Bermondsey by-election, 1909

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Bermondsey in 1909 Bermondsey1885.png
Bermondsey in 1909

The Bermondsey by-election, 1909 was a by-election held on 28 October 1909 for the British House of Commons constituency of Bermondsey in South East London. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post voting system. The presiding officer and the ballots were damaged by two suffragettes who tried to disrupt the men's election.

By-elections, also spelled bye-elections, are used to fill elected offices that have become vacant between general elections.

United Kingdom constituencies electoral area in the UK (do not use in P31; use subclasses of this instead)

In the United Kingdom (UK), each of the electoral areas or divisions called constituencies elect one member to a parliament or assembly, with the exception of European Parliament and Northern Ireland Assembly constituencies which are multi member constituencies.

Bermondsey (UK Parliament constituency) Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 1950-1983

Bermondsey was a borough constituency centred on the Bermondsey district of South London, England. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Election were held using the first-past-the-post voting system.

Contents

Vacancy

The by-election was called following the death of George Cooper who had gained the seat as part of the Liberal Party victory in the 1906 General Election.

Liberal Party (UK) political party of the United Kingdom, 1859–1988

The Liberal Party was one of the two major parties in the United Kingdom with the opposing Conservative Party in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The party arose from an alliance of Whigs and free trade Peelites and Radicals favourable to the ideals of the American and French Revolutions in the 1850s. By the end of the 19th century, it had formed four governments under William Gladstone. Despite being divided over the issue of Irish Home Rule, the party returned to government in 1905 and then won a landslide victory in the following year's general election.

Electoral history

The seat had been Liberal since they gained it at the last General Election in 1906;

George Cooper 1909 George Cooper.jpg
George Cooper
General Election January 1906
PartyCandidateVotes%±
Liberal George Cooper 4,775 61.3 +13.2
Conservative Henry Cust 3,016 38.7 -13.2
Majority 1,759 22.6 26.4
Turnout 73.4
Liberal gain from Conservative Swing +13.2

Candidates

The Labour party intervened in the contest having not stood in 1906. They selected 36-year-old Alfred Salter who had recently joined the Independent Labour Party. Back in 1906, Salter had been elected in succession to Cooper as the Progressive member for Bermondsey on the London County Council. On 8 October, Salter was officially announced as the party's candidate, just one day after the death of Cooper. [1]

Alfred Salter British politician

Alfred Salter was a British medical practitioner and Labour Party politician.

Independent Labour Party UK political party

The Independent Labour Party (ILP) was a British political party of the left, established in 1893, when the Liberals appeared reluctant to endorse working-class candidates, representing the interests of the majority. A sitting independent MP and prominent union organiser, Keir Hardie, became its first chairman.

The Progressive Party was a political party aligned to the Liberal Party that contested municipal elections in the United Kingdom.

Spencer Hughes Spencer Leigh Hughes.jpg
Spencer Hughes

The local Liberal Association selected 51-year-old journalist Spencer Leigh Hughes to defend the seat. He was not previously connected to the area and had unsuccessfully stood as Liberal candidate in the Jarrow by-election, 1907. Hughes was adopted unanimously as the candidate for the by-election. [2] The local Liberal might have chosen Harold Glanville, a Bermondsey man who represented neighbouring Rotherhithe on the London County Council. With a General election pending, the Conservatives had already selected their candidate, Assheton Pownall. However, he was out of the country at the time and unable to campaign. Forced to find someone else at short notice, they settled on a local man, 64-year-old Cllr.John Dumphreys as their candidate. He had worked as a leather dresser, in an industry which was quite significant locally. In 1907 he became Mayor of Bermondsey. He was a supporter of Tariff Reform. [3]

Spencer Leigh Hughes British politician

Spencer Leigh Hughes was a British, engineer, journalist and Liberal politician.

Harold Glanville British politician

Harold James Glanville was an English businessman and Liberal Party politician.

Campaign

Polling Day was fixed for the 28 October, just 21 days after the death of Cooper. There was a significant speech made by Chancellor of the Exchequer, David Lloyd George, at Limehouse on 30 July 1909 in which he outlined the proposals in the People's Budget. Since then, there had been no by-election in which to gauge public reaction to these proposals. The proposals therefore became central to the campaign. The Conservatives campaigned against the radicalism of the Liberals and their idea of massive state intervention in welfare. Hughes and the local Liberals embraced this New Liberal approach. Dumphreys was critical of the Liberal government's failure to act on the recommendation of the Poor Law Commission, which had been initiated by the previous Conservative government. In particular, he pressed for wholesale reform of the workhouse system, for better treatment of the deserving poor, and removal of the taint of pauper from children. "For every child a chance" was his philosophy. [4] The Liberal campaign faced particular difficulties because their candidate was an outsider while both the Conservative and Labour candidates were local. [5]

Chancellor of the Exchequer Senior official in the Cabinet of the United Kingdom responsible for economic and financial matters

The Chancellor and Under-Treasurer of Her Majesty's Exchequer, commonly known as the Chancellor of the Exchequer, or simply the Chancellor, is a senior official within the Government of the United Kingdom and head of Her Majesty's Treasury. The office is a British Cabinet-level position.

David Lloyd George Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor, was a British statesman and Liberal Party politician. He was the final Liberal to serve as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

Limehouse district in East London, England

Limehouse is a district in east London, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Located 3.9 miles (6.3 km) east of Charing Cross, it is on the northern bank of the River Thames opposite Rotherhithe and between Stepney to the west and north, Mile End to the northwest and Poplar and Canary Wharf to the east.

Result

Dumphreys gained the seat for the Conservatives and Unionists, though with less than half the votes;

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.

Bermondsey by-election, 1909 [6] Electorate 12,233
PartyCandidateVotes%±
Conservative John Dumphreys 4,278 47.5
Liberal Spencer Leigh Hughes 3,291 36.6
Labour Alfred Salter 1,435 15.9 n/a
Majority 987 10.9
Turnout 73.6
Conservative gain from Liberal Swing

Polling day had been marred by two women suffragette protesters from the Women's Freedom League, attacking polling stations, smashing bottles containing corrosive liquid over ballot boxes, in an attempt to destroy votes. A presiding officer, George Thornley, was blinded in one eye in one of these attacks, and a Liberal agent suffered a severe burn to the neck. The count was delayed while ballot papers were carefully examined, 83 ballot papers were damaged but legible but two ballot papers became undecipherable. [7]

Aftermath

Dumphreys would lose the seat to the Liberals eleven weeks later in the general election, but not to Hughes who was to be elected as Liberal MP for Stockport, but this time to a Bermondsey man. After finishing bottom of the poll in the by-election, the Labour party withdrew from the contest;

General Election January 1910 Electorate 12,115
PartyCandidateVotes%±
Liberal Harold Glanville 5,477 54.9 +18.3
Conservative John Dumphreys 4,508 45.1 -2.4
Majority 969 9.8 20.7
Turnout 82.4 +8.8
Liberal gain from Conservative Swing +10.4

Salter later became MP for West Bermondsey in 1922. The two suffragette protesters Alice Chapin and Alison Neilans, were sentenced to three months each in Holloway Prison. [8]

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References

  1. ↑ "Election Intelligence. Southwark (Bermondsey Division)". The Times. 9 October 1909. p. 10.
  2. ↑ The Times, 13 October 1909
  3. ↑ The Times, 14 October 1909
  4. ↑ The Times, 15 October 1909
  5. ↑ By-elections in British Politics, 1832-1914
  6. ↑ Wanganui Chronicle, Volume L, Issue 12357, 30 October 1909, Page 5
  7. ↑ The Times, 29 October 1909
  8. ↑ http://www.london-se1.co.uk/news/view/4169

(1 ed.). London: Macmillan.

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