1913 Keighley by-election

1913 Keighley by-election

11 November 1913 (1913-11-11)
Keighley constituency
Turnout	86.5%
First party Second party Third party   Candidate Stanley Buckmaster The Viscount Lascelles William Bland Party Liberal Unionist Labour Popular vote 4,730 3,852 3,646 Percentage 38.7% 31.5% 29.8% Swing 0.3 pp 0.6 pp 0.9 pp
MP before election Stanley Buckmaster Liberal Elected MP Stanley Buckmaster Liberal

The 1913 Keighley by-election was a Parliamentary by-election held on 11 November 1913. ^[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.

The incumbent, Sir Stanley Buckmaster of the Liberal Party, had been elected for the constituency in the 1911 Keighley by-election. He was required to fight another by-election on his appointment as Solicitor General for England and Wales. Henry Lascelles, Viscount Lascelles, the 30-year old heir to the Earl of Harewood, whose peerage he succeeded to in 1929, and future husband of Mary, Princess Royal, was the candidate for the Conservative Party. William Bland, a local trade unionist member of local Independent Labour Party was endorsed by the national Labour Party to fight in the by-election.

The Liberal Party held the seat as Buckmaster was re-elected.

Result

Keighley by-election, 1913

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Stanley Buckmaster	4,730	38.7	−0.3
	Unionist	Henry Lascelles, Viscount Lascelles	3,852	31.5	−0.6
	Labour	William Bland	3,646	29.8	+0.9
Majority			878	7.2	+0.1
Turnout			12,228	86.5
Registered electors			14,142
	Liberal hold		Swing	+0.2

Previous result

1911 Keighley by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Stanley Buckmaster	4,667	39.0
	Conservative	William Mitchell Acworth	3,842	32.1
	Labour	William Crawford Anderson	3,452	28.9
Majority			825	7.1
Turnout			11,961
	Liberal hold		Swing

Aftermath

A General Election was due to take place by the end of 1915. The Yorkshire branch of the Independent Labour Party were keen to run a candidate. Due to the outbreak of war, the election never took place.

General Election 1914/15

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
Registered electors			14,400

Another by-election occurred in Keighley in 1915 when Buckmaster accepted a seat in the House of Lords.

References

1. Craig, F.W.S. (1987). Chronology of British Parliamentary By-elections 1833–1987. Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 108.

• Craig, F. W. S. (1974). British parliamentary election results 1885-1918 (1 ed.). London: Macmillan.
• Who's Who: www.ukwhoswho.com
• Debrett's House of Commons 1916