1910 Rotherham by-election

UK parliamentary by-election April 2022 The 1910 Rotherham by-election was a parliamentary by-election held for the UK House of Commons constituency of Rotherham in what was then the West Riding of Yorkshire on 1 March 1910. Vacancy thumb|Jack Pease The by-election was caused by the resignation of the sitting Liberal MP, Sir William Holland. Holland, who held his seat in Rotherham with a majority of 7,558 The Times, 22 February 1910 p12 agreed to resign to make way for J A Pease to return to Parliament. Pease had been government Chief Whip but had lost his seat at Saffron Walden in the general election of January 1910.The Times House of Commons 1910; Politico’s Publishing 2004 p63 The Prime Minister, H H Asquith, had intended to appoint Pease to the Cabinet as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and was therefore keen to identify a seat at which room could be made for Pease at a by-election. Asquith had taken Pease’s defeat quite hard and had sent him a telegram on 12 January 1910 saying: ‘This is the worst incident of the election and grieves me more than I can say...’Cameron Hazlehurst & Christine Woodland (eds.), A Liberal Chronicle: Journals and Papers of J A Pease, 1st Lord Gainford, 1908-1910;The Historians’ Press, 1994 p152 In return for his resignation Holland was rewarded with a peerage in the King’s birthday honours list in June 1910.The Times, 24 June 1910 p9 Candidates Liberals Pease addressed a meeting of the Rotherham Liberal Federation on 21 February and they agreed to support his candidature. The meeting heard from Sir William Holland that he had been asked by the Prime Minister to stand aside in favour of Pease and he read a letter from Asquith urging that Pease be returned to his Parliamentary duties as soon as possible.The Times, 22 February 1910 p12 Conservatives Although Holland had been MP for Rotherham since 1899 and had been unopposed in 1906, the Unionists had put up a candidate against him in January 1910. However the Conservatives were apparently faced with the difficulty of raising the necessary funds to fight a by-election so soon after the general election but they indicated they would put up a candidate if the Labour Party made it a three-cornered contest.The Times, 23 February 1910 p9 Labour The local Labour Party was apparently very keen to stand a candidate. At a meeting of the Trades Council on 22 February a resolution in favour of running a candidate was passed. The name of John Thomas Macpherson, the former Labour MP for Preston was discussed. Macpherson was an official of the British Steel Smelters, Mill, Iron, Tinplate and Kindred Trades AssociationThe Times, 19 January 1906 p15 and the union was said to be strong in the Rotherham constituency and willing to pay for his deposit and other expenses.The Times, 24 February 1910 p9 The strongest local trade union however was the Yorkshire Miners' Association and the officials of the Federation were traditionally supporters of the Liberals.The Times, 24 February 1910 p9 Although the local Labour Party had decided to recommend a candidate be adopted, many moderate members of the party, who had traditionally been prepared to vote Liberal, were urging that Pease be unopposed.The Times, 25 February 1910 p9 It was proposed that a deputation of Labour people meet with the executive of the Yorkshire Miners’ Federation at Barnsley to see if a miners’ candidate could be found.The Times, 26 February 1910 p12 In the end the pro-Liberal voices prevailed and another strong factor was the influence of Ramsay MacDonald who argued against putting a candidate up because the time available for the campaign was so short,Cameron Hazlehurst & Christine Woodland (eds.), A Liberal Chronicle: Journals and Papers of J A Pease, 1st Lord Gainford, 1908-1910;The Historians’ Press, 1994 p157 although recommending the time be used to organise in the constituency in support of a candidate against all-comers at the next general election.The Times, 28 February 1910 p9 Result There being no other candidates putting themselves forward, Pease was returned unopposed.The Times, 1 March 1910 p9 Rotherham by-election, 1910 Liberal Party (UK) Jack Pease Unopposed N/A N/A Liberal Party (UK) Rotherham by-elections 1899, 76, 94, 2012 Rotherham by-election References See also List of United Kingdom by-elections United Kingdom by-election records Category:1910 elections in the United Kingdom Category:By-elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom in South Yorkshire constituencies Category:Unopposed by-elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom in English constituencies Category:1910 in England Category:Elections in Rotherham Category:1910s in Yorkshire Category:March 1910 in the United Kingdom