1920 Horncastle by-election

UK parliamentary by-election April 2022 1920 Horncastle by-election United Kingdom by-election Popular Horncastle (UK Parliament constituency)#Elections in the 1910s 1918 1920 02 25 yes (Polling)1920 03 09 yes (Declaration) Horncastle (UK Parliament constituency)#Elections in the 1920s 1922 23,764 77.0% Unionist Party (UK) Stafford Hotchkin Unionist Party (UK) Coalition 8,140 44.5% 9.8% File:Samuel Pattinson (cropped).jpg Samuel Pattinson Liberal Party (UK) 6,727 36.7% 9.0% Labour Party (UK) William Holmes Labour Party (UK) 3,443 18.8% New MP William Weigall Unionist Party (UK) Subsequent MP Stafford Hotchkin Unionist Party (UK) The 1920 Horncastle by-election was a parliamentary by-election held for the British House of Commons constituency of Horncastle in Lincolnshire on 25 February 1920. The seat had become vacant when the sitting Coalition Unionist Member of Parliament, William Weigall, who had held the seat since 1911, resigned upon being appointed Governor of South Australia.The Times, 27 January 1920 Candidates The Unionists, as representatives of the Liberal-Conservative Coalition government of David Lloyd George had as their candidate, Stafford Hotchkin (1876-1953), a farmer, former soldier, Sheriff of Rutland and a local Justice of the Peace.Who was Who, OUP 2007 The Liberals were represented by Samuel Pattinson (1870-1942), a local businessman and sometime Alderman of Lincolnshire County Council. William Holmes stood for the Labour Party.The Times, 10 February 1920 The "Coupon" revisited Hotchkin quickly received the endorsement of both the prime minister and the leader of the Conservative Party, Bonar Law. In his letter to Hotchkin, Lloyd George emphasised the need to resuscitate and develop British agriculture in which task he said Hotchkin as a ‘practical farmer’ would be able to help the government. Bonar-Law stressed the continuing need for parties to work together in the national interest in difficult times.The Times, 19 February 1920 In effect Hotchkin was receiving the equivalent of the government ‘coupon’ which had been issued at the 1918 general election. Campaign Issues Agriculture Agriculture dominated the election in this rural constituency. Labour had hopes of picking up the votes of the agricultural workers who were members of the National Union of Agricultural Workers, but William Holmes was reported as alienating potential supporters by making speeches about revolution and bloodshed. It was expected that the Liberals would gain land workers’ votes put off by the apparent extremism of Holmes’ electioneering. While the Coalition government was losing popularity across the country, it was reported that Hotchkin was a strong local candidate who knew about farming from a practical point of view.The Times, 23 February 1920 In the post-war environment, the availability and price of food and of animal feed were also issues.The Times, 25 February 1920 All the candidates strongly supported the encouragement and development of small holdings. Hotchkin was a sometime Chairman of the Lindsey Small Holdings Committee Who was Who, OUP 2007 Government influence A related concern was government influence over private life and business, through over-regulation and bureaucracy, as well as examples of waste and extravagance from an administration in far away London. This theme was taken up by the Liberal, who also attacked Labour for their plans for nationalisation. Result The declaration of the poll did not take place until 9 March 1920 because of the government’s continuing to keep in force a wartime regulation delaying the announcement of election results.The Times, 2 March 1920 By this time news of H H Asquith's by-election win in Paisley had become known and this encouraged the Liberals to hope for a good result at Horncastle. In the event, however, the seat was held for the Coalition by Hotchkin with a majority of 1,413 over Pattinson, with Labour in third place. Turnout was 77.1% as opposed to 68.2% at the previous general election, which had been a straight fight between Unionist Coalitionist and Liberal candidates.C Cook & J Ramsden, By-elections in British politics; UCL Press 1077, p271 Horncastle by-election, 1920: The Times, 10 March 1920 & Cook and Ramsden, op cit, p271 Unionist Party (UK) Stafford Hotchkin 8,140 44.5 –9.8 Liberal Party (UK) Samuel Pattinson 6,727 36.7 –9.0 Labour Party (UK) William Holmes 3,443 18.8 New 1,413 7.8 -0.8 18,310 77.0 +8.8 23,764 Unionist Party (UK) –0.4 Candidates’ reaction All three candidates were able to draw a positive conclusion from the result. Hotchkin was clearly gratified to have won and credited his success to a combination of popular satisfaction with the Coalition government and his status as a local man. Pattinson blamed his lack of success on the intervention of a Labour candidate, splitting the anti-coalition vote and presumably hoping Labour’s third place would discourage them from standing a candidate at future elections. Holmes said he had done well, coming late into the contest a perfect stranger to the constituency and was pleased to have established a solid Labour movement there.The Times, 10 March 1920 Hotchkin took his seat in the House of Commons on Friday 12 March 1920. He served as MP for Horncastle until 1922 when Pattison won the seat at that year’s general election.http://www.leighrayment.com/commons/Hcommons4.htm Results leighrayment.com 2008-11-29 usurped https://web.archive.org/web/20121219110655/http://www.leighrayment.com/commons/Hcommons4.htm 2012-12-19 Aftermath The intervention of the Labour party was not viewed as a success as they chose not to contest the seat at the 1922 general election. At this election, the new Unionist MP retired and Pattinson gained the seat for the Liberals. Labour avoided running a candidate again until 1929 when their candidate took enough votes off the Liberals to allow the Unionists to win again. References Category:1920 elections in the United Kingdom Category:1920 in England Category:By-elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom in Lincolnshire constituencies Category:February 1920 in the United Kingdom