SPEECHES, hustings, campaigning . . . yes, the General Election of 1955 was just getting into its stride in the Malvern Gazette 50 years ago this week.

The campaign, in what was then the South Worcestershire constituency, was a straight fight between Commander Peter Garnett Agnew, RN retired (Conservative), and Eric Thorne (Labour).

The previous incumbent of the seat, Sir Rupert De la Bere, was retiring, having been the MP for the last 20 years.

Cmdr Agnew, aged 55, had previously been MP for Camborne from 1931 to 1950. Mr Thorne, aged 27, was an engineer from Rubery, Birmingham.

The election had been precipitated by the resignation, on April 4, of Conservative Prime Minister Winston Churchill, allowing Sir Anthony Eden to take control and immediately call an election.

In the same week, the Minister of Defence, Selwyn Lloyd, visited Malvern to give out prizes at the Ministry of Supply School of Electronics.

"There is a serious shortage of technologists who know why things work and technicians who know how things work," he said.

In connection with Sir Winston Churchill, Gazette editor Joyce King recalled in her column that Malvern had a "near miss" at the start of the Second World War, when it was almost chosen as the seat of government, which would have brought the great leader to the hills.

"But I cannot help thinking that Sir Winston would have been the last person to be happy away from the hazards of war-blitzed London," she wrote.