 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The 1908 Dundee by-election was a Parliamentary by-election held on 9 May 1908 for the constituency of Dundee. [1] The constituency returned two Members of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post voting system.
The by-election was triggered by the incumbent Liberal MP, Edmund Robertson, vacating the seat upon being elevated to the peerage as 1st Baron Lochee.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal | Edmund Robertson | 9,276 | 31.7 | +1.5 | |
| Labour Repr. Cmte. | Alexander Wilkie | 6,833 | 23.3 | New | |
| Liberal | Henry Robson | 6,122 | 20.9 | −6.4 | |
| Liberal Unionist | Ernest Shackleton | 3,865 | 13.2 | −6.8 | |
| Conservative | A. Duncan Smith | 3,183 | 10.9 | −9.2 | |
| Majority | 5,411 | 18.5 | +8.9 | ||
| Majority | 711 | 2.4 | N/A | ||
| Turnout | 29,279 | 81.9 | +12.4 | ||
| Liberal hold | Swing | ||||
| Labour gain from Liberal | Swing | ||||
Thirty-four-year-old Winston Churchill was selected by the local Liberal Association to be their candidate. Churchill had been elected Liberal MP for Manchester North West at the 1906 general election but had lost his seat at the 1908 Manchester North West by-election on 24 April. Churchill had been appointed to the Cabinet by H. H. Asquith as President of the Board of Trade. Under the law at the time, a newly appointed Cabinet Minister was obliged to seek re-election at a by-election; hence, he sought an opportunity to return to parliament.
Sir George Baxter, a 55-year-old local man, was chosen by the Unionists in Dundee. He was a linen and jute manufacturer, and had been Chairman of Dundee and District Liberal Unionist Association ever since its creation in 1886. He had contested Montrose Burghs in 1895. Baxter was the son of the former Liberal MP for Montrose Burghs, William Edward Baxter, and a great-nephew of the philanthropists Sir David Baxter and Mary Ann Baxter. [2]
The local Labour Party selected 38-year-old G. H. Stuart as their candidate. He was born in Oldham, and became a postman and an activist in the Postmen's Federation. [3] He also became active in the Labour Party, and stood unsuccessfully in York at the 1906 general election, [4] His candidature was endorsed by the Scottish section of the party, but the National Executive refused to back him, as the party already held the other Dundee seat, and was concerned that it would over-reach itself.
Forty-two-year-old Edwin Scrymgeour stood as a Scottish Prohibition Party candidate. He was a native of Dundee and a pioneer of the Scottish temperance movement, and established his party in 1901 to further this aim. He had previously been a member of the Independent Labour Party. He was elected to Dundee Town Council in 1905. He had not previously stood for parliament.
The issue of free trade v protectionism featured prominently in the campaign. This was because the jute industry was significant in Dundee, and it relied on importing raw jute, mainly from India. The Unionist, Sir George Baxter, stood on a protectionist platform, focusing his protectionist demands on Germany rather than India. However, James Caird, a prominent local jute proprietor, actively supported the free-trader Churchill by funding his pro-free trade propaganda.
On 14 May (after the poll), Churchill gave a significant speech at Kinnaird Hall [see external links, below].
Despite Stuart not being officially endorsed by the Labour Party, the party leader, Keir Hardie, sent him a letter of support in which condemned Churchill for "shameless prevarication" over the Right to Work Bill. He also spoke on Stuart's platform, and the Dundee Courier enthusiastically reported his criticisms of the Liberal Party candidate, Winston Churchill. [5] Stuart was criticised for speaking too little about socialism and for not holding membership of the Independent Labour Party.
Scrymgeour described himself as a "Prohibition and Labour" candidate. As a strict Wesleyan, he urged electors to "vote how you pray".
The Women's Social and Political Union was active in the campaign, with Mary Gawthorpe, Emmeline Pankhurst and Christabel Pankhurst holding meetings in the town. However, they were upstaged by the non-violent Women's Freedom League member Mary Maloney who came up from London for the campaign. Whenever Churchill spoke, Maloney produced a swinging dinner bell which drowned out what he was saying. The ding-dong exchanges were taken in fun initially, but some meetings had to be cancelled because of the uproar. [6]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal | Winston Churchill | 7,079 | 43.9 | −8.7 | |
| Liberal Unionist | George Washington Baxter | 4,370 | 27.1 | −3.0 | |
| Labour | G. H. Stuart-Bunning | 4,014 | 24.9 | +1.6 | |
| Scottish Prohibition | Edwin Scrymgeour | 655 | 4.1 | New | |
| Majority | 2,709 | 16.8 | −1.7 | ||
| Turnout | 16,138 | 84.6 | +2.7 | ||
| Liberal hold | Swing | -2.9 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal | Winston Churchill | 10,747 | 34.1 | −18.5 | |
| Labour | Alexander Wilkie | 10,365 | 32.9 | +1.6 | |
| Conservative | John Hall Seymour Lloyd | 4,552 | 14.4 | +3.5 | |
| Liberal Unionist | James Glass | 4,339 | 13.8 | +0.6 | |
| Scottish Prohibition | Edwin Scrymgeour | 1,512 | 4.8 | N/A | |
| Turnout | 31,515 | 86.1 | +4.2 | ||
| Majority | 6,195 | 19.7 | +1.2 | ||
| Liberal hold | Swing | ||||
| Majority | 5,813 | 18.5 | +16.1 | ||
| Labour hold | Swing | ||||
Churchill continued to represent Dundee until 1922. Baxter re-appeared as candidate here at the December 1910 general election, his last electoral contest. Stuart made one further unsuccessful attempt to enter parliament, otherwise he concentrated on his Trade Union career. Scrymgeour continued to contest elections in Dundee and was eventually elected to the seat in 1922.
Churchill's Kinnaird Hall speech is in: Churchill, Winston S.; Churchill, Winston (2007). Liberalism and the Social Problem: A Collection of Early Speeches as a Member of Parliament. Arc Manor. ISBN 9780978653644.
Edwin Scrymgeour was a British politician who served as a Member of Parliament (MP) for Dundee in Scotland. He is the only person ever elected to the House of Commons on a prohibitionist ticket, as the candidate of the Scottish Prohibition Party. He was affectionately known as Neddy Scrymgeour.
George Nicoll Barnes CH was a British Labour Party politician and a Leader of the Labour Party (1910–1911).
The Scottish Prohibition Party was a minor Scottish political party which advocated alcohol prohibition.
Dundee was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1832 to 1950, when it was split into Dundee East and Dundee West.
William Edward Baxter was a Scottish businessman, Liberal politician and travel writer.
The 1924 Westminster Abbey by-election was a parliamentary by-election held on 19 March 1924 for the British House of Commons constituency of Westminster Abbey in London. It was notable for the challenge of Winston Churchill to the party system.
John Leng Sturrock was a Scottish newspaper publisher and Liberal politician.
Alexander Wilkie CH was a Labour Party politician in Scotland, best known for his service as a Member of Parliament for Dundee. Along with the Dundonian George Nicoll Barnes, Wilkie was one of the first-ever Labour MPs elected in Scotland.
The 1902 Bury by-election was a by-election held in England on 10 May 1902 for the House of Commons constituency of Bury in Lancashire.
James Mawdsley was an English trade unionist. Alongside Winston Churchill, he stood as a Conservative Party candidate in the double Oldham by-election of 1899. He was born in Preston, Lancashire, to cotton spinner James Mawdsley and his wife, Jane.
Harold Roberts was a British solicitor and Unionist (Conservative) politician. After a long career in local government in Birmingham, he represented the city in the House of Commons for the last five years of his life.
A 1894 by-election was held for the British House of Commons constituency of Sheffield Attercliffe on 5 July 1894. It was the first parliamentary election contested by the Independent Labour Party.
George Harold Stuart-Bunning (1870–1951), born George Harold Stuart, was a British trade unionist.
The 1914 North West Durham by-election was a Parliamentary by-election held on 30 January 1914. It 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 1913 Leicester by-election was a Parliamentary by-election held on 27 June 1913. The constituency returned two Members of Parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post voting system.
The 1917 Dundee by-election was a parliamentary by-election for the British House of Commons constituency of Dundee in the county of Angus held on 30 July 1917.
The 1908 Manchester North West by-election was a Parliamentary by-election held on 24 April 1908 for the constituency of Manchester North West. 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 1923 Whitechapel and St Georges by-election was a parliamentary by-election for the British House of Commons constituency of Whitechapel and St Georges on 8 February 1923.
Winston Churchill lost his seat of Dundee in the 1922 general election as a National Liberal follower of David Lloyd George. The election was the only time a challenger standing as a prohibitionist was elected as an MP in the UK.
