1934 Merthyr by-election

The 1934 Merthyr by-election was a parliamentary by-election held on 5 June 1934 for the British House of Commons constituency of Merthyr in Wales.

1934 Merthyr by-election

5 June 1934
Constituency of Merthyr
Turnout	81.1% ( 0.3%)
First party Second party   Lib Candidate S. O. Davies J. Victor Evans Party Labour Liberal Popular vote 18,645 10,376 Percentage 51.8 28.9 Swing N/A New   Third party Fourth party   ILP Candidate Campbell Stephen Wal Hannington Party Ind. Labour Party Communist Popular vote 3,508 3,409 Percentage 9.8 9.5 Swing 59.6% New
MP before election R. C. Wallhead Labour Subsequent MP S. O. Davies Labour

The seat had become vacant when the Labour Member of Parliament (MP) Richard Wallhead had died on 27 April 1934, aged 64. He had won the seat at the 1922 general election as a Labour candidate. At the 1931 general election, he had been returned as an Independent Labour Party (ILP) candidate, but had rejoined the Labour Party in 1933.

The Labour candidate, S. O. Davies, held the seat for his party.

Results

1934 Merthyr by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	S. O. Davies	18,645	51.8	N/A
	Liberal	J. Victor Evans	10,376	28.9	N/A
	Ind. Labour Party	Campbell Stephen	3,508	9.8	−59.6
	Communist	Wal Hannington	3,409	9.5	N/A
Majority			8,269	22.9	N/A
Turnout			35,938	81.1	+0.3
Registered electors			44,286
	Labour gain from Ind. Labour Party		Swing	+55.7

See also

• Merthyr constituency
• Merthyr Tydfil
• Lists of United Kingdom by-elections
• United Kingdom by-election records

Further reading

• 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 Peerage Pages