The first by-election opinion poll got it right, while pundits got it wrong
The Fulham West by-election 1938 was won for Labour by Edith Summerskill, taking the seat from the Conservatives by 52%-48% in the face of widespread predictions by pundits that the Tories would hold on.
Why mention this? Because the contest also saw the first by-election opinion poll in Britain, and it called the result correctly:
Later, in 1945, Pathe produced this short film about her political career, which was one of the most high profile in British politics at the time:
Leave a Reply