The by-election was triggered by the death of the serving Unionist Member of Parliament (MP), Sir Edward Coates.

This was considered a normally safe Conservative seat - Coates had been unopposed at the preceding general election; Excessive government expenditure was a major theme of the campaign: Dawson ran under the 'Conservative and Anti-Waste' banner, and Raffety also proclaimed himself an opponent of high spending.

[1] No other major issues separated the candidates - all, for instance, declared themselves in favour of proportional representation[2] - and the National Union of Societies for Equal Citizenship, who questioned all three on behalf of women voters, declined to make a recommendation.

The only point of controversy consisted of rumours which circulated to the effect that Dawson, who had worked for the Ministry of Munitions during the war, was a foreigner.

[4] An article in The Washington Post claimed that he admitted to being the illegitimate son of Field Marshal Sir Neville Chamberlain, and to have originally been given the surname Duvalle.