BY-ELECTIONS

Grey River Argus, 18 February 1949, Page 3

BY-ELECTIONS

YORKSHIRE CONTEST LONDON, February 16. Four by-elections in Britain are due within as many weeks. Political activity in the four constituencies affected, Batley, South Hammersmith Sowerby rßidge and St. Pancras is intense. Polling in the first of th e four is tomorrow when the electors of Batley, a Yorkshire mill town, will decide between Mr A. M. 'Ramsden (Conservative) and Dr. A. D. D. Broughton (Labour). Although it has been a vigorous campaign, the/ Conservatives are not sanguine, for Batlev is primarily an industrial district with pronounced Socialist allegiance. At the last general election it returned the Labour candidate. Captain H. Beaumont, with a majority I of 11,592 over a Conservative, and 17,426 over a Liberal. Batley suffered severelv from unemployment between the wars and at the height of the depression, had a third of its male populatio/r on the dole. Conditions existing then have not been forgotten, and Dr. Broughton, who is an able speaker, has recalled them with considerable effect. Nevertheless, the absence of theLiberals on this occasion has introduced an element of uncertainty. The Liberal vote is considered to be roughly 5000, and a substantial proportion of it is expected to go to the Conservatives. LONDON ELECTION South Hammersmith, where there will be another straight fight between Labour and Conservatives, is regard ed as a much more important test than Batley because it is a mixed constituency where that uncertain quantity, the middle-class vote, is likely to prove the deciding factor. Both candidates are keen young men, and both are receiving substantial support from the “big guns’’ of their respective parties. At the General Election in 1945 the Labour majority was only 3458, but since then the electorate is known to have increased by more than 8000. Before 1945, Hammersmith returned Conservative 1 members for an un- I broken period of 14 years. COMMUNIST INTERVENTION NOT WELCOMED < The Labour candidate, Mr W. T u Williams, has not yet been helped by a sudden intervention on his behalf n of the Communists, who have circulated leaflets abusing the Tories and appealing to voters to support Lab- * our. Mr Williams promptly d’sowned these allies, but as his Conservative opponent, Mr Anthony Fell, had already accused him of receiving , Communist support. denial was * snarcelv sufficient. .. Mr Williams is now threatening-to , ask the Director of Public -F'rosecu- } tions to take actions against the i Communists for their “unauthorised and illegal intervention” in the campaign. Polling at South Hammersmith takes place on February 23.