The first by-election opinion poll got it right, while pundits got it wrong
The Fulham West by-election 1938 was won for Labour by Edith Summerskill, taking the seat from the Conservatives by 52%-48% in the face of widespread predictions by pundits that the Tories would hold on.
Why mention this? Because the contest also saw the first by-election opinion poll in Britain, and it called the result correctly:
![Extract from Opinion Polls by Nick Moon](https://www.markpack.org.uk/files/2016/06/Extract-from-Opinion-Polls-by-Nick-Moon-790x593.jpg)
Later, in 1945, Pathe produced this short film about her political career, which was one of the most high profile in British politics at the time:
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