Liverpool West Derby by-election, 1919
The Liverpool West Derby by-election, 1919 was a parliamentary by-election held on 26 February 1919 for the British House of Commons constituency of Liverpool West Derby, in the County Palatine of Lancashire.
Vacancy
The seat had become vacant on the elevation to the peerage of the constituency's Unionist Member of Parliament (MP), Frederick Edwin Smith, as Baron Birkenhead. He had been raised to the peerage to take up the post of Lord Chancellor, an action described by the left wing Morning Post as "carrying a joke too far".
Electoral history
Smith had held the seat since the 1918 general election, when he was endorsed by the Coalition Government. Before that he held its predecessor seat, Liverpool Walton since the 1906 general election.
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Unionist | Rt Hon. Sir Frederick Edwin Smith | 11,622 | 67.4 | N/A | |
Labour | George Nelson | 5,618 | 32.6 | N/A | |
Majority | 6,004 | 34.8 | N/A | ||
Turnout | 17,240 | 55.1 | |||
Unionist hold | Swing | N/A | |||
Candidates
- The Unionist Party selected as its candidate Rear-Admiral Sir William Reginald Hall. Hall was endorsed by the Coalition Government.
- George Nelson stood for the Labour Party. He had stood against Smith at the recent General Election.
Results
Turnout was unsurprisingly low so soon after a General Election. Hall won the seat by a much reduced margin.
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Unionist | Sir William Reginald Hall | 6,062 | 56.5 | -10.9 | |
Labour | George Nelson | 4,670 | 43.5 | +10.9 | |
Majority | 1,392 | 13.0 | -21.8 | ||
Turnout | 10,732 | 34.3 | -20.8 | ||
Unionist hold | Swing | -10.9 | |||
See also
References
- Craig, F. W. S. (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918-1949 (3rd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.
- Leigh Rayment's Peerage Pages
- The Times, 12 March 1919