Political

The day Winston Churchill got left off the electoral register

Those responsible for getting the introduction of individual electoral registration right face some significant administrative challenges. But it’s all quite easy compared with the need to get an electoral register of some sort ready for the 1945 general election. As Winston Churchill was to find out.

The Times Guide to the House of Commons 1945 recounts:

There had been no Parliamentary register of electors compiled by the normal method since 1929 and this election was fought on a war-time emergency register compiled from national identity cards …

There were many accidental omissions of names from the the register – Mr Churchill’s amongst them.

One response to “The day Winston Churchill got left off the electoral register”

  1. Given that everyone had to have an Id card + ration card then (except perhaps the King and Mr. C), it was probably more complete than our present register!

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