Paisley by-election, 1920
The Paisley by-election, 1920 was a parliamentary by-election held on 12 February 1920 for the British House of Commons constituency of Paisley in Scotland. It was caused by the death of the constituency's sitting Liberal Member of Parliament (MP) Sir John Mills McCallum.
Asquith’s return
![](../I/m/Herbert_Henry_Asquith.jpg)
The by-election provided an opportunity for the return to Parliament of H. H. Asquith, the former prime minister who had lost his seat at East Fife at the 1918 general election in the aftermath of the split in the Liberal Party between those who supported the coalition of David Lloyd George with the Conservatives and the supporters of Asquith’s independent Liberals, or ‘Wee Frees.’ The by-election seemed to be a triumph for the Independent Liberals with a majority of 2,834 votes over Labour and a blow for the government with the Coalition Conservative candidate losing his deposit.
The result
Paisley by-election, 1920: Paisley | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
Liberal | Herbert Henry Asquith | 14,736 | 48.4 | ||
Labour | John McLaren Biggar | 11,902 | 39.1 | ||
Conservative | James Anderson Dunlop MacKean | 3,795 | 12.5 | ||
Majority | 2,834 | 9.3 | |||
Liberal hold | Swing | ||||
Further reading
- The Radical Thread: Political Change in Scotland. Paisley Politics, 1885-1924 by Catriona M M MacDonald, Scottish Historical Review, 2000
- Victory at Paisley; Graeme Peters on Asquith’s return to Parliament; Journal of Liberal History, Issue 19, Summer 1998, p14 & 17 http://www.liberalhistory.org.uk/uploads/19_peters_victory_at_paisley.pdf
- Hold on, hold out; we are coming; Ian Hunter on the speech made by Lady Violet Bonham Carter on the return of her father to Parliament; Journal of Liberal History, Issue 37, Winter 2002-03 pp 22–25 http://www.liberalhistory.org.uk/uploads/37-Winter%25202002-03.pdf