[1] The seat had become vacant after the death in October of the Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) Hubert Duggan.
During World War II, the major parties had agreed an electoral pact under which they would not contest by-elections in seats held by their respective parties, and as a result many wartime by-elections resulting in a candidate being returned unopposed.
[2] Following the withdrawal of three candidates, the remaining candidates Walter Padley for the Independent Labour Party (ILP); Edward Godfrey who sought election as an 'English Nationalist'; Independent Dorothy Crisp who wrote for the Sunday Dispatch ; and the official Conservative candidate Henry Longhurst.
Godfrey was founder of the English National Association, an organisation with alleged Fascist leanings.
The Conservative candidate, Henry Longhurst, was elected with a majority of 3,301 more votes than all his opponents combined.