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29 May 2014updated 28 Jun 2021 4:45am

The Returning Officer: Petersfield II

By Stephen Brasher

In 1924, the Labour candidate was G G Desmond, a journalist and nature writer. His books included The Roll of the Seasons and The Stoat Pack. He was later a candidate for Bath in the 1929 by-election and the general elections of 1929, 1931 and 1935. He had been a prisoner of war for 18 months and at an election meeting in 1928, he revealed that his wife had made him a member of the Labour Party while he was still captive in Germany.

In 1929, the Labour candidate was Gertrude Speedwell Massingham. She also stood at Maidstone in 1931 and had married H J Massingham, whose father, H W Massingham, was the editor of the Nation, which merged with the NS in 1931.

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