1914 Bethnal Green South West by-election

none April 2022 Bethnal Green South West by-election presidential United Kingdom 1911 Bethnal Green South West by-election 1911 Bethnal Green South West (UK Parliament constituency)#Elections in the 1910s 1918 19 February 1914 Wilson 65px Unionist Party (UK) 2,828 47.6% Masterman 65px Liberal Party (UK) 2,804 47.1% Scurr 65px Socialist Party 316 5.3% BethnalGreenSouthWest1885.png 250px MP Subsequent MP Masterman Liberal Party (UK) Wilson Unionist Party (UK) The 1914 Bethnal Green South West by-election was a Parliamentary by-election held on 19 February 1914.Craig F.W.S. 1987 Chronology of British Parliamentary By-elections 1833–1987 Chichester Parliamentary Research Services 109 The constituency returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post voting system. Vacancy In 1914 Charles Masterman the Liberal MP for Bethnal Green South West was appointed to the Cabinet as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. However under the law at the time, any MP nominated as minister was legally required to recontest their seat in a by-election. Electoral history 1911 Bethnal Green South West by-electionBritish parliamentary election results 1885-1918, Craig, F.W.S. (1974) Liberal Party (UK) Charles Masterman 2,745 50.4 -6.6 Conservative Party (UK) Eric Alfred Hoffgaard 2,561 47.1 +4.1 Independent Labour John Scurr 134 2.5 New 184 3.3 -10.7 5,440 76.8 +8.5 Liberal Party (UK) -5.3 Candidates thumb|120px|Masterman Charles Masterman had represented this seat since the previous by-election when he had held the seat in a three-cornered contest. Forty-one-year-old Masterman was undertaking his sixth election as a Liberal candidate and his fourth election in as many years. Sir Mathew Wilson was chosen to be the new Unionist challenger. Thirty-nine-year-old Sir Mathew Wilson had not stood for parliament before. He was a soldier who fought in the Boer War.Debrett's House of Commons and Judicial Bench 1916 Thirty-eight-year-old Australian-born Socialist John Scurr again stood. He had made a habit of contesting by-elections in the hope that he could attract sufficient Liberal votes to let the Unionist win. Since the 1911 by-election he had stood at the 1913 Chesterfield by-election where he finished a poor third. He was the nomination of the Bethnal Green Trades and Labour Council.Hull Daily Mail, 16 Feb 1914 The British Socialist Party also considered running a candidate.Western Times, Devon, 16 Feb 1914 Campaign The by-election posed a very real threat to Masterman's political future, with party controversy increased by the government's efforts at the time to introduce Home Rule into Ireland, and by the resulting possibility of civil war breaking out there.Charles Masterman (1873-1927), politician and journalist by Eric Hopkins 1999 The militant Women's Social and Political Union and the John Bull League campaigned locally against Masterman. The John Bull League was a front organisation for Horatio Bottomley the right-wing owner of the John Bull magazine. Attempts were made to blacken Masterman's character by the Northcliffe press, and by Bottomley in his organ John Bull. The militant suffragettes opposed Masterman despite the fact that he was a supporter of women's suffrage, and had voted in support of the 1908 Women's Enfranchisement Bill.https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1908/feb/28/womens-enfranchisement-bill-1#S4V0185P0_19080228_HOC_73 28 February 1908 WOMEN'S ENFRANCHISEMENT BILL. (Hansard, 28 February 1908) Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) Result At the request of the candidates, this was the first occasion which the hours of poll were extended for a Parliamentary election by opening at 7am instead of 8am.Aberdeen Evening Express, 19 Feb 1914 The result was declared after a re-count, at first the Unionist majority was found to be 22 votes, after the re-count the majority was increased to 24 votes.Nottingham Evening Post, 20 Feb 1914 1914 Bethnal Green South West by-election Unionist Party (UK) Mathew Wilson 2,828 47.6 +0.5 Liberal Party (UK) Charles Masterman 2,804 47.1 -3.3 Independent Labour John Scurr 316 5.3 +2.8 24 0.5 N/A 5,948 83.5 +6.7 Unionist Party (UK) Liberal Party (UK) +1.9 Aftermath A General Election was due to take place by the end of 1915. By the summer of 1914, the following candidates had been adopted to contest that election. Due to the outbreak of war, the election never took place. Unionist: Mathew Wilson Liberal: Socialist: John Scurr General election 14 December 1918: Bethnal Green South West Unionist Party (UK) Mathew Wilson 4,240 52.3 Independent Labour Ernest Thurtle 1,941 23.9 New Liberal Party (UK) Hugh Meyler 1,935 23.8 2,299 28.4 8,116 41.6 Unionist Party (UK) Wilson was the endorsed candidate of the Coalition Government. References Bibliography Who's Who: www.ukwhoswho.com Bethnal Green South West by-election Bethnal Green South West by-election Bethnal Green South West by-election Bethnal Green South West,1914 Bethnal Green South West,1914 Category:Ministerial by-elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom Category:Bethnal Green