1923 Portsmouth South by-election

Last updated February 02, 2025

The 1923 Portsmouth South by-election was a parliamentary by-election held in England on 13 August 1923 to elect a new Member of Parliament (MP) for the House of Commons constituency of Portsmouth South in Hampshire.

Vacancy

The seat had become vacant when the constituency's Conservative MP Leslie Orme Wilson had been appointed as Governor of Bombay,^[1] and had therefore resigned from the Commons on 26 July by the procedural device of accepting appointment as Steward of the Manor of Northstead.^[2] Wilson had held the seat for less than a year, having won it at a by-election in December 1922.^[3] He had previously been the MP for Reading from 1913 to 1922.

Electoral history

The result at the last election was

1922 Portsmouth South by-election ^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Leslie Orme Wilson	14,301	62.9	−5.8
	Ind. Unionist	G. C. Thomas	4,834	37.1	New
Majority			5,867	25.8	−11.6
Turnout			22,735	57.7
	Unionist hold		Swing

Candidates

Sir Henry Lawson Sir Henry Lawson.jpg — Sir Henry Lawson

The Conservative candidate was Herbert Cayzer, who had held the seat from the 1918 general election until his resignation on 27 November 1922, only two weeks after being returned at the general election in November 1922.
The Liberal Party candidate was 64-year-old retired army general, Sir Henry Lawson, who had previously contested the seat unsuccessfully at the 1922 general election.

Campaign

Result

Portsmouth South by-election, 1923^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Herbert Cayzer	11,884	54.9	−8.0
	Liberal	Henry Merrick Lawson	9,763	45.1	New
Majority			2,121	9.8	−14.0
Turnout			21,647	54.9	−2.8
	Unionist hold		Swing

Aftermath

Cayzer was re-elected for Portsmouth South at the next five general elections, and held the seat until he was ennobled in 1939. Lawson never stood for Parliament again. The result at the following general election;

1923 general election^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Herbert Cayzer	16,625	55.9	+1.0
	Labour	J. Stephen	7,388	24.9	New
	Liberal	Sidney Robert Drury-Lowe	5,698	19.2	−25.9
Majority			9,237	31.0	+21.2
Turnout			29,711	72.7	+17.8
	Unionist hold		Swing

Related Research Articles

Croydon South was a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edinburgh Central (UK Parliament constituency)</span> Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 1885–2005

Edinburgh Central was a burgh constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1885 to 2005. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ormskirk (UK Parliament constituency)</span> Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 1885–1983

Ormskirk was a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election. It was created by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 as a division of the parliamentary county of Lancashire. The constituency boundaries were changed in 1918, 1950, 1955 and 1974.

Wednesbury was a borough constituency in England's Black Country which returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1868 until it was abolished for the February 1974 general election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mile End (UK Parliament constituency)</span> Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 1885–1950

Mile End was a parliamentary constituency centred on the Mile End district of the East End of London. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

Oldham was a parliamentary constituency centred on the town of Oldham, England. It returned two Members of Parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The constituency was created by the Reform Act 1832 and was abolished for the 1950 general election when it was split into the Oldham East and Oldham West constituencies.

The 1945 Newport by-election was a parliamentary by-election held on 17 May 1945 for the British House of Commons constituency of Newport in Monmouthshire. It was the last by-election of the 1935–1945 Parliament.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Herbert Cayzer, 1st Baron Rotherwick</span> British politician

Herbert Robin Cayzer, 1st Baron Rotherwick DL, known as Sir Herbert Cayzer, 1st Baronet, from 1924 to 1939, was a British shipping magnate and Conservative Party politician.

Sir Park Goff, 1st Baronet, KC was a barrister and Conservative Party politician in England.

Sir Thomas Arthur Bramsdon was a British solicitor from Portsmouth and a Liberal Party politician who was elected for four non-consecutive terms as a Member of Parliament (MP) for Portsmouth constituencies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henry Merrick Lawson</span> British Army general (1859–1933)

Lieutenant-General Sir Henry Merrick Lawson, was a British Army general during the First World War.

The 1929 Midlothian and Peebles Northern by-election was a parliamentary by-election held in Scotland on 29 January 1929 to elect a new Member of Parliament (MP) for the UK House of Commons constituency of Midlothian and Peebles Northern.

James Daniel Kiley was a British businessman and Liberal Party politician who served in the House of Commons from 1916 to 1922 as a Member of Parliament (MP) for constituencies in the Whitechapel area of the East End of London.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Houfton</span> British colliery owner and politician

Sir John Plowright Houfton was a British colliery owner and politician from Mansfield in Nottinghamshire. He sat in the House of Commons from 1922 to 1923.

The 1925 Ripon by-election was a parliamentary by-election held on 5 December 1925 for the British House of Commons constituency of Ripon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1913 Wandsworth by-election</span>

The 1913 Wandsworth by-election was a Parliamentary by-election held on 12 June 1913. 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.

This was a parliamentary by-election for the British House of Commons constituency of Stourbridge. Stourbridge was one of the Worcestershire constituencies, bordering Bewdley, where the Conservative Prime Minister, Stanley Baldwin sat.

The 1922 Liverpool Exchange by-election was a by-election held in England for the British House of Commons constituency of Liverpool Exchange on 13 March 1922.

The Shipley by-election was a parliamentary by-election for the British House of Commons constituency of Shipley on 6 November 1930.

The 1926 North Cumberland by-election was held on 17 September 1926. The by-election was held due to the succession to the peerage of the incumbent Conservative MP, Donald Howard. It was won by the Conservative candidate Fergus Graham.

References

↑ "No. 32855". The London Gazette . 21 August 1923. p. 5704.
↑ "No. 32854". The London Gazette . 17 August 1923. p. 5619.
↑ Craig, F. W. S. (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918–1949 (3rd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 219. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.
1 2 3 F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949; Political Reference Publications, Glasgow 1949

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[1] "No. 32855". The London Gazette . 21 August 1923. p. 5704.

[gazette-eln-result-2] "No. 32854". The London Gazette . 17 August 1923. p. 5619.

[craig1918-1949-portsm-s-3] Craig, F. W. S. (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918–1949 (3rd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 219. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.

[ReferenceA-4] 1 2 3 F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949; Political Reference Publications, Glasgow 1949

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

v t e « 31st Parliament « By-elections to the 32nd Parliament of the United Kingdom » 33rd Parliament »
1922	December: Portsmouth South
1923	January: Newcastle-upon-Tyne East February: Whitechapel and St George's Darlington March: Mitcham Willesden East Liverpool Edge Hill April: Anglesey Ludlow May: Berwick-upon-Tweed June: Morpeth Tiverton July: Leeds Central August: Portsmouth South October: Rutland and Stamford Yeovil
Lists of UK by-elections 1801–1806 1806–1818 1818–1832 1832–1847 1847–1857 1857–1868 1868–1885 1885–1900 1900–1918 1918–1931 1931–1950 1950–1979 1979–2010 2010–present Northern Ireland Hereditary peers