1920 Stockport by-election

UK parliamentary by-election April 2022 June 2025 1920 Stockport by-election United Kingdom by-election Popular Stockport (UK Parliament constituency)#Elections in the 1910s 1918 1920 03 27 yes (Polling)1920 04 10 yes (Declaration) Stockport (UK Parliament constituency)#Elections in the 1920s 1922 75.7% File:William_Greenwood.jpg William Greenwood Unionist Party (UK) Coalition 22,847 25.7% File:Henry_Fildes.jpg Henry Fildes Coalition Liberal Coalition 22,386 25.1% File:1910_Leo_Money.jpg Leo Chiozza Money Labour Party (UK) 16,042 18.0% File:Samuel_Perry.jpg Samuel Perry Labour Party (UK) 14,434 16.2% Independent politician Albert Kindell Independent politician Independent Parliamentary Group 5,644 6.3% Independent politician John Terrett Independent politician Independent Parliamentary Group 5,543 6.1% MP Spencer Hughes (Coalition Liberal) George Wardle (Coalition Labour) Subsequent MP William Greenwood (Unionist) Henry Fildes (Coalition Liberal) The 1920 Stockport by-election was a parliamentary by-election held on 27 March 1920 for the UK constituency of Stockport, in Cheshire. thumb|120px|Hughes It followed the death of Spencer Leigh Hughes and resignation of George Wardle, the two Members of Parliament (MPs) for Stockport. With the departure of both MPs, a single by-election was held for both seats. Always a rare occurrence in Britain, Stockport was the first such by-election since the 1899 Oldham by-election; it proved to be the last such by-election, as multi-member constituencies were abolished in 1950. Background At the 1918 general election, the Lloyd George Coalition Government had won a large majority. The coalition included most of the Conservative and Liberal parties. Both Stockport MPs had been Coalition candidates, Hughes being a Liberal, but Wardle unusually being a Labour Party supporter of the Coalition. With this unusual level of cross-party agreement, they had not faced any opposition. By 1920, the prospect of a merger of the Conservative and Liberal parties was being seriously considered. The local Conservative group considered that had it run candidates in 1918, it would have won both seats. As a result, when Hughes died, they considered it their turn to nominate a candidate for the constituency. Meanwhile, the Liberal group was determined to run a candidate to replace Hughes. David Lloyd George and Bonar Law, national Liberal and Conservative leaders, had been considering merging their organisations to form a single party, and considered that it would be a disaster to have Conservative and Liberal candidates facing each other. In order to keep their local organisations happy, they convinced Wardle to resign, enabling both to stand a candidate. Candidates The Liberals chose Henry Fildes, and the Conservatives, William Greenwood. The majority of the Labour Party were opposed to the Coalition, and determined to stand candidates outside it in an attempt to gain Wardle's seat. After some discussion, they decided to stand economist and former Liberal MP Leo Chiozza Money and to support the candidature of the national organiser of the Co-operative Party, Samuel Perry. Horatio Bottomley, a prominent right-wing independent politician also assembled a slate of two candidates on an "Anti-Waste" platform, foreshadowing the Anti-Waste League he formed the following year. The Irish War of Independence had begun in 1919. While the Labour Party had a policy in favour of Irish self-determination, many Irish people considered that it had done little to act on it. A leading Irish trade unionist and secretary of the Irish Labour Party, William O'Brien, was interned by Britain for his role in the conflict, and he decided to stand in the by-election as a platform for his cause, and in an attempt to embarrass the British Labour Party into action. On the ballot, he insisted that he was described as the "Irish Republican Workers Party" candidate, even though no such organisation existed. Campaign In Parliament, Joseph Kenworthy called for O'Brien's release to contest the by-election, a call supported by Labour candidate Money, citing the example of John Maclean. Home Secretary Edward Shortt rejected this option. With a total of seven candidates, the Stockport by-election set a new record, not equalled until the 1962 South Dorset by-election and not beaten until the 1976 Walsall North by-election. Result Greenwood and Fildes achieved a clear victory, their similar tally of votes suggesting that most coalition supporters had indeed voted for both candidates. Money's profile enabled him to take third place, some six thousand votes behind, with Perry further back. The difference in their votes was around 1,500, much of this being explained by the 1,000 voters who had supported Money and O'Brien – very few opting for O'Brien and any other candidate. The Anti-Waste candidates attracted little support, but both were able to beat O'Brien. Labour were disappointed not to take a seat, particularly as O'Brien's intervention had not taken enough votes to explain their defeat. Perhaps in part as a result of the by-election, they moved their position to more actively support the Irish labour movement. Stockport by-election, 1920 Unionist Party (UK) William Greenwood 22,847 25.6 New Coalition Liberal Henry Fildes 22,386 25.1 N/A Labour Party (UK) Leo Chiozza Money 16,042 18.0 N/A Labour Co-operative Samuel Perry 14,434 16.2 New Independent (politician) Albert Kindell 5,644 6.3 New Independent (politician) John Terrett 5,543 6.2 New Independent Republican (Ireland) William O'Brien 2,336 2.6 New 6,805 7.7 N/A 6,344 7.1 N/A 89,132 75.7 N/A Unionist Party (UK) Coalition Labour N/A Coalition Liberal N/A Aftermath Greenwood and Fildes both held their seats at the 1922 general election, while O'Brien was elected as TD for Dublin South the same year. Perry was eventually elected as MP for Kettering at the 1923 general election. References John McHugh, The Stockport by-election of 1920 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 March 2012 See also Stockport constituency Stockport 1925 Stockport by-election List of United Kingdom by-elections (1918–1931) Category:By-elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom in Greater Manchester constituencies Category:1920 elections in the United Kingdom Category:1920 in England Category:20th century in Cheshire Category:Politics of the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport Category:By-elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom in Cheshire constituencies Category:March 1920 in the United Kingdom