Louth by-election, 1921

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The Louth by-election, 1921 was a by-election held on 22 September 1921 for the British House of Commons constituency of Louth in Lincolnshire.

Vacancy

The seat had become vacant on the death on 8 August of the Liberal Member of Parliament (MP) Thomas Wintringham. He had been elected at the by-election in 1920.

Electoral history

The result at the last election was;

Louth by-election, 1920 Electorate ^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Thomas Wintringham	9,859	57.3	+11.8
	Conservative	Christopher Hatton Turnor	7,354	42.7	−11.8
Majority			2,505	14.6
Turnout			17,213	63.1	+2.8
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	11.8

Received the Coalition Government 'Coupon'.

Candidates

Margaret Wintringham

The Liberals selected 41 year old Margaret Wintringham, widow of the former MP as their candidate to defend the seat. She worked as a teacher, before becoming headmistress of a school in Grimsby. She became a magistrate and a member of the Grimsby Education Committee. She was involved in many political movements, including the National Union of Women Workers, the British Temperance Association, the National Union of Societies for Equal Citizenship (NUSEC), the Women's Institute and the Townswomen's Guild. She was standing for parliament for the first time.
On 17 August, the Unionists selected 41 year old Sir Alan Hutchings as their candidate to challenge for the seat. He was Secretary of the Department of the Director-General of Voluntary Organisations (War Office) from 1915-19.^[2] He was standing for parliament for the first time.
The Labour Party selected Lt. James George of Peterborough as their candidate to challenge for the seat.^[3] He was standing for parliament for the first time.

Campaign

Polling Day was set for 22 September 1921, 45 days after the death of the former MP, allowing for a long campaign. Despite rumours the contrary, on 13 September nominations closed to confirm that the election would be a three-way contest.^[4]

Hutchings received the official endorsement of the Coalition Government.

Result

Wintringham held the seat that her husband had gained for the Liberals in a by-election the year before.

Louth by-election, 1921 Electorate ^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Margaret Wintringham	8,386	42.2	−15.1
	Conservative	Sir Alan Hutchings	7,695	38.3	−4.4
	Labour	James L. George	3,873	19.5	N/A
Majority			791	3.9	−10.7
Turnout			19,954	72.1	+9.0
	Liberal hold		Swing

Wintringham become only the second woman to take her seat in the House of Commons, and the first female Liberal MP.

Aftermath

Wintringham was re-elected at the 1922 general election,

1922 General Election^[6] Electorate 28,468
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Margaret Wintringham	11,609
	Conservative	Sir Alan Hutchings	10,726
Majority
Turnout
	Liberal hold		Swing

References

↑ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
↑ ‘HUTCHINGS, Sir Alan’, Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2007; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2012 ; online edn, Nov 2012 [http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/article/oupww/whowaswho/U238973, accessed 4 Jan 2014]
↑ Grantham Journal, 27 Aug 1921
↑ Grantham Journal, 17 Sep 1921
↑ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
↑ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig

Craig, F. W. S. (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918-1949 (3rd edition ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.
Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs

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1919	February: Liverpool West Derby March: Leyton West North Londonderry Oxford University Hull Central April: Aberdeenshire and Kincardineshire Central May: East Antrim July: Swansea East Bothwell Dublin University August: Widnes September: Pontefract October: Manchester Rusholme November: Chester-le-Street Croydon South Isle of Thanet Plymouth Sutton December: St Albans Bromley Spen Valley

1920	January: Ashton-under-Lyne February: The Wrekin Paisley Horncastle March: Argyll Dartford Stockport Basingstoke Camberwell North West April: Northampton Edinburgh North Edinburgh South Sunderland June: Louth Nelson and Colne July: Ebbw Vale South Norfolk Woodbridge September: Ilford November: Hemel Hempstead The Wrekin Middleton and Prestwich December: Abertillery Rhondda West

1921	January: Hereford Dover February: Cardiganshire March: Woolwich East Dudley Birmingham Moseley Kirkcaldy Burghs Penistone Birmingham West April: Taunton Bristol West Glasgow Pollok East Dorset Bewdley Eddisbury Bedford Chichester May: Hastings Penrith and Cockermouth Abingdon Orkney and Shetland June: Belfast Duncairn Mid Armagh North Down West Down July: Mid Down Westminster St George's Heywood and Radcliffe Hertford August: Caerphilly Westminster Abbey South Londonderry September: Lewisham West Louth October: Westhoughton November: Hornsey December: Southwark South East

1922	January: Ludlow Tamworth South Londonderry February: West Down Manchester Clayton Camberwell North North Down Bodmin March: Wolverhampton West Liverpool Exchange Cambridge Inverness Chertsey Leicester East May: Wandsworth City of London June: North Londonderry Newbury Moray and Nairn Banbury Nottingham East July: Gower North Down Pontypridd August: Hackney South October: Newport

Lists of UK by-elections 1801–1806 1806–1818 1818–1832 1832–1847 1847–1857 1857–1868 1868–1885 1885–1900 1900–1918 1918–1931 1931–1950 1950–1979 1979–present

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