1924 Oxford by-election

UK parliamentary by-election November 2019 The 1924 Oxford by-election was a parliamentary by-election held on 5 June 1924 for the British House of Commons constituency of Oxford. Vacancy The seat had become vacant when the Liberal Member of Parliament (MP) Frank Gray was unseated on petition on 14 May, after his agent had falsified the account for his expenses at the 1923 election.British History Online Gray had held the seat since the 1922 election. Electoral history The result of the last General Election; thumb|120px|Gray 1923 general election: OxfordBritish Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (The Macmillan Press 1979) Liberal Party (UK) Frank Gray 12,311 56.1 -2.9 Conservative Party (UK) Robert Bourne 9,618 43.9 +2.9 2,693 12.2 -5.8 21,929 83.5 -0.3 Liberal Party (UK) -2.9 Candidates thumb|120px|Fry On 16 May, the Oxford Liberal Association immediately invited the 52-year-old C.B. Fry, to defend the seat. He had been an all-round sportsman who was best known as an England cricketer. Fry had contested Brighton in the 1922 election and the neighbouring seat of Banbury in the 1923 election. The Conservative Party selected the 35-year-old Robert Bourne, who had been a member of the New College boat which won silver in the men’s eights at the 1912 Olympics. The Labour Party who had not fielded a candidate before, selected the 26-year-old Kenneth Lindsay, recently down from Worcester and contesting his first Parliamentary election. He had been President of the Oxford Union in Michaelmas 1922. Campaign All three candidates were former Oxford Blues enabling the popular press to dub the campaign 'The Battle of the Blues'.Trial by Ballot by Ivor RM Davies (1950) p77. Former Liberal MP Frank Gray, despite being barred from standing, was still very popular in the constituency and he was active in support of Fry throughout the campaign. During the campaign Fry advocated the introduction of equal opportunities for women, the imposition of responsibilities on the fathers of illegitimate children and the introduction of a tax system that would give privacy and independence to married women.CB Fry by Iain Wilton,(1999) p325. Result The result was a gain for the Conservatives. 1924 Oxford by-electionBritish Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (The Macmillan Press 1979) Conservative Party (UK) Robert Bourne 10,079 47.8 +3.9 Liberal Party (UK) C.B. Fry 8,237 39.1 -17.0 Labour Party (UK) Kenneth Lindsay 2,769 13.1 New 1,842 8.7 N/A 21,085 80.3 -3.2 Conservative Party (UK) Liberal Party (UK) +10.5 Aftermath Bourne would hold the seat at the following General Election later in the year. References Category:1924 elections in the United Kingdom Category:Elections in Oxford Category:1924 in England Category:June 1924 in the United Kingdom Category:By-elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom in Oxfordshire constituencies Category:20th century in Oxford