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The Great Grimsby by-election was a Parliamentary by-election held on 12 May 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. It was one of the last by-election contests to take place before the outbreak of the Great War, and provided a good indicator of how the main parties would have performed at an anticipated general election for 1914 or 1915.
Sir George Doughty had been the MP for Great Grimsby since 1895, apart from the period from January–December 1910. Doughty was first elected as a Liberal before switching to the Liberal Unionists in 1898. He died suddenly, at the age of 60, of a heart seizure on 27 April 1914. [2]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal Unionist | George Doughty | 7,903 | 52.3 | ||
| Liberal | Thomas Wing | 7,205 | 47.7 | ||
| Majority | 698 | 4.6 | |||
| Turnout | 15,108 | 86.1 | |||
| Liberal Unionist hold | Swing | ||||
The Unionists moved the writ to get polling day fixed for 12 May, a Tuesday. This was expected to be of benefit to them as Tuesdays tended to be days when large numbers of fisherman, who would have been likely to vote for the Liberal candidate, were going to be away at sea. [11] The Liberal candidate's direct links to the local fishing industry were expected to help him pick up a few votes who had previously voted for Doughty.
The Tariff Reform League, the Unionist Association of Ireland and the Unionist Defence League all opened campaign offices in Cleethorpes in support of the Unionist candidates campaign. [12] The debate between Tariff Reform and Free trade did not play much of a part in the campaign but the issue of Irish Unionism versus Irish Nationalism did.
The Liberal government was in the process of steering through parliament the Third Irish Home Rule Bill with the support of the Irish Nationalists. The bill was opposed by the Unionist opposition and most infamously by the Irish Unionist Leader Sir Edward Carson who in 1912 had urged those who disagreed with the government to use any means to oppose the measure. This was meant as a call for Ulstermen to take up arms. Furthermore, Unionist politicians had been encouraging British Army officers to disobey orders to quell any Ulster uprising. At a Liberal campaign meeting on 2 May, three MPs spoke in support of Bannister. Tom Wing the former Grimsby Liberal MP, Francis Neilson and Irish Nationalist Richard McGhee. McGhee attacked the Unionist leader Sir Edward Carson for his treasonous position. Bannister added that "If he were King, he would chop off Sir Edward Carson's head." [13] Unionist leaders Carson and Bonar Law responded to criticisms that they had deliberately stirred up unrest in Ulster by sending letters of support to the Unionist candidate in which they blamed the resulting unrest on the Liberal government for introducing its Home Rule policies. [14] Both H. H. Asquith and Lloyd George sent letters of support to the Liberal candidate. Lloyd George reminding him of Unionist Party attempts to create civil war in Ireland and mutiny in the British Army. [15] On 9 May, leading Irish Nationalist MP T.P. O'Connor visited Grimsby in support of the Liberal campaign. He highlighted the activities of Unionist politicians who sought to encourage British army officers to mutiny. Carson, who had been widely criticised for his utterances on Ulster went to the extent of posting a letter to Grimsby electors, defending his militant position on Ireland. [16] The Unionist campaign decision to focus on Irish Home Rule might have seemed difficult to understand. However, in past Grimsby elections, the issue had seemed to be the one that had served them best.
As with previous by-elections, the Unionist campaign sought to attack the Liberal government's National Insurance Act. However, this idea backfired on them early on; with the issue subsequently dropped from their campaign. At a Unionist campaign meeting on 4 May Lord Robert Cecil attacked the National Insurance Act, arguing that employers should not be made to contribute. The following day, a deputation of local insurance agents met with Tickler to point out that without employer compulsion, the scheme would not work. Tickler's response was one of support for Cecil. [17] The deputation of insurance agents then met with Bannister who assured them of his support for the act and his opposition to any voluntary system. This resulted in Tickler changing his position to one of support for the act. [18]
There was a small swing of 1.5% to the Liberal Party, but was not quite enough to regain the seat from the Unionists.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unionist | Thomas Tickler | 8,471 | 50.8 | -1.5 | |
| Liberal | Alfred Bannister | 8,193 | 49.2 | +1.5 | |
| Majority | 278 | 1.6 | -3.0 | ||
| Turnout | 16,664 | 80.5 | -3.3 | ||
| Unionist hold | Swing | -1.5 | |||
The result would have given a great deal of confidence to Liberal Prime Minister H. H. Asquith about his party's prospects of winning the next general election. It would also have re-assured him about implementing Irish Home Rule.
The Irish Home Rule was passed in parliament later that month. However, Asquith delayed its implementation due to the outbreak of war a few months later. A general election was due to take place by the end of 1915. By the autumn 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 | 13,688 | 53.7 | +2.9 | ||
| Labour | Charles E Franklin | 9,015 | 35.4 | n/a | |
| Ind. Unionist | James William Eason | 2,791 | 10.9 | n/a | |
| Majority | 4,673 | 18.3 | +16.7 | ||
| Turnout | 25,494 | 54.0 | |||
| Unionist hold | Swing | n/a | |||
The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) is a unionist political party in Northern Ireland. The party was founded in 1905, emerging from the Irish Unionist Alliance in Ulster. Under Edward Carson, it led unionist opposition to the Irish Home Rule movement. Following the partition of Ireland, it was the governing party of Northern Ireland between 1921 and 1972. It was supported by most unionist voters throughout the conflict known as the Troubles, during which time it was often referred to as the Official Unionist Party (OUP).
Edward Henry Carson, Baron Carson, PC, PC (Ire), from 1900 to 1921 known as Sir Edward Carson, was an Irish unionist politician, barrister and judge, who served as the Attorney General and Solicitor General for England, Wales and Ireland as well as the First Lord of the Admiralty for the British Royal Navy. From 1905 Carson was both the Irish Unionist Alliance MP for the Dublin University constituency and leader of the Ulster Unionist Council in Belfast. In 1915, he entered the war cabinet of H. H. Asquith as Attorney-General. Carson was defeated in his ambition to maintain Ireland as a whole in union with Great Britain. His leadership, however, was celebrated by some for securing a continued place in the United Kingdom for the six north-eastern counties, albeit under a devolved Parliament of Northern Ireland that neither he nor his fellow unionists had sought. He is also remembered for his open ended cross examination of Oscar Wilde in a legal action that led to plaintiff Wilde being prosecuted, gaoled and ruined. Carson unsuccessfully attempted to intercede for Wilde after the case.
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Sir George Doughty was a British ship-owner and politician from Grimsby in Lincolnshire. He sat in the House of Commons for most of the period from 1895 to 1914.
Tommy Tickler was an English businessman and Conservative Party politician from Grimsby in Lincolnshire.
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