The1946 Combined English Universities by-election was aparliamentary by-election held on 18 March 1946 for theBritish House of Commonsconstituency ofCombined English Universities.
There was noLabour Party candidate, which did not occur again in aGreat Britain by-election in the UK until the2008 Haltemprice and Howden by-election. It was the penultimate election in auniversity constituency to theBritish Parliament and the final one to occur inEngland, with all university constituencies abolished in 1950.
The winning candidate vote share of 30 per cent holds the record for being the lowest in a UK by-election.
The seat had become vacant when the constituency'sindependentMember of Parliament (MP),Eleanor Rathbone, died. She had been the constituency's MP since the1929 general election.
The Conservative Party gained the seat.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Henry Strauss | 5,483 | 30.0 | New | |
| Independent Progressive | Mary Stocks | 5,124 | 28.0 | −25.3 | |
| Independent Liberal | Ernest Simon | 4,028 | 22.0 | New | |
| Independent Labour | Stanley Wormald | 3,414 | 18.7 | +3.4 | |
| British People's | Gerard Stephen Oddie | 239 | 1.3 | New | |
| Majority | 359 | 2.0 | N/A | ||
| Turnout | 18,288 | 42.1 | −7.9 | ||
| Registered electors | 43,438 | ||||
| Conservativegain fromIndependent | Swing | ||||
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