Colne Valley by-election, 1907

The Colne Valley by-election was a Parliamentary by-election. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post voting system.

Vacancy

Lord Airedale,
Oil on canvas, John Singer Sargent 1905

Sir James Kitson had been Liberal MP for the seat of Colne Valley since the 1892 General Election. He was created Baron Airedale on 17 July 1907 and resigned to take a seat in the House of Lords.

Electoral history

The seat was re-gained from the Liberal Unionists in 1892;

General Election January 1906^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	Sir James Kitson	unopposed	n/a	n/a
	Liberal hold		Swing	n/a

Candidates

The local Liberal Association selected Philip Bright to defend the seat. He was the son of John Bright the famous Free-trader.

The Conservatives selected 35-year-old Barrister Granville Wheler as their candidate. He had contested Osgoldcross at the last General Election.^[2]

Victor Grayson in the late 1900s

Twenty-six-year-old Victor Grayson stood as an Independent Labour candidate, having been nominated by the local branch of the Independent Labour Party. He was born in Liverpool and became an apprentice engineer. He joined the Independent Labour Party and toured the country giving lectures, becoming a well-known orator despite having a stammer.

Campaign

Polling Day was fixed for 18 July 1907.

Result

Grayson gained the seat;

Colne Valley by-election, 1907^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Independent Labour	Albert Victor Grayson	3,648	35.2	n/a
	Liberal	Philip Bright	3,495	33.7	n/a
	Conservative	Granville Charles Hastings Wheler	3,227	31.1	n/a
Majority			153	1.5	n/a
Turnout				88.1	n/a
	Independent Labour gain from Liberal		Swing	n/a

Aftermath

Wheler was elected at Faversham at the next General Election. Grayson was defeated by a new Liberal candidate;

Leach

General Election January 1910^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	Charles Leach	4,741	40.7	+7.0
	Conservative	Archibald Boyd-Carpenter	3,750	32.2	+1.1
	Independent Labour	Albert Victor Grayson	3,149	27.1	-8.1
Majority			991	8.5	+7.0
Turnout				93.2	+5.1
	Liberal gain from Independent Labour		Swing	+7.6

References

1. British parliamentary election results 1885-1918
2. Who's Who
3. British parliamentary election results 1885-1918
4. British parliamentary election results 1885-1918