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The 1928 St Ives by-election was a by-election held on 6 March 1928 for the British House of Commons constituency of St Ives in Cornwall.
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The 1928 St Ives by-election was a by-election held on 6 March 1928 for the British House of Commons constituency of St Ives in Cornwall.
The by-election was caused by the resignation of the sitting Unionist Party Member of Parliament (MP) Anthony Hawke on his appointment to be a High Court judge.
Hawke had first won the seat at the 1922 general election. He lost it to the Liberal candidate Sir Clifford Cory at the 1923 general election when there was also a Labour candidate in the field but won it back from Cory in a straight fight in 1924.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unionist | Anthony Hawke | 11,159 | 53.0 | +12.4 | |
| Liberal | Clifford Cory | 9,912 | 47.0 | +0.5 | |
| Majority | 1,247 | 6.0 | N/A | ||
| Turnout | 21,071 | 69.1 | -2.3 | ||
| Unionist gain from Liberal | Swing | +6.0 | |||
The by-election was a three-cornered contest, though given the electoral history of the seat it was always regarded as a two-horse race between Unionist and Liberal.
The circumstances in which Hilda Runciman came to be selected as Liberal candidate were an issue in the by-election. Her husband, Walter, who was Liberal MP for Swansea West, had decided to transfer to St Ives at the next general election. When the by-election was caused by Hawke’s resignation, Hilda was adopted as Liberal candidate to keep the seat warm for her husband. [3]
Liberal party leader David Lloyd George did not approve of Hilda’s candidacy; the Liberal Council, a band of Liberal politicians which Walter led, had voted to oppose Lloyd George's Yellow Book, which set out many of his key positions. Runciman refused to have Lloyd George speak on her behalf during the campaign [3] However, Deputy Leader Sir Herbert Samuel did travel to the constituency to speak on her behalf. [4]
The use of Hilda to keep the seat warm for her husband attracted Tory derision, and became a campaign issue. [3] [5]
The result was a victory for Mrs Runciman, who overturned Hawke’s majority of 1,247 to win by a majority of 763 votes.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal | Hilda Runciman | 10,241 | 42.6 | -4.4 | |
| Unionist | Andrew Caird | 9,478 | 39.4 | -13.6 | |
| Labour | Frederick Jesse Hopkins | 4,343 | 18.0 | New | |
| Majority | 763 | 3.2 | N/A | ||
| Turnout | 24,062 | 77.4 | +8.3 | ||
| Liberal gain from Unionist | Swing | +4.6 | |||
Runciman was the third woman parliamentary candidate ever to be elected for the Liberal Party, after Margaret Wintringham and Vera Terrington. On election she joined her husband in the House of Commons, the first married couple to sit in the House together. [6] She was the first female Cornish MP and the only Cornish Liberal MP at the time (though the Liberals won all five Cornish seats in the general election the next year). [3]
Runciman duly stood down in her husband’s favour at the 1929 general election and he held the seat for the Liberal Party, again defeating Caird.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal | Walter Runciman | 12,433 | 43.2 | +0.6 | |
| Unionist | Andrew Caird | 11,411 | 39.7 | +0.3 | |
| Labour | W E Arnold-Forster | 4,920 | 17.1 | -0.9 | |
| Majority | 1,032 | 3.5 | +0.3 | ||
| Turnout | 28,764 | 76.5 | -0.9 | ||
| Liberal hold | Swing | +0.15 | |||
Runciman sought re-election at the General Election of 1929 at the Unionist held seat of Tavistock, but finished second. Hopkins also moved to contest Penryn & Falmouth and again finished third.
This was seen as one of the two ‘warming pan’ by-elections in the 1924-1929 Parliament, alongside Hugh Dalton's wife successfully contesting the 1929 Bishop Auckland by-election with her husband contesting it at the 1929 general election. [7]
Andrew Henry George is a British Liberal Democrat politician. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency of St Ives in Cornwall from 1997 to 2015, when he was defeated by the Conservatives' Derek Thomas. He was the vice-chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Housing and Planning Group in the 2010 parliament. He currently serves as a Cornwall Councillor for Ludgvan, Madron, Gulval and Heamoor, having been elected in the 2021 local elections.
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