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The 1914 Bethnal Green South West by-election was a Parliamentary by-election held on 19 February 1914. [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.
In 1914 Charles Masterman the Liberal MP for Bethnal Green South West was appointed to the Cabinet as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. However under the law at the time, any MP nominated as minister was legally required to recontest their seat in a by-election.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal | Charles Masterman | 2,745 | 50.4 | -6.6 | |
| Conservative | Eric Alfred Hoffgaard | 2,561 | 47.1 | +4.1 | |
| Socialist | John Scurr | 134 | 2.5 | +2.5 | |
| Majority | 184 | 3.3 | -10.7 | ||
| Turnout | 5,440 | 76.8 | |||
| Liberal hold | Swing | -5.3 | |||
The by-election posed a very real threat to Masterman's political future, with party controversy increased by the government's efforts at the time to introduce Home Rule into Ireland, and by the resulting possibility of civil war breaking out there. [6] The militant Women's Social and Political Union and the John Bull League campaigned locally against Masterman. [5] The John Bull League was a front organisation for Horatio Bottomley the right-wing owner of the John Bull magazine. Attempts were made to blacken Masterman's character by the Northcliffe press, and by Bottomley in his organ John Bull. The militant suffragettes opposed Masterman despite the fact that he was a supporter of women's suffrage, [6] and had voted in support of the 1908 Women's Enfranchisement Bill. [7]
At the request of the candidates, this was the first occasion which the hours of poll were extended for a Parliamentary election by opening at 7am instead of 8am. [8] The result was declared after a re-count, at first the Unionist majority was found to be 22 votes, after the re-count the majority was increased to 24 votes. [9]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unionist | Mathew Wilson | 2,828 | 47.6 | +0.5 | |
| Liberal | Charles Masterman | 2,804 | 47.1 | -3.3 | |
| Socialist | John Scurr | 316 | 5.3 | +2.8 | |
| Majority | 24 | 0.5 | N/A | ||
| Turnout | 5,948 | ||||
| Unionist gain from Liberal | Swing | +1.9 | |||
A General Election was due to take place by the end of 1915. By the summer of 1914, the following candidates had been adopted to contest that election. Due to the outbreak of war, the election never took place.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unionist | Mathew Wilson | 4,240 | 52.3 | ||
| Independent Labour | Ernest Thurtle | 1,941 | 23.9 | New | |
| Liberal | Hugh Meyler | 1,935 | 23.8 | ||
| Majority | 2,299 | 28.4 | |||
| Turnout | 8,116 | 41.6 | |||
| Unionist hold | Swing | ||||
Charles Frederick Gurney Masterman PC was a British radical Liberal Party politician, intellectual and man of letters. He worked closely with such Liberal leaders as David Lloyd George and Winston Churchill in designing social welfare projects, including the National Insurance Act 1911. During the First World War he played a central role in the main government propaganda agency.
Edward Albert Lessing OBE was a British corn trader, Liberal Party politician and an early authority on Soviet Russia.
Alfred Henry Scott was a British Liberal politician.
Sir Percy Alfred Harris, 1st Baronet, PC was a British Liberal Party politician. He was Liberal Chief Whip and Deputy Leader of the Liberal Parliamentary Party.
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