Neath by-election, 1945

The Neath by-election, 1945, was a parliamentary by-election held for the British House of Commons constituency of Neath in South Wales.

Neath was considered a safe seat for the Labour Party and had been held by William Jenkins since the 1922 general election. No other candidate had stood in seat at the last general election. Jenkins died on 8 December 1944, but as World War II was still underway, the process of calling a by-election was slow, and the date was ultimately set as 15 May 1945.

The Labour Party expected to easily hold the seat, and stood local miner D. J. Williams. Williams was a member of Pontardawe Rural District Council, and the Executive Council of the South Wales Miners' Federation. He had been part of a miners' delegation to the Soviet Union and was known for his opposition to Welsh nationalism. Williams was supported by Will Lawther, President of the National Union of Mineworkers, which sponsored his candidature.

There was a truce between the major parties: Labour, the Conservative Party, the Liberal Party and the National Liberal Party. The Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB), which had considerable strength in South Wales, was not a signatory to the pact, but had undertaken not to contest seats held by the major parties. As a result, the only opposition in by-elections came from independents, minor parties and occasional unofficial party candidates aligned with major parties.

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