The Walthamstow West by-election of 1 March 1956 was held after the elevation to the Peerage of former Prime Minister, Labour MP (MP) Clement Attlee.

The seat was safe, having been won by Attlee at the 1955 general election by over 9,000 votes^[1]

Candidates

Edward Redhead for Labour was a councillor and Alderman
The Conservatives nominated Richard Hornby, who at the time was a copywriter for JWT
The Liberal Party chose Oliver Smedley, who in 1955 had helped found the Institute of Economic Affairs
Perennial candidate Bill Boaks stood as an independent, which was one of his earliest parliamentary candidacies.

Result of the previous general election

General election 1955: Walthamstow West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Clement Attlee	19,327	65.73
	Conservative	Richard Hornby	10,077	34.27
Majority			9,250	31.46
Turnout			29,404
	Labour hold		Swing

Walthamstow West by-election, 1 March 1956^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Edward Redhead	13,388	64.68	-1.05
	Conservative	Richard Hornby	4,184	20.21	-14.06
	Liberal	Oliver Smedley	3,037	14.67	New
	Independent	Bill Boaks	89	0.43	New
Majority			9,204	44.47	+13.01
Turnout			20,698
	Labour hold		Swing

^ Election results PoliticsResources.net
^ "1956 By Election Results". Archived from the original on 10 October 2012. Retrieved 14 August 2015.

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