Middleton and Prestwich by-election, 1920

The Middleton and Prestwich by-election, 1920 was a by-election held on 22 November 1920 for the British House of Commons constituency of Middleton and Prestwich in Lancashire.

The by-election was triggered by the appointment as a judge of the sitting Coalition Liberal Member of Parliament, Sir William Ryland Dent Adkins KC. Adkins was appointed Recorder of Birmingham and this being an office of profit he was obliged by the electoral law of the day to submit to a by-election.

Constituency background

Adkins had represented Middleton since winning the seat at the 1906 general election. ^[1] At the 1918 general election Middleton was merged with Prestwich to create a new seat and Adkins retained it as a supporter of the coalition government of David Lloyd George and Andrew Bonar Law, having received The Coalition Coupon, despite the fact that he had previously acted as a loyal Asquithian. ^[2] In 1918 Adkins had faced only Labour opposition and had won by a majority of 8,330 votes. ^[3]

By-election truce

When the by-election was first occasioned, it had apparently been the intention of the Labour Party to contest it. The Conservatives were content to stand aside again for their coalition partner. Labour were planning to put up Alderman M B Farr of Mossley as their candidate but owing to an outbreak of smallpox in the constituency a by-election truce was called on the advice of the medical authorities so as to avoid the need for the usual door to door canvassing and holding of public meetings. ^[4] This opportunity to withdraw with honour may have suited Labour given the difficulty in winning the seat they faced against the combined Liberal and Conservative electorate lined up behind Adkins.

Result

In the event therefore no candidate stepped forward to challenge Sir Ryland Adkins and he was returned unopposed.

Middleton and Prestwich by-election, 1920:
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Coalition Liberal	William Ryland Dent Adkins	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Coalition Liberal hold		Swing	N/A

Adkins, 1920–1923

Adkins continued to represent the constituency until 1923, the second general election after the fall of the Coalition when he lost to the Tories by 529 votes in a three-cornered contest, with Alderman Farr for Labour and A N Stewart-Sandeman for the Conservatives. ^[5]

References

↑ Who was Who, OUP 2007
↑ Trevor Wilson, The Downfall of the Liberal Party; Cornell University Press, 1966 pp 160–161
↑ The Times House of Commons, 1919; Politico's Publications, 2004 p69
↑ The Times, 15 November 1920 p9
↑ F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results, 1918–1949; Political Reference Publications, Glasgow, 1949 p401

« 30th Parliament « By-elections to the 31st Parliament of the United Kingdom » 32nd Parliament »

1919	February: Liverpool West Derby March: Leyton West North Londonderry Oxford University Hull Central April: Aberdeenshire and Kincardineshire Central May: East Antrim July: Swansea East Bothwell Dublin University August: Widnes September: Pontefract October: Manchester Rusholme November: Chester-le-Street Croydon South Isle of Thanet Plymouth Sutton December: St Albans Bromley Spen Valley

1920	January: Ashton-under-Lyne February: The Wrekin Paisley Horncastle March: Argyll Dartford Stockport Basingstoke Camberwell North West April: Northampton Edinburgh North Edinburgh South Sunderland June: Louth Nelson and Colne July: Ebbw Vale South Norfolk Woodbridge September: Ilford November: Hemel Hempstead The Wrekin Middleton and Prestwich December: Abertillery Rhondda West

1921	January: Hereford Dover February: Cardiganshire March: Woolwich East Dudley Birmingham Moseley Kirkcaldy Burghs Penistone Birmingham West April: Taunton Bristol West Glasgow Pollok East Dorset Bewdley Eddisbury Bedford Chichester May: Hastings Penrith and Cockermouth Abingdon Orkney and Shetland June: Belfast Duncairn Mid Armagh North Down West Down July: Mid Down Westminster St George's Heywood and Radcliffe Hertford August: Caerphilly Westminster Abbey South Londonderry September: Lewisham West Louth October: Westhoughton November: Hornsey December: Southwark South East

1922	January: Ludlow Tamworth South Londonderry February: West Down Manchester Clayton Camberwell North North Down Bodmin March: Wolverhampton West Liverpool Exchange Cambridge Inverness Chertsey Leicester East May: Wandsworth City of London June: North Londonderry Newbury Moray and Nairn Banbury Nottingham East July: Gower North Down Pontypridd August: Hackney South October: Newport

Lists of UK by-elections 1801–1806 1806–1818 1818–1832 1832–1847 1847–1857 1857–1868 1868–1885 1885–1900 1900–1918 1918–1931 1931–1950 1950–1979 1979–2010 2010–present

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Wednesday, March 11, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.