Whitechapel and St George's by-election, 1923

Whitechapel and St George's in 1923

The Whitechapel and St Georges by-election, 1923 was a parliamentary by-election for the British House of Commons constituency of Whitechapel and St Georges on 8 February 1923.

Vacancy

The by-election was caused by the death of the sitting Labour MP, Charles James Mathew on 8 January 1923. Mathew died, aged 50, after an operation, 7 weeks after his election, becoming one of the shortest-serving MPs in history.

Election history

The constituency was created for the 1918 General Election. The area had been a Liberal stronghold and despite the Conservative candidate being endorsed by the Coalition Government, the Liberals won a four cornered contest. At the following General election, Labour narrowly gained the seat, the result was;

1922 General Election[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Charles James Mathew 6,267 40.2
Liberal James Daniel Kiley 5,839 37.4
Conservative A. Instone 3,502 22.4
Majority 428 2.8
Turnout 24,333 64.1
Labour gain from Liberal Swing +4.3

Candidates

Campaign

Polling Day was set for 8 February 1923, exactly one month after the death of Mathew. Nominations closed on the 31 January 1923 to reveal a three cornered contest between Labour's Gosling, the Liberal Kiley and the Prohibitionist Holden.

Leading Liberal, Sir John Simon who had gained a seat from Labour at the 1922 General Election, came to speak in support of Kiley.

Holden's campaign received the active support of Edwin Scrymgeour who had been elected to parliament for Dundee at the 1922 General Election on behalf of the Scottish Prohibition Party.

http://www.britishpathe.com/video/englands-first-prohibitionist-m-p/query/CAMPAIGNING+BY

Result

The Labour Party held the seat.

Harry Gosling
Whitechapel and St George's by-election, 1923[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Harry Gosling 8,398 57.0 +16.8
Liberal James Daniel Kiley 6,198 42.1 +4.7
National Prohibition Party Servetus Mortimer Holden 130 0.9 n/a
Majority 2,200 14.9
Turnout 24,333 60.5
Labour hold Swing +6.1

Aftermath

Gosling and Kiley went head-to-head again at the General election later in the year with the same outcome;

1923 General Election[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Harry Gosling 7,812 54.0
Liberal James Daniel Kiley 6,656 46.0 +3.9
Majority 1,156 8.0
Turnout 24,800 58.3
Labour hold Swing -3.5

The National Prohibition Party did not contest another parliamentary seat. Holden did not stand for parliament again until 1929 when he contested Preston as an Independent candidate.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949; Political Reference Publications, Glasgow 1949
  2. "Obituary: Mr. Harry Gosling, M.P. From Waterman To Labour Minister". The Times. 25 October 1930. p. 17.
  3. Hesilridge, Arthur G. M. (1922). Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench 1922. London: Dean & Son.
  4. Aberdeen Journal, 16 Jan 1923
  5. F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1885-1918
  6. Western Morning News, 23 Jan 1923

See also

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