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 and Wales outside London, it was discovered that the council of even the most populous municipal borough had no more than 72 members. The report recommended the creation of a new local authority for the area of the existing City, to be known as the "Mayor and Council of the Old City". The electoral franchise would be the same as that for urban district councils under the Local Government Act 1894, and there would be 72 councillors. The area would be divided into 24 wards with three councillors elected for each ward. Councillors would have a three-year term of office,