NEWS OF THE WEEK
CONSIDERED from any angle, the result of the by- election at Derby is a heavy blow to the Government. Certain allowances must, no doubt, be made. The poll was light. Mr. J. H. Thomas held a- unique position in Derby. No Government candidate could hope to main- tain his majority. On the other side Mr. Noel Baker's personality made him an ideal candidate, though the experiment of running so brilliant an intellectual in so strong a trade union centre could only be justified—as it has been most notably justified—by success. But when all that is said, the electors of Derby have registered their emphatic and decisive condemnation of the Government policy. At the very moment when the Cabinet was resolving to recommend the removal of sanctions against Italy, Mr. Noel Baker, making a strong League policy and the intensification of sanctions the chief plank in his platform, converted a Government majority of 12,000 into an Opposition majority of nearly 3,000. And in a centre whose prosperity is due largely to rearmament contracts he preached a new disarmament campaign (and the nationalisation of the armaments industry) - and won the seat.
