹	Sir Arthur Irvine	David Alton	Death
Knutsford	1 March 1979	John Davies	Jock Bruce-Gardyne	Resignation on medical advice
Clitheroe	1 March 1979	David Walder	David Waddington	Death
Pontefract and Castleford	26 October 1978	Joe Harper	Geoffrey Lofthouse	Death
Berwick and East Lothian	26 October 1978	John Mackintosh	John Home Robertson	Death
Penistone	13 July 1978	John Mendelson	Allen McKay	Death
Manchester Moss Side	13 July 1978	Frank Hatton	George Morton	Death
Hamilton	31 May 1978	Alexander Wilson	George Robertson	Death
Wycombe	27 April 1978	Sir John Hall	Raymond Whitney	Death
Epsom & Ewell	27 April 1978	Peter Rawlinson	Archie Hamilton	Life Peerage
Lambeth Central	20 April 1978	Marcus Lipton	John Tilley	Death
Glasgow Garscadden	13 April 1978	William Small	Donald Dewar	Death
Ilford North	2 March 1978¹	Millie Miller	Vivian Bendall	Death
Bournemouth East	24 November 1977	John Cordle	David Atkinson	Resignation: found in contempt of the House
Birmingham Ladywood	18 August 1977	Brian Walden	John Sever	Appointment as presenter of LWT programme Weekend World
Saffron Walden	7 July 1977	Sir Peter Kirk	Alan Haselhurst	Death
Grimsby	28 April 1977	Anthony Crosland	Austin Mitchell	Death
Ashfield²	28 April 1977	David Marquand	Tim Smith	New career as Chief of Staff to Roy Jenkins
Birmingham Stechford	31 March 1977²	Roy Jenkins	Andrew MacKay	President of the European Commission
City of London and Westminster South	24 February 1977	Christopher Tugendhat	Peter Brooke	European Commissioner
Cambridge	2 December 1976	David Lane	Robert Rhodes James	New career as Chairman for the Commission for Racial Equality
Workington	4 November 1976²	Fred Peart	Richard Page	Life Peerage on appointment as Leader of the House of Lords
Walsall North	4 November 1976²	John Stonehouse/English National	Robin Hodgson	Resignation (convicted of insurance fraud)
Newcastle-upon-Tyne Central	4 November 1976	Edward Short	Harry Cowans	New career as Chairman of Cable & Wireless
Thurrock	15 July 1976	Hugh Delargy	Oonagh McDonald	Death
Rotherham	24 June 1976	Brian O'Malley	Stanley Crowther	Death
Wirral	11 March 1976	Selwyn Lloyd	David Hunt	Life Peerage
Carshalton	11 March 1976	Robert Carr	Nigel Forman	Life Peerage
Coventry North West	4 March 1976	Maurice Edelman	Geoffrey Robinson	Death
Woolwich West	26 June 1975¹	William Hamling	Peter Bottomley	Death
¹ - Gain retained at the 1979 UK general election. ² - Gain not retained at the 1979 UK general election. 46th Parliament (February 1974–October 1974)
By-election	Date	Incumbent	Party		Winner	Party	Cause
Newham South	23 May 1974	Elwyn Jones	Nigel Spearing	Life Peerage on appointment as Lord Chancellor
45th Parliament (1970–February 1974)
By-election	Date	Incumbent	Party		Winner	Party	Cause
Hove	8 November 1973	Martin Maddan	Timothy Sainsbury	Death
Glasgow Govan	8 November 1973¹	John Rankin	Margo MacDonald	Death
Edinburgh North	8 November 1973	Earl of Dalkeith	Alexander Fletcher	Succession to the Peerage
Berwick-upon-Tweed	8 November 1973²	Antony Lambton	Alan Beith	Resignation (scandal)
Ripon	26 July 1973¹	Sir Malcolm Stoddart-Scott	David Austick	Death
Isle of Ely	26 July 1973²	Sir Harry Legge-Bourke	Clement Freud	Death
Manchester Exchange	27 June 1973	William Griffiths	Frank Hatton	Death
Westhoughton	24 May 1973	Tom Price	Roger Stott	Death
West Bromwich	24 May 1973	Maurice Foley	Betty Boothroyd	Appointment to the European Commission staff
Lincoln	1 March 1973²	Dick Taverne	Dick Taverne	Sought re-election upon change of party allegiance
Dundee East	1 March 1973³	George Thomson	George Machin	Appointment as European Commissioner
Chester-le-Street	1 March 1973	Norman Pentland	Giles Radice	Death
Uxbridge	7 December 1972	Charles Curran	Michael Shersby	Death
Sutton and Cheam	7 December 1972¹	Richard Sharples	Graham Tope	Governor of Bermuda
Rochdale	26 October 1972²	Jack McCann	Cyril Smith	Death
Southwark	4 May 1972	Ray Gunter/Independent Labour	Harry Lamborn	Resignation (dispute with party)
Kingston-upon-Thames	4 May 1972	John Boyd-Carpenter	Norman Lamont	Chairman of Civil Aviation Authority
Merthyr Tydfil	13 April 1972²	S. O. Davies	Edward Rowlands	Death
Macclesfield	30 September 1971	Sir Arthur Vere Harvey	Nicholas Winterton	Life Peerage
Widnes	23 September 1971	James Eugene McColl	Gordon Oakes	Death
Stirling and Falkirk	16 September 1971	Malcolm Macpherson	Harry Ewing	Death
Greenwich	8 July 1971	Richard Marsh	Guy Barnett	Chairman of British Rail
Hayes and Harlington	17 June 1971	Arthur Skeffington	Neville Sandelson	Death
Goole	27 May 1971	George Jeger	Edmund Marshall	Death
Bromsgrove	27 May 1971¹	James Dance	Terry Davis	Death
Southampton Itchen	27 May 1971	Horace King	Bob Mitchell	Life Peerage
Arundel and Shoreham	1 April 1971	Henry Kerby	Richard Luce	Death
Liverpool Scotland	1 April 1971	Walter Alldritt	Frank Marsden	Resignation
Enfield West	19 November 1970	Iain Macleod	Cecil Parkinson	Death
St Marylebone	22 October 1970	Quintin Hogg	Kenneth Baker	Life Peerage on appointment as Lord Chancellor
¹ - Gain not retained at the February 1974 UK general election. ² - Gain retained at the February 1974 UK general election. ³ - George Machin retained the seat for Labour in the by-election but lost it to the SNP in the February 1974 UK general election. 44th Parliament (1966–1970)
By-election	Date	Incumbent	Party		Winner	Party	Cause
South Ayrshire	19 March 1970	Emrys Hughes	James Sillars	Death
Bridgwater	12 March 1970	Gerald Wills	Tom King	Death
Wellingborough	4 December 1969¹	Harry Howarth	Peter Fry	Death
Louth	4 December 1969	Sir Cyril Osborne	Jeffrey Archer	Death
Swindon	30 October 1969²	Francis Noel-Baker	Christopher Ward	Resignation
Paddington North	30 October 1969	Ben Parkin	Arthur Latham	Death
Newcastle-under-Lyme	30 October 1969	Stephen Swingler	John Golding	Death
Islington North	30 October 1969	Gerald Reynolds	Michael O'Halloran	Death
Glasgow Gorbals	30 October 1969	Alice Cullen	Frank McElhone	Death
Birmingham Ladywood	26 June 1969²	Victor Yates	Wallace Lawler	Death
Chichester	22 May 1969	Walter Loveys	Christopher Chataway	Death
Mid Ulster	17 April 1969¹	George Forrest	Bernadette Devlin	Death
Weston-super-Mare	27 March 1969	David Webster	Jerry Wiggin	Death
Walthamstow East	27 March 1969¹	William Robinson	Michael McNair-Wilson	Death
Brighton Pavilion	27 March 1969	Sir William Teeling	Julian Amery	Resignation
New Forest	7 November 1968	Oliver Crosthwaite-Eyre	Patrick McNair-Wilson	Resignation
Bassetlaw	31 October 1968	Frederick Bellenger	Joseph Ashton	Death
Caerphilly	18 July 1968	Ness Edwards	Alfred Evans	Death
Nelson and Colne	27 June 1968¹	Sydney Silverman	David Waddington	Death
Sheffield Brightside	13 June 1968	Richard Winterbottom	Edward Griffiths	Death
Oldham West	13 June 1968²	Leslie Hale	Bruce Campbell	Resignation
Warwick and Leamington	28 March 1968	John Hobson	Dudley Gordon Smith	Death
Meriden	28 March 1968¹	Christopher Rowland	Keith Speed	Death
Dudley	28 March 1968²	George Wigg	Donald Williams	Life Peerage on appointment as Chairman of Horserace Betting Levy Board
Acton	28 March 1968²	Bernard Floud	Kenneth Baker	Death (suicide)
Kensington South	14 March 1968	William Roots	Sir Brandon Rhys Williams	Resignation (ill-health?)
Derbyshire West	23 November 1967	Aidan Crawley	James Scott-Hopkins	Appointment as Chairman of London Weekend Television
Manchester Gorton	2 November 1967	Konni Zilliacus	Kenneth Marks	Death
Leicester South West	2 November 1967¹	Herbert Bowden	Thomas Boardman	Appointment as Chairman of Independent Television Authority
Hamilton	2 November 1967²	Thomas Fraser	Winifred Ewing	Appointment to North Scotland Hydro-Electricity Board
Walthamstow West	21 September 1967²	Edward Redhead	Frederick Silvester	Death
Cambridge	21 September 1967¹	Robert Davies	David Lane	Death
Brierley Hill	27 April 1967	John Talbot	Fergus Montgomery	Death
Honiton	16 March 1967	Robert Mathew	Peter Emery	Death
Rhondda West	9 March 1967	Iorwerth Thomas	Alec Jones	Death
Nuneaton	9 March 1967	Frank Cousins	Leslie Huckfield	Resignation
Glasgow Pollok	9 March 1967²	Alexander Garrow	Esmond Wright	Death
Carmarthen	14 July 1966²	Megan Lloyd George	Gwynfor Evans	Death
¹ Gain retained at the 1970 UK general election. ² Gain not retained at the 1970 UK general election. 43rd Parliament (1964–1966)
By-election	Date	Incumbent	Party		Winner	Party	Cause
Hull North	27 January 1966	Henry Solomons	Kevin McNamara	Death
Erith and Crayford	11 November 1965	Norman Dodds	James Wellbeloved	Death
Cities of London and Westminster	4 November 1965	Sir Harry Hylton-Foster	John Smith	Death
Hove	22 July 1965	Anthony Marlowe	Martin Maddan	Resignation (ill-health)
Birmingham Hall Green	6 May 1965	Aubrey Jones	Reginald Eyre	Appointment as Chairman of National Board for Prices and Incomes
Abertillery	1 April 1965	Llywelyn Williams	Clifford Williams	Death
Roxburgh, Selkirk and Peebles	24 March 1965¹	Charles Donaldson	David Steel	Death
Saffron Walden	23 March 1965	R. A. Butler	Peter Kirk	Life Peerage
Salisbury	4 February 1965	John Morrison	Michael Hamilton	Hereditary Peerage
East Grinstead	4 February 1965	Evelyn Emmet	Geoffrey Johnson-Smith	Life Peerage
Altrincham and Sale	4 February 1965	Fred Erroll	Anthony Barber	Hereditary Peerage
Nuneaton	21 January 1965	Frank Bowles	Frank Cousins	Life Peerage to provide seat for Minister of Technology Frank Cousins
Leyton	21 January 1965²	Reg Sorensen	Ronald Buxton	Life Peerage to provide seat for Foreign Secretary Patrick Gordon Walker
¹ - Gain retained at the 1966 UK general election. ² - Gain not retained at the 1966 UK general election. 42nd Parliament (1959–1964)
By-election	Date	Incumbent	Party		Winner	Party	Cause
Liverpool Scotland	11 June 1964	David Logan	Walter Alldritt	Death
Faversham	14 May 1964	Percy Wells	Terence Boston	Death
Winchester	14 May 1964	Peter Smithers	Morgan Morgan-Giles	Appointment as Secretary-General of Council of Europe
Rutherglen	14 May 1964¹	Richard Brooman-White	Gregor Mackenzie	Death
Devizes	14 May 1964	Percivall Pott	Charles Morrison	Death
Bury St Edmunds	14 May 1964	Sir William Aitken	Eldon Griffiths	Death
Dumfriesshire	12 December 1963	Niall MacPherson	David Colville Anderson	Hereditary Peerage
Sudbury and Woodbridge	5 December 1963	John Hare	Keith Stainton	Hereditary Peerage
St Marylebone	5 December 1963	Sir Wavell Wakefield	Quintin Hogg	Hereditary Peerage
Manchester Openshaw	5 December 1963	William Williams	Charles Morris	Death
Dundee West	21 December 1963	John Strachey	Peter Doig	Death
Luton	7 November 1963¹	Dr. Charles Hill	Will Howie	Life Peerage on appointment as Chairman of Independent Television Authority
Kinross and West Perthshire	7 November 1963	Gilmour Leburn	Sir Alec Douglas-Home	Death
Belfast South	22 October 1963	Sir David Campbell	Rafton Pounder	Death
Bristol South East	20 August 1963¹	Malcolm St Clair	Tony Benn	Resignation
Stratford	15 August 1963	John Profumo	Angus Maude	Resignation (lying to the House of Commons)
West Bromwich	4 July 1963	John Dugdale	Maurice Foley	Death
Deptford	4 July 1963	Sir Leslie Plummer	John Silkin	Death
Leeds South	20 June 1963	Hugh Gaitskell	Merlyn Rees	Death
Swansea East	28 March 1963	David Mort	Neil McBride	Death
Rotherham	28 March 1963	John Henry Jones	Brian O'Malley	Death (road accident)
Colne Valley	21 March 1963	William Glenvil Hall	Patrick Duffy	Death
Northamptonshire South	22 November 1962	Sir Reginald Manningham-Buller	Arthur Jones	Hereditary Peerage on appointment as Lord Chancellor
Norfolk Central	22 November 1962	Richard Collard	Ian Gilmour	Death
Glasgow Woodside	22 November 1962¹	William Grant	Neil Carmichael	Appointment as Lord Justice Clerk
Dorset South	22 November 1962²	Viscount Hinchingbrooke	Guy Barnett	Succession to Peerage
Chippenham	22 November 1962	David Eccles	Daniel Awdry	Hereditary Peerage
Leicester North East	12 July 1962	Sir Lynn Ungoed-Thomas	Tom Bradley	Appointment as High Court Judge
West Lothian	14 July 1962	John Taylor	Tam Dalyell	Death
West Derbyshire	6 June 1962	Edward Wakefield	Aidan Crawley	Appointment as Commissioner for Malta
Middlesbrough West	6 June 1962¹	Sir Jocelyn Simon	Jeremy Bray	Appointment as President of Probate Division of the High Court
Montgomeryshire	15 May 1962	Clement Davies	Emlyn Hooson	Death
Derby North	17 April 1962	Clifford Wilcock	Niall MacDermot	Death
Stockton-on-Tees	5 April 1962	George Chetwynd	Bill Rodgers	Appointment as Director of North-East Development Council
Pontefract	22 March 1962	George Sylvester	Joseph Harper	Death
Orpington	14 March 1962¹	Donald Sumner	Eric Lubbock	Appointment as County Court Judge
Middlesbrough East	14 March 1962	Hilary Marquand	Arthur Bottomley	Appointment as Director of International Institute for Labour Studies, Geneva
Blackpool North	13 March 1962	Toby Low	Norman Miscampbell	Hereditary Peerage
Lincoln	8 March 1962	Geoffrey de Freitas	Dick Taverne	Appointed as High Commissioner to Ghana
Glasgow Bridgeton	16 November 1961	James Carmichael	James Bennett	Resignation (ill-health?)
Oswestry	9 November 1961	William Ormsby-Gore	John Biffen	Appointment as Ambassador to Washington
East Fife	9 November 1961	Sir James Henderson-Stewart, Bt.	Sir John E. Gilmour	Death
Manchester Moss Side	8 November 1961	James Watts	Frank Taylor	Death
Bristol South East	4 May 1961³	Tony Benn	Malcolm St Clair	Succession to Peerage
Warrington	20 April 1961	Dr Edith Summerskill	Thomas Williams	Life Peerage
Paisley	20 April 1961	Douglas Johnston	John Robertson	Appointment to Court of Session
Birmingham Small Heath	23 March 1961	William Wheeldon	Denis Howell	Death
Worcester	16 March 1961	George Ward	Peter Walker	Hereditary Peerage
High Peak	16 March 1961	High Molson	David Walder	Life Peerage
Colchester	16 March 1961	Cuthbert Alport	Antony Buck	Life Peerage on appointment as High Commissioner to Rhodesia
Cambridgeshire	16 March 1961	Gerald Howard	Francis Pym	Appointment as High Court Judge
Blyth	24 November 1960	Alfred Robens	Eddie Milne	Appointment as Chairman of National Coal Board
Ebbw Vale	17 November 1960	Aneurin Bevan	Michael Foot	Death
Tiverton	16 November 1960	Derick Heathcoat Amory	Robin Maxwell-Hyslop	Hereditary Peerage
Petersfield	16 November 1960	Hon. Peter Legh	Joan Quennell	Succession to Peerage
Ludlow	16 November 1960	Christopher Holland-Martin	Jasper More	Death
Carshalton	16 November 1960	Antony Head	Walter Elliot	Hereditary Peerage on appointment as High Commissioner to Nigeria
Bolton East	16 November 1960⁴	Philip Bell	Edwin Taylor	Appointment as County Court Judge
Mid Bedfordshire	16 November 1960	Alan Lennox-Boyd	Stephen Hastings	Hereditary Peerage
Edinburgh North	19 May 1960	William Rankine Milligan	John Montagu-Douglas-Scott, Earl of Dalkeith	Appointment to Court of Session
Harrow West	17 March 1960	Sir Albert Braithwaite	John Page	Death (suicide)
Brighouse and Spenborough	17 March 1960⁵	Lewis John Edwards	Michael Shaw	Death
¹ - Gain retained at the 1964 UK general election. ² - Gain not retained at the 1964 UK general election. ³ - Tony Benn won the most votes but was disqualified by virtue of his Peerage; the Election Court declared Malcolm St.Clair duly elected. St. Clair undertook that if the law was changed to allow Benn to disclaim his hereditary peerage, he would resign and create a by-election. The law was changed by the Peerage Act 1963 and St. Clair duly resigned, allowing Benn to return to the Commons in 1963. ⁴ - Edwin Taylor retained the seat for the Conservatives in the by-election but lost it to Labour in the 1964 UK general election. ⁵ - A rare occasion when an incumbent government gained a seat from the opposition in a by-election, although it was lost at the 1964 UK general election. 41st Parliament (1955–1959)
By-election	Date	Incumbent	Party		Winner	Party	Cause
Whitehaven	18 June 1959	Frank Anderson	Joseph Symonds	Death
Penistone	11 June 1959	Henry McGhee	John Mendelson	Death
Galloway	9 April 1959	John Mackie	John Brewis	Death
South West Norfolk	25 March 1959	Sidney Dye	Albert Hilton	Death (road accident)
Harrow East	19 March 1959	Ian Harvey	Anthony Courtney	Resignation (scandal)
Belfast East	19 March 1959	Alan McKibbin	Stanley McMaster	Death
Southend West	29 January 1959	Sir Henry Channon	Paul Channon	Death
Shoreditch and Finsbury	27 November 1958	Victor Collins	Michael Cliffe	Elevation to a life peerage
East Aberdeenshire	20 November 1958	Sir Robert Boothby	Patrick Wolrige-Gordon	Elevation to a life peerage
Pontypool	10 November 1958	Daniel Granville West	Leo Abse	Elevation to a life peerage
Chichester	6 November 1958	Hon. Sir Lancelot Joynson-Hicks	Walter Loveys	Succession to the peerage
Morecambe and Lunesdale	6 November 1958	Sir Ian Fraser	Basil de Ferranti	Elevation to a life peerage
Argyll	12 June 1958	Sir Duncan McCallum	Michael Noble	Death
Weston-super-Mare	12 June 1958	Sir Ian Leslie Orr-Ewing	David Webster	Death
Wigan	12 June 1958	Ronald Williams	Alan Fitch	Death
St Helens	12 June 1958	Sir Hartley Shawcross	Leslie Spriggs	Resignation
Ealing South	12 June 1958	Angus Maude	Brian Batsford	Resignation
Islington North	15 May 1958	Wilfred Fienburgh	Gerald Reynolds	Death (road accident)
Torrington	27 March 1958¹	George Lambert and National Liberal	Mark Bonham-Carter	Succession to Peerage
Glasgow Kelvingrove	13 March 1958¹	Walter Elliot	Mary McAlister	Death
Rochdale	12 February 1958²	Wentworth Schofield	Jack McCann	Death
Liverpool Garston	5 December 1957	Sir Victor Raikes / Independent Conservative	Richard Martin Bingham	Resignation (dispute with party)
Leicester South-East	28 November 1957	Charles Waterhouse	John Peel	Resignation
Ipswich	24 October 1957	Richard Stokes	Dingle Foot	Death
Gloucester	12 September 1957	Moss Turner-Samuels	Jack Diamond	Death
North Dorset	27 June 1957	Robert Crouch	Richard Glyn	Death
Hornsey	30 May 1957	Sir David Gammans	Lady Muriel Gammans	Death
East Ham North	30 May 1957	Percy Daines	Reginald Prentice	Death
Edinburgh South	29 May 1957	Sir William Darling	Michael Clark Hutchison	Resignation
Newcastle-upon-Tyne North	21 March 1957	Gwilym Lloyd George and Conservative	William Elliott	Elevation to a hereditary peerage
Beckenham	21 March 1957	Patrick Buchan-Hepburn	Philip Goodhart	Elevation to a hereditary peerage
Warwick and Leamington	7 March 1957	Sir Anthony Eden	John Hobson	Resignation due to ill health
Bristol West	7 March 1957	Sir Walter Monckton	Robert Cooke	Elevation to a hereditary peerage
Carmarthen	28 February 1957²	Sir Rhys Hopkin Morris	Megan Lloyd George	Death
Wednesbury	28 February 1957	Stanley Evans	John Stonehouse	Resignation (disagreement with party over Suez)
Lewisham North	14 February 1957¹	Sir Austin Hudson, Bt.	Niall MacDermot	Death
Melton	19 December 1956	Anthony Nutting	Mervyn Pike	Resignation (disagreement with party over Suez)
City of Chester	15 November 1956	Basil Nield	John Temple	Recorder of Manchester
Chester-le-Street	27 September 1956	Patrick Bartley	Norman Pentland	Death
Newport	6 July 1956	Peter Freeman	Sir Frank Soskice	Death
Tonbridge	7 June 1956	Gerald Williams	Richard Hornby	Resignation
Mid Ulster	8 May 1956³	Charles Beattie	George Forrest	Disqualification
Walthamstow West	1 March 1956	Clement Attlee	Edward Redhead	Elevation to a hereditary peerage
Taunton	14 February 1956	Henry Hopkinson	Edward du Cann	Elevation to a hereditary peerage
Gainsborough	14 February 1956	Harry Crookshank	Marcus Kimball	Elevation to a hereditary peerage
Hereford	14 February 1956	James Thomas	David Gibson-Watt	Elevation to a hereditary peerage
Leeds North East	9 February 1956	Osbert Peake	Sir Keith Joseph, Bt.	Elevation to a hereditary peerage
Blaydon	2 February 1956	William Whiteley	Robert Woof	Death
Torquay	15 December 1955	Charles Williams	Frederic Bennett	Death
Greenock	8 December 1955	Hector McNeil	Dickson Mabon	Death
Gateshead West	7 December 1955	John Hall	Harry Randall	Death
Mid Ulster	11 August 1955³	Tom Mitchell	Charles Beattie	Disqualification
¹ - Gain not retained at the 1959 UK general election. ² - Gain retained at the 1959 UK general election. ³ - Tom Mitchell won the most votes in the 1955 General Election but was disqualified by the House of Commons on the grounds that he was a convicted felon. A by-election was called at which Mitchell again stood and won the most votes. On this occasion an election petition was lodged and Mitchell was again disqualified with the Election Court declaring his opponent Charles Beattie duly elected. It was then discovered that Beattie was ineligible to sit because he held offices of profit under the Crown. Beattie was indemnified by Parliament against the consequences of sitting and voting while ineligible, and a further writ was moved. In the subsequent by-election Independent Unionist George Forrest gained more votes than Mitchell and duly took his seat. Subsequently Forrest took the Ulster Unionist whip and won the seat in his new party colours at the 1959 General Election. 40th Parliament (1951–1955)
By-election	Date	Incumbent	Party		Winner	Party	Cause
Wrexham	17 March 1955	Robert Richards	Idwal Jones	Death
Stockport South	3 February 1955	Sir Arnold Gridley	Harold Macdonald Steward	Elevation to a hereditary peerage
Edinburgh North	27 January 1955	James Clyde	William Rankine Milligan	Lord President, Court of Session
Twickenham	25 January 1955	Sir Edward Keeling	Roger Gresham Cooke	Death
Orpington	20 January 1955	Sir Waldron Smithers	Donald Sumner	Death
South Norfolk	13 January 1955	Peter Baker	John Hill	Expelled from the House (convicted of fraud)
Inverness	21 December 1954	Lord Malcolm Douglas-Hamilton	Neil McLean	Resignation
Armagh	20 November 1954¹	James Harden	Christopher Armstrong	Resignation
Liverpool West Derby	18 November 1954	Sir David Maxwell Fyfe	John Woollam	Elevation to a hereditary peerage
Morpeth	4 November 1954	Robert Taylor	Will Owen	Death
Sutton and Cheam	4 November 1954	Sir Sidney Marshall	Richard Sharples	Resignation
Aberdare	28 October 1954	David Thomas	Arthur Probert	Death
Aldershot	28 October 1954	Oliver Lyttelton	Sir Eric Errington	Elevation to a hereditary peerage
Wakefield	21 October 1954	Arthur Greenwood	Arthur Creech Jones	Death
Shoreditch and Finsbury	21 October 1954	Ernest Thurtle	Victor Collins	Death
Croydon East	30 September 1954	Sir Herbert Williams	John Hughes-Hallett	Death
Motherwell	14 April 1954	Alexander Anderson	George Lawson	Death
Edinburgh East	8 April 1954	John Wheatley	Eustace Willis	Judge, Court of Session
Harrogate	11 March 1954	Christopher York	James Ramsden	Resignation
Arundel and Shoreham	9 March 1954	William Cuthbert	Henry Kerby	Resignation
Bournemouth West	18 February 1954	Viscount Cranborne	John Eden	Resignation
Harwich	11 February 1954	Sir Stanley Holmes and Conservative	Julian Ridsdale and National Liberal	Elevation to a hereditary peerage
Haltemprice	11 February 1954	Richard Kidston Law	Patrick Wall	Elevation to a hereditary peerage
Ilford North	3 February 1954	Sir Geoffrey Hutchinson	Thomas Iremonger	Chairman, National Assistance Board
Paddington North	3 December 1953	William J. Field	Ben Parkin	Resignation (scandal)
Holborn and St Pancras South	19 November 1953	Dr Santo Jeger	Lena Jeger	Death
Ormskirk	12 November 1953	Sir Arthur Salter	Douglas Glover	Elevation to a hereditary peerage
Crosby	12 November 1953	Malcolm Bullock	Graham Page	Resignation
Broxtowe	17 September 1953	Seymour Cocks	William Warbey	Death
Birmingham Edgbaston	2 July 1953	Sir Peter Bennett	Edith Pitt	Elevation to a hereditary peerage
Abingdon	30 June 1953	Sir Ralph Glyn, Bt.	Airey Neave	Elevation to a hereditary peerage
Sunderland South	13 May 1953²	Richard Ewart	Paul Glyn Williams	Death
Down North	15 April 1953³	Sir Walter Smiles	Patricia Ford	Death (drowned in ferry disaster)
Hayes and Harlington	1 April 1953	William Ayles	Arthur Skeffington	Resignation
Stoke-on-Trent North	31 March 1953	Albert Davies	Harriet Slater	Death
Barnsley	31 March 1953	Sidney Schofield	Roy Mason	Resignation
Isle of Thanet	12 March 1953	Hon. Edward Carson	William Rees-Davies	Resignation
Canterbury	12 February 1953	John Baker White	Leslie Thomas	Resignation
Farnworth	27 November 1952	George Tomlinson	Ernest Thornton	Death
Birmingham Small Heath	27 November 1952	Fred Longden	William Wheeldon	Death
Belfast South	4 November 1952	Connolly Gage	Sir David Campbell	Resignation
Wycombe	4 November 1952	Hon. William Waldorf Astor	John Hall	Succession to the peerage
Antrim North	27 October 1952³	Sir Hugh O'Neill	Hon. Phelim O'Neill	Resignation
Cleveland	23 October 1952	George Willey	Arthur Palmer	Death
Dundee East	17 July 1952	Tomas Cook	George Thomson	Death (road accident)
Leeds South East	7 February 1952	Major James Milner	Denis Healey	Elevation to a hereditary peerage
Southport	6 February 1952	Robert Hudson	Roger Fleetwood-Hesketh	Elevation to a hereditary peerage
Bournemouth East and Christchurch	6 February 1952	Brendan Bracken	Nigel Nicolson	Elevation to a hereditary peerage
¹ - The Armagh by-election was the last time to date when a UK Parliamentary election was uncontested. ² - A rare occasion when an incumbent government gained a seat from the opposition in a by-election. The gain was held at the 1955 UK general election. ³ - An uncontested by-election. 39th Parliament (1950–1951) No seats changed hands during this Parliament.
By-election	Date	Incumbent	Party		Winner	Party	Cause
Westhoughton	21 June 1951	Rhys Davies	Thomas Price	Illness
Woolwich East	14 June 1951	Ernest Bevin	Christopher Mayhew	Death
Londonderry	19 May 1951¹	Ronald Deane Ross	William Wellwood	Appointment as Northern Ireland Government Agent in London
Harrow West	21 April 1951	Norman Bower	Albert Braithwaite	Resignation
Ormskirk	5 April 1951	Sir Ronald Cross	Arthur Salter	Appointment as Governor of Tasmania
Bristol West	15 February 1951	Oliver Stanley	Walter Monckton	Death
Abertillery	30 November 1950	George Daggar	Llywelyn Williams	Death
Bristol South East	30 November 1950	Sir Stafford Cripps	Tony Benn	Resignation (ill-health)
Belfast West	29 November 1950²	James MacManaway	Thomas Teevan	Disqualified
Birmingham Handsworth	16 November 1950	Harold Roberts	Edward Boyle	Death
Oxford	2 November 1950	Hon. Quintin Hogg	Lawrence Turner	Succession to the Peerage
Glasgow Scotstoun	25 October 1950	Sir Arthur Young	James Hutchison	Death
Leicester North East	28 September 1950	Terence Donovan	Lynn Ungoed-Thomas	Appointment as High Court Judge
Brighouse and Spenborough	4 May 1950	Frederick Arthur Cobb	Lewis John Edwards	Death
Dunbartonshire West	25 April 1950	Adam McKinlay	Tom Steele	Death
Sheffield Neepsend	5 April 1950	Harry Morris	Frank Soskice	Resignation to provide a seat for Solicitor General Frank Soskice
¹ - uncontested by-election. ² - MacManaway had been ordained a priest in the Church of Ireland in 1925. Before his candidature he sought legal advice and resigned all offices in the Church. However after his election the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council determined him ineligible to sit, ruling that the House of Commons (Clergy Disqualification) Act 1801 disqualified him.