1917 Stockton-on-Tees by-election
The 1917 Stockton-on-Tees by-election was a parliamentary by-election held for the British House of Commons constituency of Stockton-on-Tees in County Durham on 20 March 1917.
Vacancy
The by-election was caused by the death of the sitting Liberal MP, Jonathan Samuel on 22 February 1917.
Candidates
The Stockton Liberal Association considered a number of possible candidates but decided upon Bertrand Watson,[1] a 38-year-old local man, a solicitor who was a former Mayor of Stockton-on-Tees and member of Durham County Council.[2] The Unionists had indicated that they would not oppose a Liberal candidate who supported the wartime Coalition government of which they were members.[3] The Labour Party in Stockton considered putting up a candidate. They invited Robert Dennison, a Trade Union official with the British Steel Smelters' Association, to address them with a view to becoming their candidate but in the end decided not to put forward a challenge to the wartime party truce. Dennison did later go on to become Labour MP for Birmingham King's Norton from 1924-1929.[4] The by-election was however contested by banker Edward Backhouse JP of Darlington, a proponent of the Peace by Negotiation Party and a member of the Society of Friends.[5]
The issues
The by-election was described in the press as quiet and lacking outward signs of public interest. The prosecution of the war was the only issue of the day and Backhouse failed to capture the public imagination with many local men away serving in the armed forces.[6] He often faced a hostile reception. One of his meetings was broken up by an angry crowd which stormed the platform preventing his guest from speaking.[7]
The result
Watson easily held the seat for the Liberals and the Coalition, the pacifist candidate polling even less well than anticipated.[8]
Result
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Liberal | Bertrand Watson | 7,641 | 92.8 | +39.6 | |
Independent | Edward Backhouse | 596 | 7.2 | New | |
Majority | 7,045 | 85.6 | +79.2 | ||
Turnout | 8,237 | 59.3 | −30.1 | ||
Liberal hold | Swing |
References
See also
- v
- t
- e
- February: Arfon
- Cambridge University
- Horncastle
- Westbury
- Forest of Dean
- March: North East Lanarkshire
- Brentford
- Bootle
- April: Haddingtonshire
- Cheltenham
- East Dorset
- May: Birmingham South
- Barnstaple
- June: Ross & Cromarty
- Brighton
- July: Kingston upon Hull Central
- Glasgow Tradeston
- St Augustine's
- West Ham North
- East Wicklow
- North East Cork
- East Cork
- Luton
- Wellington
- Bethnal Green South West
- August: Middleton
- September: Kilmarnock Burghs
- October: North Tyrone
- Keighley
- November: Bristol East
- Oldham
- South Somerset
- Hitchin
- December: North Ayrshire
- Govan
- January: Carmarthen District
- February: Edinburgh East
- Glasgow St Rollox
- March: Manchester South
- Hereford
- South East Essex
- Leominster
- Epsom
- April: Nottingham East
- Forest of Dean
- May: Hackney South
- North West Norfolk
- June: Hythe
- Holmfirth
- July: Ilkeston
- Hanley
- Crewe
- August: Manchester North West
- East Carmarthenshire
- September: Midlothian
- November: Taunton
- Bolton
- Bow & Bromley
- January: Flint Boroughs
- Londonderry City
- February: East Waterford
- East Antrim
- Chorley
- March: Houghton-le-Spring
- Kendal
- April: Shrewsbury
- Whitechapel
- May: Newmarket
- Altrincham
- June: Leix
- Wandsworth
- Dover
- Leicester
- July: St George's, Hanover Square
- August: Chesterfield
- November: North Cork
- Linlithgowshire
- Reading
- Keighley
- December: Wick Burghs
- South Lanarkshire
- January: North West Durham
- February: Wycombe
- Cork City
- Bethnal Green South West
- Poplar
- Leith Burghs
- April: Belfast East
- East Fife
- May: Great Grimsby
- North East Derbyshire
- Ipswich
- June: Brighton
- Oxford University
- July: Birmingham West
- East Worcestershire
- North Galway
- August: Swansea District
- West Wicklow
- September: Bolton
- The Hartlepools
- November: Londonderry City
- December: East Galway
- Tullamore
- Sheffield Attercliffe
- February: Norwich
- Swansea District
- Scarborough
- Shipley
- Howdenshire
- Thirsk & Malton
- Wigtownshire
- Chesterton
- Saffron Walden
- Liverpool Kirkdale
- Mid Antrim
- Maidstone
- March: Carmarthen Boroughs
- April: Mid Durham
- May: Kilmarnock Burghs
- June: Preston
- Dublin College Green
- North Tipperary
- Keighley
- July: Arfon
- Glasgow Central
- October: Dublin Harbour
- Appleby
- November: Heywood
- Uxbridge
- Cardiff
- Kingston
- St Helens
- St Austell
- Merthyr Tydfil
- Tiverton
- December: Cleveland
- January: Newington West
- St George's, Hanover Square
- Portsmouth
- North West Staffordshire
- Chesterton
- Bradford Central
- Mile End
- Rotherham
- February: Liverpool East Toxteth
- North Louth
- South Tyrone
- Bolton
- Chester
- Droitwich
- March: Cockermouth
- Hertford
- South Shields
- Harborough
- Hyde
- April: Wimbledon
- Dublin University
- Ossory
- May: Tewkesbury
- South Londonderry
- Widnes
- July: Berwickshire
- August: Bodmin
- Berwick-upon-Tweed
- Colne Valley
- Abingdon
- September: Mansfield
- October: North Ayrshire
- St Pancras West
- Winchester
- North Fermanagh
- November: West Cork
- December: Hornsey
- Ashton-under-Lyne
- Sheffield Hallam
- Whitechapel
- Derby
- Edinburgh & St Andrews Universities
- January: Inverness-shire
- February: North Roscommon
- Dublin University
- Rotherham
- Rossendale
- West Perthshire
- Tamworth
- March: Stockton
- Oxford
- April: Aberdeen South
- Belfast South
- Ealing
- May: South Longford
- Edinburgh South
- June: Epping
- Henley
- Liverpool Abercromby
- July: Belfast South
- Fulham
- South Dublin
- East Clare
- South Monmouthshire
- Cambridge
- Chesterton
- Dundee
- August: Edinburgh & St Andrews Universities
- Kilkenny City
- Norwich
- October: Dublin University
- Islington East
- Spalding
- Basingstoke
- November: Salford North
- North Armagh
- December: Wisbech
- Southampton
- January: Mid Armagh
- Prestwich
- February: South Armagh
- March: Waterford City
- Manchester South
- April: East Tyrone
- Tullamore
- Birmingham West
- Keighley
- May: Ross
- Exeter
- Newcastle-upon-Tyne
- Wansbeck
- June: Gravesend
- Bridgwater
- East Cavan
- Clapham
- July: Finsbury East
- Manchester North East
- Fareham
- East Grinstead
- August: Canterbury
- September: Banbury
- October: St George's, Hanover Square
- Bath
- Mid Norfolk
- Elgin Burghs
- South Shields
- Prestwich
- November: Wilton
- 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
- Northern Ireland
- Hereditary peers