ABSTRACT
Until 1966, it had for many years been a rare exception for a seat to change hands in a by-election. The Labour Governments of 1945–51 lost only one seat. The Conservatives survived over five years after their return to power without any casualties, and actually picked up a seat from Labour in May 1953 – the first time since 1924 that the government had captured a seat from the opposition at a by-election. In the whole of their thirteen years the Conservatives lost only 10 seats – 8 to Labour, 2 to the Liberals.
