1940 City of London by-election 1940 City of London by-election The City of London by-election, 1940 was a by-election held on 5 February 1940 for the British House of Commons constituency of City of London, which covered the "Square Mile" which was the United Kingdom's traditional financial district. The by-election was caused by the resignation of one of the City's two Conservative Party Members of Parliament (MPs) Sir Alan Anderson, who had held the seat since a by-election in 1935. In accordance with the war-time electoral pact, neither the Labour nor the Liberal parties fielded a candidate. The Conservatives did not defend the seat either,
City of London side of the City, around Lloyd's building. A secondary financial district exists outside the City, at Canary Wharf, to the east. The City has a resident population of 9,401 (ONS estimate, mid-2016) but over 300,000 people commute to and work there. About three quarters of the jobs in the City of London are in the financial, professional, and associated business services sectors. The legal profession forms a major component of the northern and western sides of the City, especially in the Temple and Chancery Lane areas where the Inns of Court are located, of which two—Inner Temple and Middle Temple—fall