1906 North Galway by-election

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The 1906 North Galway by-election was held on 28 February after the MP elected in the general election in January 1906, Thomas Higgins, died before his election declaration at the 1906 general election.

North Galway was a UK Parliament constituency in Ireland, returning one Member of Parliament 1885–1922.

A parliamentary by-election occurs in the United Kingdom following a vacancy arising in the House of Commons. They are often seen as a test of the rival political parties' fortunes between general elections.

1906 United Kingdom general election

The 1906 United Kingdom general election was held from 12 January to 8 February 1906.

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1906 general election

Higgins, originally from Monivea, who was chairman of Tuam Board of Guardians and a member of Galway County Council, was selected as the Irish Parliamentary Party candidate by the United Irish League (UIL) convention on 5 January 1906 to contest the 1906 general election. He had been President of the constituency branch of the UIL since 1900.

Monivea Town in Connacht, Ireland

Monivea (Irish: Muine Mheá, meaning "Meadow of the mead" is a village in County Galway, Ireland.

Galway County Council

Galway County Council is the authority responsible for local government in County Galway, Ireland. As a county council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. The council is responsible for housing and community, roads and transportation, urban planning and development, amenity and culture, and environment. The council has 39 elected members. Elections are held every five years and are by single transferable vote. The head of the council has the title of Cathaoirleach. The county administration is headed by a Chief Executive. The county seat is at Áras an Chontae in Galway city.

United Irish League

The United Irish League (UIL) was a nationalist political party in Ireland, launched 23 January 1898 with the motto "The Land for the People". Its objective to be achieved through agrarian agitation and land reform, compelling larger grazier farmers to surrender their lands for redistribution among the small tenant farmers. Founded and initiated at Westport, County Mayo by William O'Brien, it was supported by Michael Davitt MP, John Dillon MP, who worded its constitution, Timothy Harrington MP, John O'Connor Power MP and the Catholic clergy of the district. By 1900 it had expanded to be represented by 462 branches in twenty-five counties.

Taken ill on the night of the election (25 January 1906), he died as the result of a heart attack in Guy's Hotel, Tuam, at 1.30am the following morning (26 January 1906).

Tuam Town in Connacht, Ireland

Tuam ; Irish: Tuaim[t̪ˠuəmʲ]) is a town in Ireland and the second-largest settlement in County Galway. It is situated west of the midlands of Ireland, approximately 35 km (22 mi) north of Galway city. Human existence in the area dates to the Bronze Age while the historic period dates from the 6th century. The town became increasingly important in the 11th and 12th centuries in political and religious aspects of Ireland. The market-based layout of the town and square indicates the importance of commerce.

As was widely expected, Higgins topped the poll at the election count, which was held later on the day of his death, beating the incumbent MP, John Philip Nolan, who had stood as an Independent Nationalist. Higgins, who received 2,685 votes (Nolan took 1,064), was posthumously declared elected by the county sheriff, the returning officer. [1] [2]

Lieutenant-Colonel John Philip Nolan was an Irish nationalist landowner and Member of Parliament (MP) in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and as member of the Irish Parliamentary Party represented Galway County (1872–1885) and Galway North (1885–1895), (1900–1906).

Independent Nationalist is a political title frequently used by Irish nationalists when contesting elections to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom Great Britain and Ireland not as members of the Irish Parliamentary Party, in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Higgins was elected posthumously, thereby creating an immediate vacancy.

By-election

The 25-year-old Richard Hazleton, a Blackrock District councillor [3] who had unsuccessfully contested South County Dublin in the 1906 election, [4] was selected as the Irish Party Parliamentary Party candidate. As the only candidate nominated for the resulting by-election, and was therefore elected unopposed when nominations closed on 28 February. [5]

Richard Hazleton Irish politician (1880-1943)

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.

South Dublin was a county constituency in Ireland from 1885 to 1922. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, using the first past the post voting system.

Similar by-elections

The remarkable circumstances surrounding the election led the Irish Independent to comment that "candidates have died before the actual election, but we doubt if ever such a case as the present has occurred before, where a candidate has died after the poll has been taken and before the result has been declared". [6]

This circumstance occurred again to Noel Skelton in 1935, and to Sir Edward Taswell Campbell and Leslie Pym in 1945; however, all of them were candidates for re-election. Thomas Higgins is the only MP to be newly elected posthumously.

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References

  1. ↑ "Deceased Candidate Elected", Irish Independent, 27 January 1906, p. 4.
  2. ↑ Irish Times, 27 January 1906, p. 6
  3. ↑ Mr Richard Hazleton, Irish Independent, 27 January 1943.
  4. ↑ Brian M. Walker, ed. (1978). Parliamentary election results in Ireland 1801–1922. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. p. 267. ISBN   0-901714-12-7.
  5. ↑ Walker, op. cit, page 170
  6. ↑ "Irish Election Sensation", Irish Independent, 26 January 1906.
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