1938 Dartford by-election

1938 Dartford by-election

7 November 1938

Constituency of Dartford
  First party Second party
 
Con
Candidate Jennie Adamson Godfrey Mitchell
Party Labour Conservative
Popular vote 46,514 42,276
Percentage 52.4% 47.6%

MP before election

Frank Clarke
Conservative

Elected MP

Jennie Adamson
Labour

The 1938 Dartford by-election was held on 7 November 1938. The by-election was held due to the death of the incumbent Conservative MP, Frank Edward Clarke. It was won by the Labour candidate Jennie Adamson. Adamson afterwards stated that she won, because the voters "were ashamed of Mr. Chamberlain's betrayal of Czechoslovakia and of democracy." This was in reference to the Munich Pact, in which the United Kingdom under Prime Minister Chamberlain, accepted Nazi Germany's annexation of the Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia.

Dartford by-election, 1938
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Jennie Adamson 46,514 52.4
Conservative Godfrey Mitchell 42,276 47.6
Majority 4,238 4.8 N/A
Turnout 88,790 68.0
Labour gain from Conservative Swing