The 1904 Dublin St Stephen's Green by-election was held on 21 March 1904 following the death of the incumbent Irish Parliamentary Party MP, James Cann on 14 February.
The Unionist candidate was Charles Louis Matheson, a lawyer. He was selected by the City of Dublin Unionist Registration Association when the prospective candidate, Norris Goddard, withdrew as he was ineligible to stand. A potential opponent, M. J. F. McCarthy, withdrew from the contest for the nomination. [1]
Matheson would go on to become a serjeant-at-law in 1911 and Recorder of Belfast in 1913.
The Irish Parliamentary Party candidate was Laurence Ambrose Waldron, a stockbroker. [2] [3]
'[This] by-election ... revealed how deep the divisions in unionist ranks ran, but it was also a harbinger of the future. Senior figures within the Unionist Party were not inclined to contest the seat, especially as the new nationalist-backed ‘independent’ candidate, Laurence Waldron, was a stockbroker and former unionist who would be a moderating influence in the House of Commons. Several leading business figures, including Sir William Goulding, chairman of the Great Southern and Western Railway, and Lord Iveagh, head of the Guinness dynasty, resigned from the Unionist Representative Association in protest at a grass-roots revolt that led to the association supporting the candidacy of Norris Godard, a Crown solicitor. It was a foolish nomination, as Godard could stand only by relinquishing his lucrative government post, which he declined to do. The former Unionist MP for the constituency, James Campbell KC, was available to stand and had the added advantage of being wealthy enough to finance his own campaign, but the Unionist Representative Association would not have him. There followed an unseemly row about the rival candidacies of another lawyer, C. L. Matheson, and Michael McCarthy, a colourful renegade nationalist from Cork who was popular with militant unionists because of his books denouncing the evils of Catholicism. Matheson secured the nomination but, as expected, was defeated by Waldron.' [4]
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Irish Parliamentary | Laurence Ambrose Waldron | 3,457 | 55.1 | ![]() | |
Irish Unionist | Charles Louis Matheson | 2,821 | 44.9 | ![]() | |
Majority | 636 | 10.2 | ![]() | ||
Turnout | 6,278 | 78.3 | ![]() | ||
Registered electors | 8,018 | ||||
Irish Parliamentary hold | Swing | ![]() | |||
The 1918 Irish general election was the part of the 1918 United Kingdom general election which took place in Ireland. It is a key moment in modern Irish history because it saw the overwhelming defeat of the moderate nationalist Irish Parliamentary Party (IPP), which had dominated the Irish political landscape since the 1880s, and a landslide victory for the radical Sinn Féin party. Sinn Féin had never previously stood in a general election, but had won six seats in by-elections in 1917–18. The party had vowed in its manifesto to establish an independent Irish Republic. In Ulster, however, the Unionist Party was the most successful party.
The Irish Parliamentary Party was formed in 1874 by Isaac Butt, the leader of the Nationalist Party, replacing the Home Rule League, as official parliamentary party for Irish nationalist Members of Parliament (MPs) elected to the House of Commons at Westminster within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland up until 1918. Its central objectives were legislative independence for Ireland and land reform. Its constitutional movement was instrumental in laying the groundwork for Irish self-government through three Irish Home Rule bills.
Two elections in Ireland took place in 1921, as a result of the Government of Ireland Act 1920 to establish the House of Commons of Northern Ireland and the House of Commons of Southern Ireland. The election was used by Irish Republicans as the basis of membership of the Second Dáil.
St Stephen's Green, a division of Dublin, was a borough constituency in Ireland. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the United Kingdom House of Commons from 1885 until 1922 on the first past the post electoral system.
The Russellite group were the followers of Thomas Wallace Russell, an Irish political leader of the early twentieth century.
Richard Hazleton was an Irish nationalist politician of the Irish Parliamentary Party. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for North Galway from 1906 to 1918, taking his seat in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
The 1912 Hanley by-election was a by-election held for the British House of Commons constituency of Hanley on 13 July 1912.
Patrick George Hamilton Carvill was an Irish Liberal and nationalist politician. He was a Member of Parliament (MP) for Newry from 1892 to 1906, taking his seat as an Irish Parliamentary Party member of the House of Commons of what was then the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
The Glasgow Tradeston by-election was a Parliamentary by-election held on 6 July 1911. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post voting system.
The South Lanarkshire by-election was a Parliamentary by-election held on 12 December 1913. The constituency returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post voting system.
The 1897 Liverpool Exchange by-election was a by-election held in England on 10 November 1897 for the House of Commons constituency of Liverpool Exchange.
The Londonderry City by-election was a Parliamentary by-election held on 2 December 1914. The constituency returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post voting system.
The Orkney and Shetland by-election was a Parliamentary by-election held on 18–19 November 1902. The constituency returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post voting system.
The 1926 North Cumberland by-election was held on 17 September 1926. The by-election was held due to the succession to the peerage of the incumbent Conservative MP, Donald Howard. It was won by the Conservative candidate Fergus Graham.
The North Tyrone by-election was a Parliamentary by-election. North Tyrone returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post voting system. The election was held on 6 October 1911.
James McCann was an Irish businessman and politician.
The Gateshead by-election was a Parliamentary by-election held on 20 January 1904. The constituency returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post voting system.
Laurence Waldron was an Irish Independent Liberal, Liberal and Whig politician. He sat in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom from 1857 to 1865 as one of the two Members of Parliament (MPs) for Tipperary.