The by-election was held to fill the vacancy caused when the town's Conservative Party Member of Parliament (MP), Sir Francis Fremantle, died suddenly at home on 26 August, aged 71.
[2] However, the dramatist William Douglas-Home, who was then an officer of the Royal Armoured Corps and an opponent of the policy of requiring the unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany, announced that he would stand as an independent candidate.
[3] Nominations closed on 5 October, when Douglas-Home abandoned his plans to stand, because the necessary permission from the Army Council had not been received, despite an application having been made on 22 September.
[6] However, a statement from the Army Council said that permission had been granted that afternoon, and blamed the delay on Douglas-Home not marking the application as urgent.
[2][7][8] He held the seat for only two years, until his defeat at the 1945 general election by the Labour candidate Cyril Dumpleton.