South Bradford's Verdict
There is not a great deal of solid encouragement for any party in the result of the South Bradford by-election, though Labour may be satisfied to have held the seat by such a safe majority and to have thus preserved its unprecedented by-election record. That the intrusive and unofficial Liberal candidate should have polled as many as 2,882 votes is surprising and perhaps significant, but the number is small compared with his opponents' poll, and he very easily lost his deposit. Of a rather smaller total vote than at the General Election the Labour candidate got 1059 fewer than in 1945 and the Conservative 3921 more than the National Liberal who was Labour'i opponent four years ago. Labour may well claim that its majority of 4,000 is good enough, the Conservatives that such ad increase in their poll would in many constituencies give them the seat. It is likely that sympathy for the Labour candidate in the sudden and distressing bereavement he suffered on the morning of the election turned some floating votes in his favour, but certainly not enough to affect the issue. If anyone looked to South Bradford for guidance on General Election pros- pects he must remain little more enlightened than before.
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