Shrewsbury by-election, 1913

The Shewsbury by-election, 1913 was a parliamentary by-election held in England in April 1913 to elect a new Member of Parliament (MP) for the borough of Shrewsbury in Shropshire.

Shrewsbury had been elected only Conservative Party MPs to the House of Commons since 1885, and the by-election was won by the Conservative candidate George Butler Lloyd.

Contents

Vacancy

The seat had become vacant when Shrewsbury's Conservative MP Sir Clement Hill died aged 67 on 9 April 1913, after a bout of influenza led to pneumonia and pleurisy.[1] A diplomat for 40 years before entering politics, he had held the seat since the 1906 general election.[1]

Candidates

The Conservative candidate was George Butler Lloyd,[2] a Marlborough and Cambridge-educated banker whose home was at Shelton Hall, near Shrewsbury.[3] Butler Lloyd was an alderman of Shrewsbury Corporation and had twice been mayor of Shrewsbury.[3]

The local Liberal Party was keen to field as a candidate Thomas Pace, who had contested the seat in December 1910[2] as a Liberal-Labour candidate,[4] but party headquarters regarded a contest as inexpedient.[2] When nominations closed on 19 April, Butler Lloyd faced only one opponent, the independent candidate J. Robert Morris.[5]

The campaign

On 21 April, the eve of polling, the former MP Horatio Bottomley spoke on behalf on Morris at a meeting of thousands of people in the town,[6] where the principal speakers for Butler Lloyd were Henry Page Croft MP and William Bridgeman MP.[6]

Result

Polling took place on 22 April, and Butler Lloyd held the seat with a slightly increased majority of 685 votes (16.6% of the total).[4]

Aftermath

Butler Lloyd held the seat for nine years. The parliamentary borough of Shrewsbury was abolished at the 1918 general election, but was replaced by a larger county division of the same, where Butler Lloyd was re-elected.[7] He retired from the House of Commons at the 1922 general election.

Votes

Shrewsbury by-election, 1913
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative George Butler Lloyd 2,412 58.3 +1.7
Liberal J. Robert Morris 1,727 n/a
Majority 685 16.6 +3.4
Turnout 4,139 81.0 −6.6
Conservative hold Swing

References

  1. ^ a b "Obituary: Sir Clement Hill". The Times (London): pp. 9, col C. 10 April 1913. 
  2. ^ a b c "The Shrewsbury Vacancy. Liberals And A Contest". The Times (London): pp. 13, col B. 16 April 1913. 
  3. ^ a b "Obituary: Mr. G. B. Lloyd". The Times (London): pp. 19, col C. 2 April 1930. 
  4. ^ a b Craig, F. W. S. (1989) [1977]. British parliamentary election results 1832–1885 (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 188. ISBN 0-900178-26-4. 
  5. ^ "The Shrewsbury vacancy". The Times: pp. 8, col C. 21 April 1913. 
  6. ^ a b "The Shrewsbury Vacancy. Polling To-Day". The Times (London): pp. 14, col G. 22 April 1913. 
  7. ^ Hesilridge, Arthur G. M. (1922). Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench 1922. London: Dean & Son. p. 96. http://www.archive.org/stream/debrettshouseo1922londuoft#page/96/mode/1up.