1945 Bournemouth by-election
# 1945 Bournemouth by-election

The 1945 Bournemouth by-election was held on 15 November 1945. The by-election was held due to the elevation to hereditary peerage of the incumbent Conservative MP, Sir Leonard Lyle. It was won by the Conservative candidate Brendan Bracken, who was a prominent supporter of Winston Churchill and Conservative parliamentarian who had lost his Paddington North seat to Labour in the 1945 Labour landslide. Somewhat unusually, there was a significant swing to the governing party, with Labour achieving a swing of more than 10%.

This election had the biggest swing for an incumbent governing party in a by-election until the 2021 Hartlepool by-election.

Bournemouth by-election, 1945 :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | Unionist | Brendan Bracken | 22,980 | 46.85 | -8.60 |
| | Labour | Edward Shackleton | 16,526 | 33.69 | +11.98 |
| | Liberal | Basil Wigoder | 9,548 | 19.46 | -3.39 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 6,454 | 13.16 | -19.44 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 49,054 | | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | -10.3 | |
