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,
Royal Commission on the Amalgamation of the City and County of London of the LCC, Lord Rosebery, was strongly in favour of the unification of the city and county. Campaigning for the second county council elections in 1892, he set out the position of the Progressives: "The present arrangement by which a comparatively small district in the centre of London is detached from London and held aloof cannot be maintained. The object of parliament and of reformers must be that the city should be united with London as soon as possible and with as little friction as possible. Of all London reforms I lay infinitely the most stress on this, because each