1922 Inverness by-election

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1922 Inverness by-election
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg
  1918 16 March 1922 1922  

Constituency of Inverness
Registered29,263
Turnout50.1% (Increase2.svg12.8%)
  Murdoch Macdonald.jpg MacKenzie Livingstone crop.jpg
Candidate Murdoch Macdonald Alexander Livingstone
Party Liberal Independent Liberal
Alliance Coalition
Popular vote8,3408,024
Percentage51.0%49.0%

MP before election

Morison
Liberal

Subsequent MP

MacDonald
National Liberal

The 1922 Inverness by-election was a by-election held on 16 March 1922 for the British House of Commons constituency of Inverness.

Contents

Vacancy

The by-election was caused by the resignation of the sitting Coalition Liberal Member of Parliament (MP) Rt Hon. Sir Thomas Brash Morison, upon his appointment as a Senator of the College of Justice.[ citation needed ] Morison had held the seat since 1917.[ citation needed ]

Electoral history

At the last general election, the Liberal candidate, Sir Thomas Morison was elected with the endorsement of the Coalition Government.

Morison Thomas Morison.jpg
Morison
General election, 1918: Inverness [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
C Liberal Thomas Brash Morison 7,99173.2N/A
Highland Land LeagueGeorge James Bruce2,93026.8N/A
Majority 5,06146.4N/A
Turnout 10,92137.3N/A
Registered electors 29,263
Liberal win (new seat)
Cindicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

Candidates

The Inverness Liberal Association chose as their candidate to defend the seat, Sir Murdoch Macdonald. Macdonald was a supporter of the Coalition Government and received the additional support of the Inverness Unionist Association. The Scottish Liberal Federation, who were opposed to the Coalition Government, organised support for Mackenzie Livingstone, who was adopted as an Independent Liberal candidate. [2]

Result

The result was a victory for the Coalition Liberal candidate.

By-election 1922: Inverness
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
C Liberal Murdoch Macdonald 8,34051.0−22.2
Independent Liberal Alexander Livingstone 8,02449.0New
Majority 3162.0−44.4
Turnout 16,36450.1+13.8
Registered electors 32,695
Liberal hold Swing -22.2
Cindicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

Aftermath

General election, 1922: Inverness [3]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
National Liberal Murdoch Macdonald 9,796 52.7 +1.7
Liberal Alexander Livingstone 8,78547.3−1.7
Majority 1,0115.4+3.4
Turnout 18,58154.3+4.2
Registered electors 34,244
National Liberal hold Swing +1.7

Sir Murdoch Macdonald held the seat until he retired in 1950 aged 83.

References

  1. Whitaker's Almanack, 1920
  2. "News in Brief." Times [London, England] 6 Mar. 1922: 9. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 7 June 2016.
  3. The Times, 20 November 1922