1917 Rotherham by-election

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Jack Pease 1910 Jack Pease.jpg
Jack Pease

The Rotherham by-election, 1917 was a parliamentary by-election held for the House of Commons constituency of Rotherham in the West Riding of Yorkshire on 5 February 1917.

By-elections, also spelled bye-elections, are used to fill elected offices that have become vacant between general elections.

Rotherham (UK Parliament constituency) Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom

Rotherham is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2012 by Sarah Champion, a member of the Labour Party.

West Riding of Yorkshire one of the historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England

The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of the three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county, County of York, West Riding, was based closely on the historic boundaries. The lieutenancy at that time included the City of York and as such was named West Riding of the County of York and the County of the City of York.

Contents

Vacancy

The by-election was caused by the elevation to the peerage of the sitting Liberal MP, Joseph ‘Jack’ Pease. [1]

The Peerage of the United Kingdom comprises most peerages created in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland after the Acts of Union in 1801, when it replaced the Peerage of Great Britain. New peers continued to be created in the Peerage of Ireland until 1898.

Liberal Party (UK) political party of the United Kingdom, 1859–1988

The Liberal Party was one of the two major parties in the United Kingdom with the opposing Conservative Party in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The party arose from an alliance of Whigs and free trade Peelites and Radicals favourable to the ideals of the American and French Revolutions in the 1850s. By the end of the 19th century, it had formed four governments under William Gladstone. Despite being divided over the issue of Irish Home Rule, the party returned to government in 1905 and then won a landslide victory in the following year's general election.

Jack Pease, 1st Baron Gainford British politician

Joseph Albert Pease, 1st Baron Gainford, PC, DL, JP, known as Jack Pease, was a British businessman and Liberal politician. He was a member of H. H. Asquith's Liberal cabinet between 1910 and 1916 and also served as Chairman of the BBC between 1922 and 1926.

Candidates

Arthur Richardson, circa 1905 1900s Arthur Richardson MP.jpg
Arthur Richardson, circa 1905

The Rotherham Liberals adopted Arthur Richardson as their new candidate. Richardson had been Lib-Lab MP for Nottingham South from 1906 until January 1910. [2] Richardson immediately declared his position as being in favour of the successful prosecution of the war and the defeat of German militarism. [3]

Arthur Richardson (politician) British politician

Arthur Richardson was a British merchant and Liberal-Labour politician from Nottingham. He sat in the House of Commons between 1906 and 1918.

The Liberal–Labour movement refers to the practice of local Liberal associations accepting and supporting candidates who were financially maintained by trade unions. These candidates stood for the British Parliament with the aim of representing the working classes, while remaining supportive of the Liberal Party in general.

Nottingham South (UK Parliament constituency) Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 1983 onwards

Nottingham South is a constituency.

No nominations were received from the other parties, who were apparently content to honour the wartime electoral truce and Richardson was therefore returned unopposed. [4]

The result

Rotherham by-election, 1917
PartyCandidateVotes%±
Liberal Arthur Richardson UnopposedN/AN/A
Liberal hold Swing N/A

See also

UK by-election records is an annotated list of notable records from UK Parliamentary by-elections. A by-election occurs when a Member of Parliament resigns, dies, or is disqualified or expelled, and an election is held to fill the vacant seat. A constituency is the seat or division that member represented.

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1916 Rotherham by-election

The Rotherham by-election was a Parliamentary by-election. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post voting system.

References

  1. The Times, 22 December 1916 p8
  2. The Times, 1 January 1917 p5
  3. The Times, 1 January 1917 p5
  4. F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results, 1885-1918; Macmillan Press, 1974 p445