1907 Jarrow by-election

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1907 Jarrow by-election
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg
  1906 4 July 1907 Jan. 1910  
  Pete Curran.jpg Spencer Leigh Hughes crop.jpg
Candidate Curran Rose-Innes Hughes
Party Labour Conservative Liberal
Popular vote4,6983,9303,474
Percentage33.0%27.6%24.4%

 
CandidateO'Hanlon
Party Irish Parliamentary
Popular vote2,122
Percentage14.9%

MP before election

Sir Charles Palmer
Liberal

Subsequent MP

Godfrey Palmer
Liberal

The 1907 Jarrow by-election was held on 4 July 1907.

Contents

Vacancy

The by-election was held due to the death of the incumbent Liberal MP, Charles Palmer. [1]

Electoral history

At the 1906 general election Palmer had had a straight fight with Labour;

Palmer Charles Palmer.jpg
Palmer
General election 1906: Jarrow
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Liberal Charles Palmer 8,047 61.2
Labour Repr. Cmte. Pete Curran 5,09338.8
Majority2,95422.4
Turnout 13,14077.2
Liberal hold Swing

Candidates

The sitting Liberal MP, the 84-year-old Sir Charles Palmer, had announced that he did not intend to stand for Parliament at the next election and the local Liberals had already selected Spencer Leigh Hughes as his replacement. [2] Hughes’ opportunity to get into Parliament came quickly as Sir Charles died on 4 June 1907 thus causing a by-election at which Hughes was adopted as Liberal candidate. Hughes faced, Labour, Conservative and Irish Parliamentary Party opponents. [3]

Result

Curran Pete Curran.png
Curran
Jarrow by-election, 1907
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Pete Curran 4,698 33.0 −5.8
Conservative Patrick Rose-Innes3,93027.6New
Liberal Spencer Leigh Hughes 3,47424.4−36.8
Irish Parliamentary John O'Hanlon2,12214.9New
Majority7685.4N/A
Turnout 14,22482.7+5.5
Labour gain from Liberal Swing

Aftermath

For Curran, it was a short-lived triumph as he was unseated by another Liberal at the following General Election in January 1910. Rose-Innes did not stand for Parliament again. In 1909 Hughes was the unsuccessful Liberal candidate at the 1909 Bermondsey by-election. The Irish Nationalists never again ran a candidate in Jarrow.

General election January 1910: Jarrow [4]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Liberal Godfrey Mark Palmer 4,885 34.0 +9.4
Labour Pete Curran 4,81833.5+0.4
Conservative James Kirkley4,66832.5+4.9
Majority670.5N/A
Turnout 14,37178.6−4.1
Liberal gain from Labour Swing +4.5

Adrian Green; A. J. Pollard, eds. (2007). Regional Identities in North-East England, 1300-2000. Woodbridge, Suffolk: The Boydell Press. ISBN   978-1-84383-335-2.

References

  1. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs
  2. The Times, 23 May 1907 p7
  3. Craig, F. W. S. (1974). British Parliamentary Election Results, 1885–1918. London: Macmillan Press. p. 271. ISBN   0-333-16903-4.
  4. Times House of Commons, 1910; Politico's Publishing, 2004, p. 62