Southend by-election, 1927

Southend in Essex, showing boundaries used from 1918 to 1950.

The Southend by-election, 1927 was a parliamentary by-election for the British House of Commons constituency of Southend, Essex on 19 November 1927.

Previous MP

The Conservative MP, Rupert Guinness, Viscount Elveden succeeded his father as Earl of Iveagh and took a seat in the House of Lords, vacating his seat in the House of Commons. He had represented the seat and its predecessor since 1912 and the area had not returned any other party since the Liberals won in 1906.

Previous Result

General Election, 29 October 1924 Electorate: 47,259
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Rupert Guinness, Viscount Elveden	23,417	62.5
	Liberal	John Douglas Young	10,924	29.1
	Labour	Sydney Alexander Moseley	3,144	8.4
Majority			12,493	33.4
Turnout				79.3
	Conservative hold		Swing

Candidates

The Conservatives chose the former MP's wife, 46-year-old Gwendolen Guinness, now titled the Countess of Iveagh to defend the seat. The Liberal candidate was 33-year-old Hon. Dougall Meston. He was a former soldier who had become a Barrister in 1924. He was the heir to Baron Meston. This was his first election as a candidate. Labour selected a new candidate in E. Harper. A fourth candidate entered the contest in the figure of a 52-year-old Manchester man, Augustine Hailwood. He had been Conservative MP for Manchester Ardwick from 1918-22. He put himself forward as a candidate protesting against Baldwin's lack of leadership as Prime Minister.

Result

Southend by-election, 19 November 1927 Electorate: 53,039
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Gwendolen Florence Mary Guinness, Countess of Iveagh	21,221	54.6	-7.9
	Liberal	Hon. Dougall Meston	11,912	30.7	+1.6
	Labour	J.E. Harper	4,777	12.3	+3.9
	Independent Conservative	E. Augustine Hailwood	917	2.4	+2.4
Majority			9,309	23.9
Turnout				73.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

Harper(Labour) and Hailwood (Ind. Conservative) lost their deposits.

Aftermath

Hailwood went on to contest a further two by-elections as an Independent Conservative. Labour chose not to contest the seat at the following General Election.

General Election, 30 May 1929 Electorate: 73,815
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Gwendolen Florence Mary Guinness, Countess of Iveagh	27,605	55.8	+1.2
	Liberal	Hon. Dougall Meston	21,884	44.2	+13.5
Majority			5,721	11.6
Turnout				67.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

References

British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (The Macmillan Press 1979)

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1924	December: Dundee

1925	February: Walsall June: Ayr Burghs Eastbourne Oldham July: Forest of Dean September: Stockport November: Galloway December: Bury St Edmunds Ripon

1926	January: Dunbartonshire January: East Renfrewshire February: Cambridge University Darlington March: Combined English Universities Bothwell April: East Ham North May: Buckrose Hammersmith North July: Wallsend September: North Cumberland November: Howdenshire Kingston-upon-Hull Central Chelmsford December: Smethwick

1927	February: Stourbridge March: Edinburgh Leith Southwark North April: Combined Scottish Universities May: Bosworth June: Westbury Brixton November: Southend Canterbury

1928	January: Northampton Faversham February: Bristol West Lancaster Ilford March: St Ives Middlesbrough West April: Linlithgowshire Hanley St Marylebone June: Carmarthen Holborn July: Epsom Halifax Sheffield Hallam August: Aberdeen North September: Cheltenham October: Tavistock Ashton-under-Lyne

1929	January: Londonderry January: Midlothian and Peebles Northern February: Battersea South Bishop Auckland Wansbeck March: Liverpool East Toxteth Eddisbury Bath Holland with Boston North Lanarkshire

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

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