1907 North West Staffordshire by-election

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1907 North West Staffordshire
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg
  1906 31 July 1907 Jan. 1910  
  Albert Stanley.jpg Thomas Twyford.jpg
Candidate Stanley Twyford
Party Liberal Conservative
Popular vote7,3965,047
Percentage59.4%40.6%

MP before election

Alfred Billson
Liberal

Subsequent MP

Albert Stanley
Liberal

The North West Staffordshire by-election was a Parliamentary by-election held on 31 July 1907. [1] 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.

Contents

Vacancy

The by-election was caused by the death of Sir Alfred Billson on 9 July 1907. He had been Liberal MP for the seat of North West Staffordshire since the 1906 general election. In June 1907 he was knighted in King Edward VII's Birthday Honours List although he did not live to receive the accolade. He died suddenly in the House of Commons when he collapsed in the 'Aye' lobby while casting his vote on sugar duty legislation, aged 68. [2] [3]

Electoral history

The seat had been gained by the Liberals in 1906. At the previous four elections a Conservative had won and a Liberal had not previously won since 1885, before the party split over Irish Home Rule.

Alfred Billson Alfred Billson.jpg
Alfred Billson
General election 1906: North West Staffordshire [4]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Liberal Alfred Billson 7,667 58.0
Conservative James Heath 5,55742.0
Majority2,11016.0N/A
Turnout 13,224
Liberal gain from Conservative Swing

Candidates

Campaign

Polling Day was fixed for the 31 July 1907, just 22 days after the death of the previous MP, making for a very short campaign. Twyford, the Conservative candidate, was a supporter of tariff reform. He sought to attract votes from local miners by claiming he supported their campaign for an eight-hour working day. [9] Stanley, the Liberal candidate supported free trade and Irish Home Rule. He hoped to win the backing of the overwhelming majority of the 5,000 miners living in the constituency. Stanley's campaign was supported by a number of Liberal MPs including those sponsored by trade unions. He did not receive any help from Labour Party MPs. [10]

Result

The Liberals held the seat and managed a slightly increased majority;

Albert Stanley Albert Stanley.JPG
Albert Stanley
1907 North West Staffordshire by-election [4]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Liberal Albert Stanley 7,396 59.4 +1.4
Conservative Thomas Twyford 5,04740.6−1.4
Majority2,34918.8+2.8
Turnout 12,44379.1
Liberal hold Swing +1.4

Stanley attributed his victory to the "perfect union" of Liberal and Labour forces. Twyford blamed his defeat on his failure to attract miners' votes. [11]

Aftermath

Stanley was opposed to the miners affiliating to the Labour Party. When in 1909 the Miners Federation of Great Britain voted to affiliate, although a lifelong Liberal, [12] he agreed to seek re-election as a Labour Party candidate.

General election January 1910: North West Staffordshire [13]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Albert Stanley 8,566 59.8 +0.4
Conservative Gilbert Nugent5,75440.2−0.4
Majority2,81219.6+0.8
Turnout 14,320
Labour hold Swing +0.4

References

  1. Craig, F.W.S. (1987). Chronology of British Parliamentary By-elections 1833–1987. Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 101.
  2. "Death of Sir A. Billson". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) . 9 July 1907.
  3. 1 2 "Sudden Death of Sir Alfred Billson". Shrewsbury Chronicle. 12 July 1907. p. 7.Billson's home was in Shropshire.
  4. 1 2 Liberal Year Book, 1908
  5. "Election Intelligence." Times [London, England] 11 July 1907: 10. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 6 Apr. 2015.
  6. ‘TWYFORD, Thomas William’, Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2015; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2014; online edn, April 2014 accessed 6 April 2015
  7. ‘STANLEY, Albert’, Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2015; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2014; online edn, April 2014 accessed 6 April 2015
  8. Tamworth Herald, Staffordshire, 27 Jul 1907
  9. Election Intelligence." Times [London, England] 18 July 1907: 10. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 6 Apr. 2015.
  10. "Election Intelligence." Times [London, England] 15 July-2 Aug. 1907: 5. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 6 Apr. 2015.
  11. "Election Intelligence." Times [London, England] 2 Aug. 1907: 5. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 6 Apr. 2015.
  12. "Dawley's heritage : Dawley Heritage". www.dawleyheritage.co.uk.
  13. Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1916