North Lanarkshire by-election, 1929

The Lanarkshire North by-election, 1929 was a parliamentary by-election held in the United Kingdom on 21 March 1929 for the House of Commons constituency of North Lanarkshire in Scotland.

History

General Election, 29 October 1924: North Lanarkshire

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Unionist	Sir Alexander Sprot	13,880	53.9
	Labour	Joseph Sullivan	11,852	46.1
Majority			2,028	7.8
Turnout				79.9
	Unionist gain from Labour		Swing

Candidates

• The Unionists selected 29-year-old Lord Scone to defend the seat. He was the son of Lord Mansfield. A graduate of Oxford University, he had served in the Black Watch. He was standing for parliament for the first time.
• The Labour Party needed to select a new candidate as their last candidate, the former MP, Joseph Sullivan, had been elected at the Bothwell by-election, 1926. Sullivan had been a prominent figure in the Lanarkshire Miners Association and local Labour Party would have liked to choose another miners representative. However, they settled on Miss Jennie Lee, a teacher from Fife and a graduate from Edinburgh University. She was standing for parliament for the first time.

Elizabeth Mitchell

• The local Liberal Association selected 49 year-old Miss Elizabeth Mitchell as their candidate. She had contested Lanark at the 1924 General Election. She was the daughter of Andrew Mitchell, a former sheriff of Lanarkshire and a member of Lanarkshire Education Authority.^[1] She was educated at St. George's School for Girls, Edinburgh, Edinburgh University, and Oxford University. She taught at the Royal Holloway College, University of London. She was Hon. Secretary to the Committee on Women in Agriculture in Scotland, Convener of Continuation classes at the County of Lanark and Vice- President of the Scottish Liberal Federation.^[2]

Campaign

On 1 March, nationally, Liberal leader, David Lloyd George launched the Liberal programme for the upcoming General Election, titled We Can Conquer Unemployment.

Result

North Lanarkshire by-election, 1929

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Jennie Lee	15,711	57.5
	Unionist	Lord Scone	9,133	33.4
	Liberal	Elizabeth Buchanan Mitchell	2,488	9.1
Majority			6,578	24.1
Turnout				82.3
	Labour gain from Unionist		Swing

Aftermath

General Election, 30 May 1929: North Lanarkshire

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Jennie Lee	19,884
	Unionist	Lord Scone	15,680
Majority
Turnout
	Labour hold		Swing

References

1. Jennie Lee: A Life By Patricia Hollis
2. The Liberal Yearbook, 1926

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