1905 Stalybridge by-election

UK parliamentary by-election November 2019 The 1905 Stalybridge by-election was a Parliamentary by-election held on 7 January 1905.Craig F.W.S. 1987 Chronology of British Parliamentary By-elections 1833–1987 Chichester Parliamentary Research Services 99 The constituency returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post voting system. Vacancy The by-election was caused by the succession of the sitting Conservative MP, Matthew White Ridley to his father's viscountcy on 28 November 1904. Ridley had been MP for Stalybridge since the 1900 general election. Electoral history The seat had been Conservative since they gained it in 1885. They held the seat at the last election, with a reduced majority, the smallest majority since before they gained it: General election 1900: StalybridgeBritish parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig) Conservative Party (UK) Matthew White Ridley 3,321 50.6 -4.5 Liberal Party (UK) John Frederick Cheetham 3,241 49.4 +4.5 80 1.2 -9.0 6,562 88.0 -0.1 Conservative Party (UK) -4.5 Candidates The local Conservative Association selected 31-year-old James Travis-Clegg as their candidate to defend the seat. He was standing for parliament for the first time. He was from Crompton, Lancashire. In 1898 he had been elected to Lancashire County Council.‘TRAVIS-CLEGG, Sir James Travis’, Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2015; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2014; online edn, April 2014 accessed 8 April 2015 The local Liberal Association re-selected 70-year-old John Frederick Cheetham who had been their candidate in 1900 when he had achieved a swing of 4.5%. Cheetham was born in Stalybridge, Cheshire, the eldest son of John Cheetham, a local cotton manufacturer who became a Member of Parliament for South Lancashire in 1852. Cheetham took over control of the family business, which employed 1,400 in two mills. He contested several elections before being returned as MP for North Derbyshire at the 1880 general election. He held that seat for five years, until the constituency was abolished at the 1885 general election, when he stood unsuccessfully in the new High Peak constituency.Craig F. W. S. F. W. S. Craig British parliamentary election results 1885–1918 1974 2nd 1989 Parliamentary Research Services Chichester 0-900178-27-2 249 He contested High Peak again in 1892, and was also unsuccessful in Bury at the 1895 general election.Craig, British parliamentary election results 1885–1918, page 89 Campaign Although the vacancy was known on 28 November 1904, Polling Day was fixed for 7 January 1905. Result The Liberals gained the seat from the Conservatives: thumb|120px|John Cheetham Stalybridge by-election, 1905British parliamentary election results 1885-1918 by Craig Liberal Party (UK) John Frederick Cheetham 4,029 56.7 +7.3 Conservative Party (UK) James Travis-Clegg 3,078 43.3 -7.3 951 13.4 N/A 7,107 93.5 +5.5 Liberal Party (UK) Conservative Party (UK) +7.3 Aftermath At the following General Election Cheetham and Travis-Clegg faced each other again. The Liberal held onto the seat with a reduced majority: General election 1906: Stalybridge Liberal Party (UK) John Frederick Cheetham 3,836 53.1 -3.6 Conservative Party (UK) James Travis-Clegg 3,382 46.9 +3.6 454 6.2 -7.2 7,218 93.8 +0.3 Liberal Party (UK) -3.6 See also List of United Kingdom by-elections United Kingdom by-election records References Category:History of Cheshire Category:1905 in England Category:1905 elections in the United Kingdom Category:Politics of Cheshire Category:By-elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom in Cheshire constituencies Category:20th century in Cheshire Category:Stalybridge