COMING BY-ELECTION IN BRITAIN OF GREAT SIGNIFICANCE

Wanganui Chronicle, 23 February 1949, Page 5

COMING BY-ELECTION IN BRITAIN OF GREAT SIGNIFICANCE

Both Parties Attaching To It More Than Average Importance

LONDON 7 , l'’eb. 22 (Ree. 6 pm).—All the indications are that interest in the South Hammersmith by-eleelion and the political importance attached to it will exceed even the struggle at Edmonton, when the Conservatives inflicted their first notable reverse upon the Government at a by-election.

This morning Labour Party i wits are exercising themselves in deriding the march of 12(10 young i Conservatives through Hammer-1 smith on Saturday afternoon. Re- [ marking that the procession was', led by two children of eight and ; ten years of age, the ‘‘Daily Her- i aid,” in its account of the demon- i stration, says that this was to I show “how early in life young! Conservatism can be contracted.” Describing what it called the selfconscious attitude of the marchers, it says: "Of course one would much rather be at a Rugger match if it weren’t so necessary to fight these dreadful Socialists, who make daddy so angry. “This will show them that youth—we mean decent youth like us, not the cads—is against collectivisation, or whatever it is.” It is agreed that the two candidates, Mr. Anthony Fell, Consevaive, I and Mr. Thomas Williams, Labour, I are exceptionally well matched. Mr[ Fell, who is lhe son of former Royal i Navy Commander Fell, who lived in I New Zealand after his retirement, has ' some knowledge of conditions in the I Dominions and is enthusiastically preaching support for the Common- I wealth on the lines advocated by the ' Beaverbrook Press. This has gained him the support of the “Daily Ex- , press” group, has given him more space than any Conservative by-elec-tion candidate since the war. He is a vigorous speaker, ready in repartee, and with a good command of political answers, as laid down by the Conservative central office. Mr. Williams, a former Baptist Minister now studying at Oxford, relies very much upon the moral appeal of Socialism, as expounded successfully at Gravesend by Sir Richard

I Acland. Mr. Williams is making conI siderable capital of his boyhood background as a miner’s son. He also is a [ facile speaker, much given to well I rounded denunciations of the alleged ' evils of capitalism. ; The fact that Mr. Churchill will ! make a last minute tour of HammerI smith in aid of Mr. Fell’s candidacy I is an indication of the importance the ! Conservatives attach to this camJ paign. Labour Party headquarters, it is reported, are now being asked to provide a speaker of similar calibre to offset the anticipated effect of Mr. Churchill’s appeal. Where they will lind one it is difficult to say, but Mr. Herbert Morrison’s name is being generally suggested. This also raises an interesting question, whether, in view of the import- . ance of South Hammersmith, the Labour Party will drop its rule against Ministers taking part in by- , election campaigns. j So far it appears many of the elec- ’ | tion noises now manifesting themselves in South Hammersmith have < been imported from outside the con- ’; stituency. The actual feelings of , i South Hammersmith voters are much J more difficult to ascertain. They are . showing are increasing interest in . I the campaign, but even the shrewdest > ' political commentators are hesitating I to predict the way they will vote. . , The size of the South Hammersmith > roll has increased by 8300 since the - general election and the fact that t t here is believed to be a 25 per cent. turn-over annually in all London i suburban constituencies, forther com- . plicates the situation. Whatever the result it is being awaited with much L more than usual interest in both political camps, both of which seem to - expect it will provide a reliable in- - | dication of the way the political wind I I is blowing.