The by-election was triggered when Reginald Croom-Johnson, the sitting Conservative member was appointed a High Court Judge in October 1938 which required him to resign his seat in parliament.
At the last General Election, the Liberal challenge was not as strong as it had been; On 29 September 1938, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain had signed the Munich Agreement, handing over the Sudetenland to German control.
This issue polarised British politics at the time, with many Labour supporters, Liberals, and some Conservatives strongly opposed to this policy of appeasement.
He was approached by Richard Acland, Liberal MP for Barnstaple, a seat bordering Bridgwater, about standing as an anti-appeasement candidate in the by-election.
[4] Before the by-election vacancy was known, the local Labour Party had already re-adopted Arthur Loveys their previous candidate, to contest a General Election expected to occur in 1939.
Many Liberal personalities came to support Bartlett, including Megan Lloyd George, Lady Violet Bonham Carter and Sir Charles Hobhouse.