1945 Neath by-election

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The 1945 Neath by-election was held on 15 May 1945 for the Neath constituency in South Wales. It was a Labour stronghold, having been held by William Jenkins since 1922. Jenkins died on 8 December 1944, and with World War II still on, the by-election was delayed until May.

Labour stood D. J. Williams, a local miner who served on Pontardawe Rural District Council and in the South Wales Miners’ Federation. He was backed by the national miners’ union. There was a wartime truce among the main parties (Labour, Conservative, Liberal, and National Liberal), so the election mainly featured independents and smaller parties.

Plaid Cymru ran Wynne Samuel, hoping to win support among southern industrial workers. The Trotskyist Revolutionary Communist Party (RCP) stood Jock Haston, the first Trotskyist candidate in a British parliamentary election. The CPGB supported Labour and campaigned against Haston, saying a vote for Haston would help defeat Labour.

In Neath, there was also a debate between Alun Thomas of the Communist Party in West Wales and Haston, which drew about 1,500 voters. The campaign saw regional tensions over Trotskyism and war policy.

VE Day occurred during the final week of the campaign, overshadowing the contest. Despite expectations that Labour would easily hold the seat, Williams won by a large margin and would keep the seat until his retirement in 1964. Samuel finished in a distant second, while Haston gathered 1,781 votes and lost his deposit. The RCP claimed the campaign as a success and kept a full-time organiser in the area.

Haston remained on good terms with Williams, and when the RCP dissolved in 1950, Williams helped him find work with the National Labour Colleges.