1921 Woolwich East by-election

UK parliamentary by-election April 2022 June 2025 1921 Woolwich East by-election presidential United Kingdom Woolwich East (UK Parliament constituency)#Elections in the 1910s 1918 Woolwich East (UK Parliament constituency)#Elections in the 1920s 1922 2 March 1921 Gee 85px Unionist Party (UK) 13,724 51.3% MacDonald 85px Labour Party (UK) 13,041 48.7% WoolwichEast1918.png 250px MP Subsequent MP Crooks Labour Party (UK) Gee Unionist Party (UK) The 1921 Woolwich East by-election was a parliamentary by-election held on 2 March 1921 for the British House of Commons constituency of Woolwich East, in the Metropolitan Borough of Woolwich in London. Vacancy The seat had become vacant on the resignation of the constituency's Labour Member of Parliament (MP), Will Crooks, due to ill-health. Crooks was a noted trade unionist and working-class organiser, and had represented Woolwich East and its predecessor seat, Woolwich, since a by-election in 1903, with a gap between the two general elections of 1910. 1918 general election: Woolwich East Labour Party (UK) Will Crooks Unopposed N/A N/A Labour Party (UK) Candidates thumb|150px|Ramsay MacDonald The Labour Party selected as its candidate former leader Ramsay MacDonald, who had lost his Leicester seat at the coupon election of 1918. The Conservatives selected Robert Gee, an ex-miner who had stood for the National Democratic Party at Consett in 1918. Gee had been a Captain in The Royal Fusiliers during the First World War, and had gained a Victoria Cross for his actions. This was contrasted with MacDonald, who had been a pacifist opposed to the war, for which he had had to resign the Chairmanship of the Labour Party. Campaign The newly formed Communist Party of Great Britain urged voters to abstain, saying ""that while the coalition candidate stands openly and avowedly for capitalism in all its ramifications, its industrial autocracy, its attacks on trade unions, its exploitation, its predatory imperialism, the Labour candidate stands for Capitalism and all its manifestations, none the less surely because its purpose is hidden under high sounding words". http://www.whatnextjournal.co.uk/pages/History/Squires.html British Communists and Elections, 1920-1935 25 June 2008 7 September 2008 https://web.archive.org/web/20080907002606/http://www.whatnextjournal.co.uk/Pages/History/Squires.html dead Result Gee took the seat with a majority of nearly 700 votes. Woolwich East by-election, 1921 Unionist Party (UK) Robert Gee 13,724 51.3 New Labour Party (UK) Ramsay MacDonald 13,041 48.7 N/A 683 2.6 N/A 26,765 78.5 N/A Unionist Party (UK) Labour Party (UK) N/A Aftermath Gee held the seat until the 1922 election, when Harry Snell retook the seat for Labour. 1922 general election: Woolwich East Labour Party (UK) Harry Snell 15,620 57.1 N/A Conservative Party (UK) Robert Gee 11,714 42.9 N/A 3,906 14.2 N/A 27,334 80.4 N/A Labour Party (UK) Conservative Party (UK) MacDonald would go on to be elected MP for Aberavon in 1922, and be re-elected Leader of the Labour Party, then become Prime Minister after the 1923 election. Sources Ramsay MacDonald campaigning at Woolwich May 2020 InternetArchiveBot yes See also List of United Kingdom by-elections Woolwich East constituency 1903 Woolwich by-election 1931 Woolwich East by-election 1951 Woolwich East by-election References Bibliography Craig F. W. S. F. W. S. Craig British parliamentary election results 1918-1949 1969 3rd 1983 Parliamentary Research Services Chichester 0-900178-06-X February 2012 Woolwich East by-election Category:Woolwich Woolwich East by-election Woolwich East,1921 Woolwich East,1921 Woolwich East by-election