CORRUPT PRACTICES ALLEGED

Southland Times, Issue 25835, 21 November 1945, Page 5

CORRUPT PRACTICES ALLEGED

Bournemouth By-Election

(Rec. 10 p.m.) LONDON, November 19. The Labour Party may challenge Mr Brendan Bracken’s election for Bournemouth on the ground that there was a breach of the Corrupt Practices Act. says The Daily Mail’s political correspondent. Labour Party officials met in the House of Commons today and considered a proposal to launch a petition to unseat Mr Bracken. They were afterwards not prepared to admit that action would be taken, but disclosed that they had called for reports from Bournemouth. SATISFACTORY TO LABOUR

The Special London correspondent of the N.Z.P.A. in a message states that the Conservatives are well pleased to have Mr Bracken and Mr Harold Mac-

millan, who won the recent Bromley by-election, back in the House of Commons, but it is remarked that Labour is the only party that can get much satisfaction from the result at the Bournemouth by-election which returned Mr Bracken. The Labour poll rose by 3000, but 11,000 fewer electors voted for Mr Bracken than for his predecessor. Whether this is apathy, or lukewarmness for Mr Bracken is a moot point. Mr Bracken, in spite of his success as Minister of Information, is strangely lacking in popularity throughout the country at the moment. A feature of both these by-elections is the falling away of the Liberal vote, indicating that the party’s fortunes continually ebb.

Mr Bracken retained the Bournemouth seat for the Conservatives in a recent by-election.