Swansea East by-election, 1919

The Swansea East by-election, 1919 was a parliamentary by-election held for the British House of Commons constituency of Swansea East on 10 July 1919.

Vacancy

The seat had become vacant when the Coalition Liberal Member of Parliament (MP) Thomas Jeremiah Williams had died on 12 June 1919, aged 46. He had held the seat since its creation at the 1918 general election.

Last Result

General Election 1918
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Coalition Liberal Thomas Jeremiah Williams 11,071 63.6
Labour David Williams 6,341 36.4
Majority 4,730 27.2
Turnout 17,411 64.1
Coalition Liberal hold Swing

Campaign

At a Labour Party conference in June, a resolution was passed in favour of using the strike weapon for political purposes.

Result

The Coalition Liberal candidate, David Matthews, held the seat for his party, but with a greatly reduced majority.

Swansea East by-election, 1919
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Coalition Liberal David Matthews 9,250 53.1 −10.5
Labour David Williams 8,158 46.9 +10.5
Majority 1,092 6.2 −21.0
Turnout 17,408 64.0 −0.1
Coalition Liberal hold Swing −10.5

Aftermath

David Williams, stood again at the 1922 general election and won the seat.

See also

References