Luton by-election, 1911

Vacancy

Thomas Ashton had been the Liberal MP here since 1895. Luton had been Liberal since the seat was created in 1885. He was raised to the peerage as Baron Ashton of Hyde, in the County of Chester, with a seat in the House of Lords.

Electoral history

Thomas Ashton

General Election December 1910 Electorate 16,564
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Thomas Gair Ashton	7,601	53.4	+0.5
	Conservative	John Owen Hickman	6,623	46.6	-0.5
Majority				6.8
Turnout				85.9
	Liberal hold		Swing	+0.5

Candidates

The new Liberal candidate selected to defend the seat was Cecil Harmsworth. He had been Liberal MP for Droitwich, Worcestershire until his defeat there in January 1910. The Conservatives re-selected John Owen Hickman, who had been their candidate last time.

Result

Cecil Harmsworth

Luton by-election, 1911 Electorate 17,177
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Cecil Bisshopp Harmsworth	7,619	52.1	-1.3
	Conservative	John Owen Hickman	7,006	47.9	+1.3
Majority			613	4.2
Turnout				85.1
	Liberal hold		Swing	-1.3

Aftermath

A General Election was due to take place by the end of 1915. By the autumn of 1914, the following candidates had been adopted to contest that election. Due to the outbreak of war, the election never took place.

General Election 1914/15 Electorate 19,199
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Cecil Bisshopp Harmsworth
	Unionist

General Election 14 December 1918 Electorate 37,051
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Cecil Bisshopp Harmsworth	13,501	69.4
	Labour	Willet Ball	5,964	30.6	n/a
Majority			7,537	38.8
Turnout				52.5
	Liberal hold		Swing

• Harmsworth was the endorsed candidate of the Coalition Government.

References