A new factor has arisen in the Preston by-election, where it is announced that Miss Florence White is to be the candidate of the National Spinsters' Association, her programme consisting in a demand for increased pension benefits for unmarried women. Otherwise she may or may not support the Government. As a protest Miss Swarbrick, Preston secretary of the National Spinsters' Association and a Labour supporter, is resigning her post.
Polling will be on November 25. At Greenock polling will also be at the end of November. Mr. Cornelius, the National Liberal candidate, will have a straight fight with Mr. Gibson (Labour). Liberal support of Mr. Cornelius is wavering in view of the fact that he was on the Peckham by-election candidates' list as a Conservative. He is married to Miss Jessica Brown, the former Ziegfeld Follies star.
At Clay Cross Mr. G. Ridley (Lab.) was returned with a majority of more than 16,000 votes over his Conservative opponent, Miss B. Jackson. Both Conservative and Labour polls fell slightly as compared with the General Election, but the Labour majority actually increased somewhat.