John William Howard Thompson (1861-17 October 1959) was a British Liberal Party politician, solicitor and soldier.
John William Howard Thompson (1861-17 October 1959) was a British Liberal Party politician, solicitor and soldier.
He was educated at Carshalton and Whitgift School, Croydon. He married Antoinette Ebden Keene of Crewkerne, Somerset. They had two daughters. His wife died in 1940. [1] His daughter Antoinette Winifred Thompson married the 6th Marquess Conyngham. [2]
He worked as a solicitor. [3] He was Liberal MP for Somerset East from 1906 to 1910. He gained the seat at the 1906 General Election from the Liberal Unionists.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal | John Thompson | 4,553 | 53.9 | ||
| Liberal Unionist | Bertram Falle | 3,890 | 46.1 | ||
| Majority | 663 | 7.8 | |||
| Turnout | |||||
| Liberal gain from Liberal Unionist | Swing | ||||
He served just one parliamentary term before losing his seat back to the Liberal Unionists at the General Election in January 1910.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal Unionist | Ernest Jardine | 4,997 | 55.7 | 9.6 | |
| Liberal | John Thompson | 3,970 | 44.3 | -9.6 | |
| Majority | 1,027 | 11.4 | |||
| Turnout | |||||
| Liberal Unionist gain from Liberal | Swing | +9.6 | |||
He stood again at the General Election of December 1910 but was unable to regain his seat. [4]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal Unionist | Ernest Jardine | 4,748 | 55.1 | -0.6 | |
| Liberal | John Thompson | 3,875 | 44.9 | +0.6 | |
| Majority | 873 | 10.2 | -1.2 | ||
| Turnout | |||||
| Liberal Unionist hold | Swing | -0.6 | |||
He was a captain in the Devonshire 11th Service battalion in 1915 and a major in the 24th (County of London) Battalion (The Queen's) in 1916. [5] He did not contest the 1918 General election. He did however contested the 1920 Ilford by-election, where he finished third;
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coalition Conservative | Fredric Wise | 15,612 | 54.38 | -12.4 | |
| Labour | Joseph King | 6,577 | 22.91 | +3.4 | |
| Liberal | John Thompson | 6,515 | 22.69 | +8.9 | |
| Turnout | 28,704 | ||||
| Coalition Conservative hold | Swing | ||||
He remained at Ilford to contest the seat at the 1922 General Election, when he came second, pushing Labour into third place.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unionist | Fredric Wise | 14,071 | 44.4 | -10.0 | |
| Liberal | John Thompson | 7,625 | 24.0 | +1.3 | |
| Labour | A West | 5,414 | 17.1 | -5.8 | |
| Ind U | FC Bramston | 4,610 | 14.5 | n/a | |
| Majority | 6,446 | 20.4 | -11.1 | ||
| Turnout | 70.5 | ||||
| Unionist hold | Swing | -5.6 | |||
He did not contest the following three General Elections but remained a supporter of the Liberal Party. His return to the electoral fight came at the 1931 General Election, when he returned to Somerset and fought the Conservative seat of Wells. Much of the Wells constituency was part of the Somerset East constituency that he had represented before the First World War. He came second with a credible vote share;
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Anthony Muirhead | 17,711 | 58.7 | ||
| Liberal | John Thompson | 12,440 | 41.3 | ||
| Majority | 5,271 | 17.5 | |||
| Turnout | 17.5 | ||||
| Conservative hold | Swing | ||||
He did not stand for parliament again.
Croydon was a constituency in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament from 1885 to 1918. As with most in its lifetime following the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, it was a seat, that elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.
The Eastbourne by-election, 1925 was a parliamentary by-election for the British House of Commons constituency of Eastbourne, Sussex on 17 June 1925.
East Somerset was the name of a parliamentary constituency in Somerset, represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom between 1832 and 1918.
Albert Edward Dunn was a radical British Liberal Party politician who served as Mayor of Exeter and as a Member of Parliament.
The Ilford by-election of 25 September 1920 was held after the death of the Coalition Unionist Member of Parliament Sir William Peter Griggs. The Coalition retained the seat in the by-election.
Thomas William Dobson JP was a coal merchant and Liberal Member of Parliament (MP) representing Plymouth from 1906 to 1910.
Colonel Rowland Burdon, VD, DL, JP was an English landowner and Conservative Party politician from County Durham. He sat in the House of Commons from 1918 to 1922.
The Spalding by-election, 1917 was a parliamentary by-election held for the House of Commons constituency of Spalding in Lincolnshire on 25 October 1917.
The Westbury by-election was a Parliamentary by-election which returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post voting system.
The South Somerset by-election, 1911 was the second Parliamentary by-election for that constituency of 1885 to 1918. The seat was one of seven county seats in Somerset, England which had four other, urban members until 1918.
The Manchester South by-election was a Parliamentary by-election. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post voting system.
The Wick Burghs by-election was a Parliamentary by-election. It was a Scottish Highland constituency that returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post voting system. The constituency was a district of burghs representing the parliamentary burghs of Cromarty, Dingwall, Dornoch, Kirkwall, Tain and Wick. The by-election took place during the third anniversary of the Liberal Government's re-election of December 1910. It was thought to be a key indicator to the outcome of the following general election anticipated to take place in 1914-15.
The Wandsworth by-election was a Parliamentary by-election. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post voting system.
The Edinburgh South by-election, 1910 was a parliamentary by-election held for the House of Commons constituency of Edinburgh South in Scotland on 29 April 1910.
The Crewe by-election was a Parliamentary by-election. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post voting system.
The Isle of Thanet by-election, 1919 was a parliamentary by-election for the British House of Commons constituency of Isle of Thanet on 15 November 1919.
The Epsom by-election, 1928 was a parliamentary by-election for the British House of Commons constituency of Epsom, Surrey on 4 July 1928.
The Woodbridge by-election of 1920 was held on 28 July 1920. The by-election was held due to the resignation of the incumbent Coalition Unionist MP, Robert Francis Peel. It was won by the Coalition Unionist candidate Sir Arthur Churchman.
The Ilford by-election, 1928 was a parliamentary by-election for the British House of Commons constituency of Ilford, London on 23 February 1928.
The Croydon South by-election, 1919 was a parliamentary by-election for the British House of Commons constituency of Croydon South on 14 November 1919.