Belfast South by-election, 1902

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The 1902 Belfast South by-election was held on 18 August 1902 after the death of the Irish Unionist Party MP William Johnston. It was won by the Independent Unionist candidate Thomas Henry Sloan.

Belfast South (UK Parliament constituency) Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom

Belfast South is a parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom House of Commons. It has been represented since 2017 by Emma Little-Pengelly of the Democratic Unionist Party.

Independent Unionist has been a label sometimes used by candidates in elections in the United Kingdom, indicating a support for British unionism.

Contents

Candidates

The Conservatives considered several candidates, who declined to stand. These included Colonel Robert Wallace, just returned from the Second Boer War in South Africa, who declined for business reasons; and Sir James Henderson, a previous Lord Mayor of Belfast. [1] The shipbuilder and businessman William Pirrie (who had also been a Lord Mayor of Belfast) was also informally approached. [2] They eventually picked Charles Buller, a former High Sheriff of Down and son-in-law of a previous MP for Belfast, George Dunbar. [3]

Conservative Party (UK) Political party in the United Kingdom

The Conservative Party, officially the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom. Presently led by Theresa May, it has been the governing party since 2010. It presently has 314 Members of Parliament in the House of Commons, 249 members of the House of Lords, and 18 members of the European Parliament. It also has 31 Members of the Scottish Parliament, 12 members of the Welsh Assembly, eight members of the London Assembly and 9,008 local councillors. One of the major parties of UK politics, it has formed the government on 45 occasions, more than any other party.

Colonel Robert Hugh Wallace, CB, CBE, PC(Ire) was a British soldier and a lawyer and politician in Northern Ireland.

Second Boer War war between South African Republic and the United Kingdom

The Second Boer War was fought between the British Empire and two Boer states, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State, over the Empire's influence in South Africa. It is also known variously as the Boer War, Anglo-Boer War, or South African War. Initial Boer attacks were successful, and although British reinforcements later reversed these, the war continued for years with Boer guerrilla warfare, until harsh British counter-measures brought them to terms.

Thomas Sloan was a sub-contractor for the cementing of ship′s floors at the shipyard of Harland and Wolff, who had during 1902 become a leading member of the working class Belfast Protestant Association, after the association´s founder Arthur Trew was imprisoned for inciting an anti-Catholic riot. He declared his candidacy as an independent unionist in protest of the treatment of Trew. [4]

Thomas Henry Sloan (1870–1941) was an Irish and British politician and founder of the Independent Orange Order. He represented the Belfast South constituency as an Independent Unionist at the Westminster parliament from 1902 to 1910.

Harland and Wolff Northern Irish heavy industrial company

Harland & Wolff Heavy Industries is a heavy industrial company, specialising in ship repair, conversion, and offshore construction, located in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Harland & Wolff is famous for having built the majority of the ships intended for the White Star Line. Well known ships built by Harland & Wolff include the Olympic-class trio: RMS Titanic, RMS Olympic and RMS Britannic, the Royal Navy's HMS Belfast, Royal Mail Line's Andes, Shaw Savill's Southern Cross, Union-Castle's RMS Pendennis Castle, and P&O's Canberra. Harland and Wolff's official history, Shipbuilders to the World, was published in 1986.

The Belfast Protestant Association was a populist evangelical political movement in the early 20th-century.

Thomas Harrison, who had unsuccessfully contested Belfast North in the 1900 General election was mentioned as a candidate for the "labour interest", [2] but nothing came of this.

Belfast North (UK Parliament constituency) Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom

Belfast North is a parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom House of Commons.

Issues and campaign

The campaign was tumultuous, and the Belfast Protestant Association dominated the campaign, protesting the imprisonment of their founder. The Times reported that a final meeting for Dunbar Buller on 15 August was broken up by supporters of Slone, with only a large force of police preventing a more serious disturbance. [5]

<i>The Times</i> British newspaper, founded 1785

The Times is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register, adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers, since 1981 a subsidiary of News UK, itself wholly owned by News Corp. The Times and The Sunday Times do not share editorial staff, were founded independently, and have only had common ownership since 1967.

Results

The result of the election was announced outside Belfast town hall on the eve of election day, 18 August 1902. [6] Sloan won the election by 826 votes, and was declared the new representative. [7]

Belfast South by-election, 1902 [8]
PartyCandidateVotes%±
Independent Unionist Thomas Sloan 3,795 56.1 N/A
Irish Unionist Charles William Dunbar Buller2,96943.9N/A
Majority82612.2N/A
Turnout 6,76466.0N/A
Registered electors 10,246
Independent Unionist gain from Irish Unionist Swing N/A

Sloan later founded the Independent Orange Order and reached an agreement with the Irish Unionist Party to disassociate himself from the Belfast Protestant Association. [4] Sloan retained the seat in the 1906 General Election.

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References

  1. ↑ "Election intelligence". The Times (36829). London. 25 July 1902. p. 5.
  2. 1 2 "Election intelligence". The Times (36831). London. 28 July 1902. p. 6.
  3. ↑ "Election intelligence". The Times (36836). London. 2 August 1902. p. 10.
  4. 1 2 John F. Harbinson, The Ulster Unionist Party, 1882-1973, p.223
  5. ↑ "Election intelligence". The Times (36848). London. 16 August 1902. p. 8.
  6. ↑ "Election intelligence". The Times (36850). London. 19 August 1902. p. 3.
  7. ↑ "No. 27467". The London Gazette . 22 August 1902. p. 5462.
  8. ↑ The Constitutional Year Book, 1904, published by Conservative Central Office, page 193 (217 in web page)


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