The Eddisbury by-election, 1929 was a by-election held on 20 March 1929 for the British House of Commons constituency of Eddisbury.
The election was triggered by the death of the sitting Conservative Member of Parliament (MP), Harry Barnston and was a straight fight between the Conservative, Lieutenant-Colonel R G Fenwick Palmer and the Liberal, Richard John Russell, Labour having decided not to contest the seat.[1] Russell, a local government Alderman from Birkenhead had the advantage of having fought the seat at the two previous general elections and had been nursing the constituency. Fenwick Palmer (a descendant of Sir Robert Peel) came from the nearby Wrexham area but was new to most electors in the constituency, although he was well known in Cheshire hunting circles.[2] The main issues in the election concerned agriculture, and the controversial land programme of Liberal leader David Lloyd George.[3] This was unsurprising given the essentially rural nature of the constituency.
The result was a Liberal gain from the Conservatives.[4] Russell held the seat at the 1929 general election against the same Tory opponent and held it again in 1931 and 1935 standing as a Liberal National.
| Eddisbury by-election, 1929 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Liberal | Richard John Russell | 10,223 | 53.4 | ||
| Conservative | Lt-Col. R G Fenwick Palmer | 8,931 | 46.6 | ||
| Majority | 1,292 | ||||