Sowerby by-election, 1904

Sowerby by-election, 1904
United Kingdom
2 July 1904

 
Candidate John Higham William Simpson-Hinchliffe
Party Liberal Conservative
Popular vote 6,049 3,877
Percentage 60.9 39.1

MP before election

John William Mellor
Liberal

 Subsequent MP

John Higham
Liberal

The Sowerby by-election was a Parliamentary by-election. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post voting system.

Vacancy

John William Mellor had been Liberal MP for the seat of Sowerby since the 1892 General Election. Aged 69, he chose to retire from parliament.

Electoral history

The seat had been Liberal since creation in 1885. They easily held the seat at the last election, with a reduced majority;

Mellor
General Election 1900: Sowerby [1][2][3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Liberal Rt Hon. John William Mellor 5,528 57.6 -1.1
Conservative John Cann Bailey 4,067 42.4 +1.1
Majority 1,461 15.2 -2.2
Turnout 80.0 +2.3
Liberal hold Swing -1.1

Candidates

The local Liberal Association selected 47 year-old Accrington businessman, John Sharp Higham as their candidate to defend the seat. He was Mayor of Accrington from 1899–1901. [4] The local Conservative Association selected 24 year-old William Algernon Simpson-Hinchliffe as their candidate.[5]

Result

The Liberals held the seat from the Conservatives;

Sowerby by-election, 1904 [6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Liberal John Sharp Higham 6,049 60.9 +3.3
Conservative William Algernon Simpson-Hinchliffe 3,877 39.1 -3.3
Majority 2,172 21.8 +6.6
Turnout 80.6
Liberal hold Swing +3.3

Aftermath

At the following General Election the result was;

General Election 1906: Sowerby [7][8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Liberal John Sharp Higham 6,482 61.6 +0.7
Conservative William Algernon Simpson-Hinchliffe 4,034 38.4 -0.7
Majority 2,448 23.2 +1.4
Turnout 84.2 +3.6
Liberal hold Swing +0.7

References

  1. ↑ British Parliamentary Election Results 1885-1918, FWS Craig
  2. ↑ The Liberal Year Book, 1907
  3. ↑ Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1901
  4. ↑ ‘HIGHAM, John Sharp’, Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2016; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2014 ; online edn, April 2014 accessed 14 Feb 2017
  5. ↑ ‘SIMPSON-HINCHLIFFE, William Algernon’, Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2016; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2014 ; online edn, April 2014 accessed 14 Feb 2017
  6. ↑ British Parliamentary Election Results 1885-1918, FWS Craig
  7. ↑ British Parliamentary Election Results 1885-1918, FWS Craig
  8. ↑ The Liberal Year Book, 1907
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