The Edinburgh South by-election on 29 May 1957 was won by the Tories, with the Liberals going up from third to second place. The East Ham North by-election on 12 September 1957 was held by Ashley Bramall for Labour. (1) He was Parliamentary Secretary Ministry of Housing and Local Government from August 1953 to February 1955. He lost his Bexley seat in the general election.
Jack Diamond held Gloucester for Labour in the by-election held on 12 September 1957. He was Parliamentary Secretary Ministry of Works from August 1953 to February 1955. The Liberals took second place from the Tories.
Richard Stokes, who was Minister of Works from February 1950 to April 1951, Lord Privy Seal from April 1951 to August 1953, and Home Secretary from August 1953 to February 1955 died on 3 August 1957. He was not in the Labour shadow cabinet because he did not stand in the shadow cabinet election in November 1956. He was MP for Ipswich. In the by-election on 24 October 1957, the seat was held for Labour by Reg Prentice. The Liberals went up from third to second place.
The Conservatives won the Liverpool Garston by-election on 5 December 1957. But their majority over Labour fell from 29.2% to 10.6% and the Liberal vote increased from 18.8% to 27.0%.
The Glasgow Kelvingrove by-election on 13 March 1958 was the first election to be televised. There was a televised debate between the candidates. They were Katherine Elliot, the widow of the former MP, Walter Elliot; Mary McAlister (Labour), David Murray (Liberal), William Park (Independent Labour Park). The result was a Labour gain from Conservative with a majority of 7.6%. Walter Elliot's majority in the general election was 7.3%. The Liberal vote rose from 10.7% to 12.6%..
George Lambert, the National Liberal and Conservative MP for Torrington, succeeded to a hereditary peerage, thus causing a by-election in the constituency. In the 1955 general election the Liberals were in second place, 15.1% behind Lambert, and they had high hopes of taking the seat from the Conservatives. There were over sixty applicants for the Liberal candidature, which was whittled down to a short list of five. This was as follows, in alphabetical order of surname:
Desmond Banks, candidate for St.Ives in the general election. He co-founded the Radical Reform Group in the Liberal Party in 1952.
Peter Bessell, candidate for Torquay in the general election.
Richard Moore, who contested Tavistock in the general election. He had been leader writer for the Liberal Party supporting
News Chronicle since 1956.
Mrs Elizabeth Rashleigh. She contested the constituency in the 1950 and 1955 general elections, and came second both times. She was a Justice of the Peace, and a speaker for the bWomen's Institute. She was married to a doctor. In World War II she helped the Red Cross. She was the only local candidate. (2)
Jeremy Thorpe, who was the Liberal candidate for Tiverton in the general election.
The Torrington Liberal Association chose Mrs Rashleigh as their candidate for the by-election. The result of the election was a Liberal gain from Conservative. The percentage votes for each candidate were as follows (1955 general election):
Elizabeth Rashleigh (Liberal): 44. 4 (33.6)
Anthony Royle (Conservative): 38.9 (48.7)
Labour candidate: 16.7 (17.6)
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Liberal majority: 5.5% (National Liberal and Conservative majority 15.1%)
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The swing from Conservative to Liberal was 10.3%.
(1) In OTL, Reg Prentice was elected Labour MP in the by-election.
(2) Here is a 1950 newspaper article about her:
http://bidefordarchive.org.uk/searc...1390-torrington-division-political-candidates