Stockton-on-Tees by-election, 1917
The Stockton-on-Tees by-election, 1917 was a parliamentary by-election held for the House of Commons constituency of Stockton-on-Tees in County Durham on 20 March 1917.
Vacancy
The by-election was caused by the death of the sitting Liberal MP, Jonathan Samuel on 22 February 1917.
Candidates
The Stockton Liberal Association considered a number of possible candidates but decided upon Bertrand Watson,[1] a 38 year old local man, a solicitor who was a former Mayor of Stockton-on-Tees and member of Durham County Council.[2] The Unionists had indicated that they would not oppose a Liberal candidate who supported the wartime Coalition government of which they were members.[3] The Labour Party in Stockton considered putting up a candidate. They invited Robert Dennison, a Trade Union official with the British Steel Smelters’ Association, to address them with a view to becoming their candidate but in the end decided not put forward a challenge to the wartime party truce. Dennison did later go on to become Labour MP for Birmingham King's Norton from 1924-1929.[4] The by-election was however contested by banker Edward Backhouse JP of Darlington, a proponent of the Peace by Negotiation Party and a member of the Society of Friends.[5]
The issues
The by-election was described in the press as quiet and lacking outward signs of public interest. The prosecution of the war was the only issue of the day and Backhouse failed to capture the public imagination with many local men away serving in the armed forces.[6] He often faced a hostile reception. One of his meetings was broken up by an angry crowd which stormed the platform preventing his guest from speaking.[7]
The result
Watson easily held the seat for the Liberals and the Coalition, the pacifist candidate polling even less well than anticipated.[8]
The votes
References
- ^ The Times, 14 March 1917 p3
- ^ Who was Who, OUP, 2007
- ^ The Times, 27 February 1917 p3
- ^ Who was Who, OUP, 2007
- ^ The Times, 2 March 1917 p5
- ^ The Times, 21 March 1917 p5
- ^ Brock Millman, Managing Domestic Dissent in First World War Britain; Frank Cass, 2000 p161
- ^ The Times, 21 March 1917 p5
See also
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1911 |
February: Arfon • Cambridge University • Horncastle • Westbury • Forest of Dean • March: North East Lanarkshire • Brentford • Bootle • April: Haddingtonshire • Cheltenham • East Dorset • May: Birmingham South • Barnstaple • June: Ross & Cromarty • Brighton • July: Kingston-upon-Hull Central • Glasgow Tradeston • St Augustine's • West Ham North • East Wicklow • North East Cork • East Cork • Luton • Wellington • Bethnal Green South West • August: Middleton • September: Kilmarnock District • October: North Tyrone • Keighley • November: Bristol East • Oldham • South Somerset • Hitchin • December: North Ayrshire • Govan
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1912 |
January: Carmarthen District • February: Edinburgh East • Glasgow St Rollox • March: Manchester South • Hereford • South East Essex • Leominster • Epsom • April: Nottingham East • Forest of Dean • May: Hackney South • North West Norfolk • June: Hythe • Holmfirth • July: Ilkeston • Hanley • Crewe • August: Manchester North West • East Carmarthenshire • September: Edinburghshire • November: Taunton • Bolton • Bow & Bromley
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1913 |
January: Flint District • Londonderry City • February: East Waterford • East Antrim • Chorley • March: Houghton-le-Spring • Kendal • April: Shrewsbury • Whitechapel • May: Newmarket • Altrincham • June: Leix • Wandsworth • Dover • Leicester • July: St George's, Hanover Square • August: Chesterfield • November: North Cork • Linlithgowshire • Reading • Keighley • December: Wick District • South Lanarkshire
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1914 |
January: North West Durham • February: Wycombe • Cork City • Bethnal Green South West • Poplar • Leith Burghs • April: Belfast East • East Fife • May: Great Grimsby • North East Derbyshire • Ipswich • June: Brighton • Oxford University • July: Birmingham West • East Worcestershire • North Galway • August: Swansea District • West Wicklow • September: Bolton • The Hartlepools • November: Londonderry City • December: East Galway • Tullamore • Sheffield Attercliffe
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1915 |
February: Norwich • Swansea District • Scarborough • Shipley • Howdenshire • Thirsk & Malton • Wigtownshire • Chesterton • Saffron Walden • Liverpool Kirkdale • Mid Antrim • Maidstone • March: Carmarthen District • April: Mid Durham • May: Kilmarnock District • June: Preston • Dublin College Green • North Tipperary • Keighley • July: Arfon • Glasgow Central • October: Dublin Harbour • Appleby • November: Heywood • Uxbridge • Cardiff • Kingston • St Helen's • St Austell • Merthyr Tydfil • Tiverton • December: Cleveland
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1916 |
January: Newington West • St George, Hanover Square • Portsmouth • North West Staffordshire • Chesterton • Bradford Central • Mile End • Rotherham • February: Liverpool East Toxteth • North Louth • Bolton • Chester • Droitwich • March: Cockermouth • Hertford • South Shields • Harborough • Hyde • April: Wimbledon • Dublin University • Ossory • May: Tewkesbury • Widnes • July: Berwickshire • August: Bodmin • Berwick-upon-Tweed • Colne Valley • Abingdon • September: Mansfield • October: North Ayrshire • St Pancras West • Winchester • North Fermanagh • November: West Cork • December: Hornsey • Ashton-under-Lyne • Sheffield Hallam • Whitechapel • Derby • Edinburgh & St Andrews Universities
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1917 |
January: Inverness-shire • February: North Roscommon • Dublin University • Rotherham • Rossendale • West Perthshire • North Roscommon • March: Stockton • Oxford • April: Aberdeen South • Belfast South • Ealing • May: South Longford • Edinburgh South • June: Epping • Henley • Liverpool Abercromby • July: Belfast South • Fulham • South County Dublin • East Clare • South Monmouthshire • Cambridge • Chesterton • Dundee • August: Edinburgh & St Andrews Universities • Norwich • October: Islington East • Spalding • Basingstoke • November: Salford North • North Armagh • December: Wisbech • Southampton
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1918 |
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