Flint had indeed been chosen to stand without any expectation of victory; Frank Markham wrote to MacDonald's secretary H.B. Usher on 13 October 1931 explaining that it was important to keep the sitting Labour MP in the constituency and stop him "speaking in other places where he would do much harm"."Special note: The making of National Labour" in "Dictionary of Labour Biography" vol XIII ed. by Keith Gildart and David Howell (Palgrave Macmillan, 2010), p. 128. Had he not stood, a Conservative Party candidate would have been found to stand."Restraint of Unionists", The Times, 16 October 1931, p. 14. After the polls closed it became clear that the Ilkeston election was very close. There were four recounts overnight, and the Returning Officer decided to call a halt in the early hours to return later in the day."The Election", The Times, 28 October 1931, p. 12. At the end of the fifth recount, the Returning Officer declared Flint elected by a majority of two votes over the sitting Labour MP. This result remains the joint smallest majority in any individual constituency election since universal suffrage."British Electoral Facts" ed. by Colin Rallings and Michael Thrasher, TotalPolitics, 2009, p. 289. Flint's majority was equalled in 2017 by Stephen Gethins. It was also matched in 1997 by Mark Oaten, but his victory was subsequently declared void by an election petition.
