1928 Halifax by-election

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John Henry Whitley 1915 John Henry Whitley.jpg
John Henry Whitley
Harry Barnes 1922 Harry Barnes.jpg
Harry Barnes

The 1928 Halifax by-election was a parliamentary by-election held on 13 July 1928 for the British House of Commons constituency of Halifax in the West Riding of Yorkshire. [1]

Contents

The seat had become vacant when the constituency's Member of Parliament (MP), John Henry Whitley, the Speaker of the House of Commons since 1921, had resigned his seat [2] due to ill-health.[ citation needed ] He had been elected as a Liberal Party MP at the 1900 general election, [2] and as speaker had been returned unopposed at the general elections in 1922, 1923 [ citation needed ] and 1924. [3] The last time that there had been a contested election for the seat was at the 1918 general election, when Whitley had been opposed only by a Socialist Labour Party candidate.[ citation needed ]

The result of the three-way contest was a victory for the Labour candidate, Arthur Longbottom, who won with a majority of 4,951 over the Liberal Harry Barnes, [1] who had previously been MP for Newcastle upon Tyne East. [4] Longbottom had previously been a councillor in Halifax and served as its mayor in 1923. [5]

Result

Halifax by-election, 1928 [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Arthur Longbottom 17,536 42.8 New
Liberal Harry Barnes 12,58530.8N/A
Unionist Francis Savile Crossley10,80426.4New
Majority4,95112.0N/A
Turnout 40,92578.7N/A
Labour gain from Speaker Swing N/A

Aftermath

At the following year's general election Longbottom held the seat with an increased majority of 7,063 votes. That contest also saw a new Conservative candidate, Gilbert Gledhill overtake the Liberals and move into second place. [5] In 1931, Gledhill took the seat for the Conservatives, defeating Longbottom by over 20,000 votes. [6]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "News of the Week". The Spectator. No. 5221. London. 20 July 1928. p. 3. Retrieved 14 February 2016.
  2. 1 2 "Mr Speaker, a son of Halifax". Halifax Courier. Johnston Publishing. 28 June 2009. Archived from the original on 6 January 2014. Retrieved 14 February 2016.
  3. ↑ "Foreign News: Longbottom's Seat" . Time. New York. 23 July 1928. Retrieved 14 February 2016.
  4. ↑ Debrett's House of Commons. London: Forgotten Books. 2013 [1921]. p. 137. Archived from the original on 22 February 2016. Retrieved 14 February 2016.
  5. 1 2 The Times House of Commons 1929. London: The Times Office. 1929. p. 42.
  6. ↑ The Times House of Commons 1931. London: The Times Office. 1931. p. 40.
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