1888 Dewsbury by-election

1888 Dewsbury by-election

←  1888 14 November 1888 1892  →

Candidate Oldroyd Arnold-Forster Party Liberal Liberal Unionist Popular vote 6,071 3,969 Percentage 60.5% 39.5%

MP before election Sir John Simon Liberal Subsequent MP Mark Oldroyd Liberal

The 1888 Dewsbury by-election was a by-election held in England on 14 November 1888 for the House of Commons constituency of Dewsbury in the West Riding of Yorkshire.

Vacancy

The by-election was caused by the resignation of the sitting Liberal Member of Parliament (MP), Sir John Simon. On 8 November 1888 it was announced that he had taken the office of Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds, thus resigning from the Commons. ^[1] On the following day the writ for the by-election was moved in the House of Commons by Arnold Morley, Liberal MP for Nottingham East. ^[2] The writ was received by the mayor of Dewsbury, returning officer for the election, on the 10 November. He fixed the deadline for nominations for Wednesday 14 November and polling day for Friday 16 November. ^{[3] [4]}

Seat

The Parliamentary Borough of Dewsbury formed part of the West Riding of Yorkshire. As well as Dewsbury itself, the constituency contained four other townships, with a total electorate of nearly 12,000 as follows: ^[5]

• Dewsbury - 4,840
• Batley - 4,340
• Soothill - 989
• Mirfield - 817
• Thornhill - 791
• TOTAL - 11,797

Candidates

The by-election came only two years after the split in the Liberal Party, with those opposed to Irish Home Rule forming the Liberal Unionist Party.

Although it was originally reported that there were 'four candidates in the field' ^[4] only two were nominated.

First to be nominated was the Liberal candidate, Mark Oldroyd. Oldroyd was the outgoing Mayor of Dewsbury and launched his campaign at a Primitive Methodist schoolroom in Westborough speaking in favour of Home Rule. ^[6]

The second candidate in the field was H. O. Arnold-Forster, for the Liberal Unionists. This was his third attempt to win a seat in the Commons. ^[7]

Result

Oldroyd held the seat for the Liberals with a reduced majority. ^{[8] [9]}

1888 Dewsbury by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Mark Oldroyd	6,071	60.5	−4.5
	Liberal Unionist	H. O. Arnold-Forster	3,969	39.5	+4.5
Majority			2,102	21.0	−9.0
Turnout			10,040	85.3	+16.4
Registered electors			11,767
	Liberal hold		Swing	−4.5

References

1. "Sir John Simon". Batley News and Advertiser. 10 November 1888. p. 10.
2. "Summary of the Latest Home News". Reynold's Newspaper . 11 November 1888. p. 8.
3. "Election Intelligence, Dewsbury". Huddersfield Daily Chronicle. 12 November 1888. p. 3.
4. "Dewsbury Election. Date of Polling". Liverpool Echo . 12 November 1888. p. 4.
5. "The Dewsbury Election". Dewsbury Chronicle. 10 November 1888. p. 5.
6. "The Dewsbury Election, Mr Oldroyd's Candidature". Leeds Mercury . 10 November 1888. p. 7.
7. "Mr Arnold-Forster's Candidature". Yorkshire Post . 12 November 1888. p. 5.
8. Christopher J. James. M.P. for Dewsbury. p. 291.
9. FWS Craig, ed. (1974). British Parliamentary Election Results: 1885–1918. London: Macmillan Press. ISBN   9781349022984.