1917 Stockton-on-Tees by-election

UK parliamentary by-election April 2022 The 1917 Stockton-on-Tees by-election was a parliamentary by-election held for the British House of Commons constituency of Stockton-on-Tees in County Durham on 20 March 1917. Vacancy The by-election was caused by the death of the sitting Liberal MP, Jonathan Samuel on 22 February 1917. Candidates The Stockton Liberal Association considered a number of possible candidates but decided upon Bertrand Watson,The Times, 14 March 1917 p3 a 38-year-old local man, a solicitor who was a former Mayor of Stockton-on-Tees and member of Durham County Council.Who was Who, OUP, 2007 The Unionists had indicated that they would not oppose a Liberal candidate who supported the wartime Coalition government of which they were members.The Times, 27 February 1917 p3 The Labour Party in Stockton considered putting up a candidate. They invited Robert Dennison, a Trade Union official with the British Steel Smelters' Association, to address them with a view to becoming their candidate but in the end decided not to put forward a challenge to the wartime party truce. Dennison did later go on to become Labour MP for Birmingham King's Norton from 1924-1929.Who was Who, OUP, 2007 The by-election was however contested by banker Edward Backhouse JP of Darlington, a proponent of the Peace by Negotiation Party and a member of the Society of Friends.The Times, 2 March 1917 p5 The issues The by-election was described in the press as quiet and lacking outward signs of public interest. The prosecution of the war was the only issue of the day and Backhouse failed to capture the public imagination with many local men away serving in the armed forces.The Times, 21 March 1917 p5 He often faced a hostile reception. One of his meetings was broken up by an angry crowd which stormed the platform preventing his guest from speaking.Brock Millman, Managing Domestic Dissent in First World War Britain; Frank Cass, 2000 p161 Result Watson easily held the seat for the Liberals and the Coalition, the pacifist candidate polling even less well than anticipated.The Times, 21 March 1917 p5 1917 Stockton-on-Tees by-election Liberal Party (UK) Bertrand Watson 7,641 92.8 +39.6 Independent (politician) Edward Backhouse 596 7.2 New 7,045 85.6 +79.2 8,237 59.3 -30.1 Liberal Party (UK) References 2 See also List of United Kingdom by-elections United Kingdom by-election records Category:1917 elections in the United Kingdom Category:1917 in England Category:By-elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom in County Durham constituencies Category:Politics of the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees Category:20th century in County Durham