The 1934 Basingstoke by-election was a parliamentary by-election for the British House of Commons constituency of Basingstoke on 19 April 1934.
The by-election was caused by the resignation of the sitting Conservative MP, Gerard Wallop. He resigned suddenly on 14 February 1934. He had been MP here since holding the seat in 1929.
Basingstoke had been won by the Conservatives at every election since 1885 apart from 1923 when the Liberals won. The result at the last General election was as follows;
Polling Day was set for 19 April 1934, some two months after the vacancy first became known. Nominations closed on 9 April 1934.
Foreign Affairs dominated the campaign, particularly the Conservative dominated National Government's isolationist approach.
The Conservative campaign leaned heavily on the support of their National Government partners. On 5 April, leading Liberal National MP, Ernest Brown, the Minister for Mines, spoke in support of Drummond Wolff.[2] Liberal National Leader Sir John Simon, the Foreign Secretary sent a public letter of support to the Conservative candidate which called on Liberals to vote Conservative.[3]
On the Eve of poll, the Liberal Party Leader, Sir Herbert Samuel visited the constituency and spoke at a public meeting in support of Foot.[4]
Despite a large swing against the National Government, the Conservative managed to hold onto the seat.
A Peace Ballot was launched in 1934 to ascertain public support for the League of Nations and collective security. As a result, just before the 1935 general election, the National Government agreed to the Liberal policy of working through the League of Nations. Drummond-Wolff chose not to defend his seat at the following General Election. Foot stood here again. The result at the following General election;