Jarrow by-election, 1907

The Jarrow by-election of 1907 was held on 4 July 1907.

Vacancy

The by-election was held due to the death of the incumbent Liberal MP, Charles Palmer.^[1]

Electoral history

At the 1906 general election Palmer had had a straight fight with Labour;

Sir Chas. Palmer

General Election 1906: Jarrow Electorate 17,023
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Sir Charles Mark Palmer	8,047	61.2
	Labour	Peter Francis Curran	5,093	38.8
Majority			2,954	22.4
Turnout			13,140	77.2
	Liberal hold		Swing

Candidates

S. Leigh Hughes

The sitting Liberal MP, the 84-year-old Sir Charles Palmer, had announced that he did not intend to stand for Parliament at the next election and the local Liberals had already selected Spencer Leigh Hughes as his replacement.^[2] Hughes’ opportunity to get into Parliament came quickly as Sir Charles died on 4 June 1907 thus causing a by-election at which Hughes was adopted as Liberal candidate. Hughes faced, Labour, Conservative and Irish Parliamentary Party opponents.^[3]

Result

Jarrow by-election, 1907 Electorate 17,195
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Peter Francis Curran	4,698	33.0	-5.8
	Conservative	Patrick Rose-Innes	3,930	27.6	N/A
	Liberal	Spencer Leigh Hughes	3,474	24.4	-36.8
	Irish Parliamentary	John O'Hanlon	2,122	14.9	N/A
Majority			768	5.4	-12.0
Turnout			14,224	82.7	+5.5
	Labour gain from Liberal		Swing

Aftermath

For Curran, it was a short-lived triumph as he was unseated by another Liberal at the following General Election in January 1910. Rose-Innes did not stand for parliament again. In 1909 Hughes was the unsuccessful Liberal candidate at the Bermondsey by-election, 1909. The Irish Nationalists never again ran a candidate in Jarrow.

General Election January 1910: Jarrow[4] Electorate 18,292
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Godfrey Mark Palmer	4,885	34.0	+9.4
	Labour	Peter Francis Curran	4,818	33.5	+0.4
	Conservative	James Kirkley	4,668	32.5	+4.9
Majority			67	0.5
Turnout			14,371	78.6
	Liberal gain from Labour		Swing	+4.5

External links

Regional Identities in North-East England, 1300-2000: http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=OITlDsCSeMcC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Regional+Identities+in+North-East+England,[phone]&hl=en&sa=X&ei=uMVcU9OHCbDH7Aac8oDwBw&ved=0CDMQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false

References

1. http://www.leighrayment.com/commons.htm
2. The Times, 23 May 1907 p7
3. Craig, F. W. S. (1974). British Parliamentary Election Results, 1885–1918. London: Macmillan Press. p. 271. ISBN 0-333-16903-4.
4. Times House of Commons, 1910; Politico’s Publishing, 2004 p62