1932 North Cornwall by-election
The 1932 North Cornwall by-election was a parliamentary by-election held on 22 July 1932 for the British House of Commons constituency of North Cornwall. Vacancy. The seat had become vacant when the constituency's Liberal Member of Parliament (MP), the Rt Hon. Sir Donald Maclean died on 15 June 1932. He had been MP here since 1929. Maclean joined the National Government, a coalition. He served as President of the Board of Education from 1931 to 1932, when he died from cardiovascular disease at the age of sixty-eight. Electoral history. The seat  was a traditional Liberal/Conservative marginal. At the last election, despite Maclean being a senior member of the National Government he was opposed by a Conservative; Campaign. Polling day was fixed for 22 July 1932, 37 days after the death of Maclean. The main issue that divided the Conservatives and Liberals in the National Government was that of Free Trade versus Protection. Both parties were keen to take their dispute to the by-election hustings. Conservative leader, Stanley Baldwin, spent much time in the constituency speaking in support of the Conservative candidate and many other Conservative MPs toured the constituency . The Conservative's sought to argue that the Liberals, who were a minor partner in Government, were being disloyal to it by arguing for free trade. Acland himself suggested in his victory speech that by demanding his "unreserved and unqualified support for the government", the Conservatives had made a "strategic mistake", given that Cornish constituencies were notoriously independently-minded at the time. Result. The Liberals held the seat and increased their share of the vote.