The wartime political truce and hopes for post war coalition: The west derbyshire by-election, 1944

After lunch the results of the West Derbyshire by-election came through: Lord Hartington lost to Mr White, the Independent, by 4, 500 votes. This caused a pall of the blackest gloom to fall on the P.M. who is personally afflicted by this emphatic blow to the Government… Sitting in a chair in his study at the annexe, the P.M. looked old, tired and very depressed and was even muttering about a general election. Now, he said, with great events pending, was the time when national unity was essential: the question of annihilating great states had to be faced: it began to look as if democracy had not the persistence necessary to go through with it, however well it might have shown its capacity for defence.