The Crawling Tide The three by-election results declared last week
were as a whole uninstructive. The Government lost one seat, Central Wandsworth, and held Stalybridge and West Birmingham by reduced majorities—in the case of Stalybridge greatly reduced. But there is nothing to suggest that any such tide is running against the Government as normally sets in against an administration in its sixth year of office. At Wandsworth the Government candidate was new to the constituency, while the Labour candidate had been diligently nursing it, and his wife had won a Labour victory there in the recent London County Council elections. In West Birmingham no Conservative successor to Sir Austen Chamberlain could hope to keep intact the majority which the late member's personality and family associations secured, but Mr. I-liggs may be well satisfied with his 2,920 margin over a strong opponent when it is remembered that Sir Austen himself in 1929 only got home with 43 to spare. Labour it appears is making headway, but at a pace that if maintained would carry it into office towards the end of the century. -
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