1904 Isle of Wight by-election

UK Parliamentary by-election March 2023 March 2023 The Isle of Wight by-election was a Parliamentary by-election held on 6 April 1904.Craig F.W.S. 1987 Chronology of British Parliamentary By-elections 1833–1987 Chichester Parliamentary Research Services 98 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. The seat had become vacant when the incumbent Independent Conservative Member of Parliament, J. E. B. Seely resigned from the House of Commons in order to stand for re-election. Seely vacated his Parliamentary seat by being appointed Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds on 22 March 1904. 27661 25 March 1904 1946 Background Seely had voted in favour of a Liberal amendment to the King's Speech in February 1904 moved by John Morley in favour of free trade. 17 February 1904 British Politics https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP19040217.2.26 The Evening Post 5 Wellington, New Zealand 11 March 2023 He went on to second a Liberal amendment opposing the introduction of Chinese indentured labour in the Transvaal Colony.Parliament of the United Kingdom KING'S SPEECH (MOTION FOR AN ADDRESS). https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1904/feb/16/kings-speech-motion-for-an-address House of Commons 16 February 1904 1523 1533 Major Seely In March 1904, the Isle of Wight Conservative Association requested Conservative Central Office to find them a new candidate, effectively deselecting Seely.Cooper Cathleen E. 2000 The political and military career of Major-General J. E. B. Seely 1868–1947 https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/464329/1/782919.pdf Master of Philosophy University of Southampton 18 11 March 2023 26 February 1904 Revolting Unionist M.P. and his constituents https://papuraunewydd.llyfrgell.cymru/view/4140209/4140213/ Evening Express and Evening Mail 4 11 March 2023 Later that March, Seely resigned the Conservative whip and sat as an Independent Conservative.Butler David Butler Gareth 2000 Twentieth-Century British Political Facts 1900-2000 8 https://archive.org/details/twentiethcentury0000butl/ Basingstoke and London Macmillan 244 0-333-77221-0 On 21 March 1904, Seely spoke in the House of Commons on Chinese labour, indicating that he would resign his seat and stand for re-election.Parliament of the United Kingdom CHINESE LABOUR (TRANSVAAL). https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1904/mar/21/chinese-labour-transvaal House of Commons 21 March 1904 335 340 Major Seely The writ for the by-election was moved on 25 March 1904. Journals of the House of Commons. 2 February 1904 to 15 August 1904. 159 https://assets.parliament.uk/Journals/HCJ_volume_159.pdf George Edward Briscoe Eyre, Printer of the Journals of the House of Commons 108 Candidates The Liberal Chief Whip, Herbert Gladstone, persuaded Godfrey Baring not to stand as the Liberal candidate.Cooper Cathleen E. 2000 The political and military career of Major-General J. E. B. Seely 1868-1947 https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/464329/1/782919.pdf Master of Philosophy University of Southampton 20 11 March 2023Ivatt Ian Summer 2012 Liberal Party fortunes in the Isle of Wight 1900-1910 https://liberalhistory.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/75_Ivatt_Liberal_fortunes_in_Isle_of_Wight_1900-10.pdf Journal of Liberal History 75 38–45 Liberal Democrat History Group 11 March 2023 23 March 1904 [Unknown] https://newspaperarchive.com/london-standard-mar-23-1904-p-7/ London Standard 7 London 11 March 2023 Baring had contested the seat at the 1900 by-election and was chairman of the Isle of Wight County Council. Seely stood as an Unionist Free Trader.Seely J. E. B. 1930 Adventure https://archive.org/details/adventure0000unse_r7b6/ London William Heinemann Ltd. 108 The Conservatives decided not to run a candidate at the by-election. They claimed to be reserving themselves for the future general election. 8 April 1904 British Politics https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/44352498/3499244 The Barrier Miner 4 Broken Hill 11 March 2023 Their failure to contest the seat was viewed as a sign that they had lost the support of the electorate. 14 April 1904 Notes and Comments https://newspapers.library.wales/view/3865642/3865646 Welsh Gazette 4 Aberystwyth 11 March 2023 Result 1904 Isle of Wight by-electionCraig F.W.S. F. W. S. Craig 1974 British Parliamentary Election Results 1885-1918 https://books.google.com/books?id=ah2vCwAAQBAJ London and Basingstoke Palgrave Macmillan 301 978-1-349-02300-4 1908 The Liberal Year Book for 1908 https://archive.org/details/liberalyearbook01unkngoog/ London The Liberal Publication Department 270–271 1919 The Constitutional Year Book for 1919 https://archive.org/details/constitutional1919londuoft/ London National Unionist Association 259 Independent Conservative John Seely 14,840 Independent Conservative Conservative Party (UK) Aftermath Having been re-elected, Seely joined the Liberal Party in May 1904. References Isle of Wight by-election Isle of Wight, 1904 Category:1904 in England Category:20th century in Hampshire Category:Politics of the Isle of Wight Category:Unopposed by-elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom in English constituencies