1906 Cockermouth by-election

UK parliamentary by-election April 2022 1906 Cockermouth by-election presidential United Kingdom Cockermouth (UK Parliament constituency)#Elections in the 1900s 1906 Cockermouth (UK Parliament constituency)#Elections in the 1910s Jan. 1910 3 August 1906 Randles 65px Conservative Party (UK) 4,596 46.2% Guest 66px Liberal Party (UK) 3,903 39.3% Smillie 65px Independent Labour Party 1,436 14.5% 250px MP Subsequent MP Sir Wilfrid Lawson Liberal Party (UK) John Randles Conservative Party (UK) The 1906 Cockermouth by-election was a by-election held on 3 August 1906 for the British House of Commons constituency of Cockermouth. Vacancy The by-election was triggered by the death of the town's Liberal Member of Parliament (MP) Sir Wilfrid Lawson. Electoral history At the last General Election in January, the result was; thumb|120px General election 1906 CockermouthBritish parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig) Liberal Party (UK) Wilfrid Lawson 5,349 52.8 +4.1 Conservative Party (UK) John Scurrah Randles 4,786 47.2 -4.1 563 5.6 N/A 10,135 86.6 +10.0 Liberal Party (UK) Conservative Party (UK) +4.1 Candidates The Liberal candidate chosen to defend the seat was Captain Frederick Guest. Thirty-one-year-old Guest was a former Conservative who had followed his cousin Winston Churchill, for whom he worked as private secretary, into the Liberal Party in 1904 in support of the policy of Free trade. At the previous General Election in January, he was Liberal candidate for Kingswinford where he came second. The Conservative candidate was Sir John Randles, who had held the seat from 1900 until losing narrowly in the general election in January. Forty-eight-year-old Randles was an industrialist in the coal and steel business. There was also a third candidate, Robert Smillie of the Independent Labour Party. Forty-nine-year-old Smillie, in 1893 was a founding member of the Independent Labour Party. He had been President of the Scottish Miners' Federation since 1894. He had stood unsuccessfully for parliament on a number of occasions since 1894. At the previous General Election in January, he was Labour candidate for Paisley when he came third. Campaign thumb|right|Randles during the campaign Result Turnout was only slightly down since the general election, when only two candidates had run, and although the Conservative vote fell slightly, the Liberals lost much more, probably due to the intervention of Smillie. The result was a gain for the Conservatives.The Times, 6 August 1906 Cockermouth by-election, 1906British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig) Conservative Party (UK) John Scurrah Randles 4,593 46.2 -1.0 Liberal Party (UK) Frederick Guest 3,903 39.3 -13.5 Independent Labour Party Robert Smillie 1,436 14.5 New 690 6.9 N/A 9,932 84.9 -1.7 Conservative Party (UK) Liberal Party (UK) +6.2 Aftermath Randles held the seat at the following General Election; General election January 1910 CockermouthBritish parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig) Conservative Party (UK) John Scurrah Randles 4,579 45.2 -1.0 Liberal Party (UK) Wilfrid Lawson 3,638 35.9 -3.4 Labour Party (UK) James Percy Whitehead 1,909 18.9 +4.4 941 9.3 +2.4 10,126 89.4 +4.5 Conservative Party (UK) Liberal Party (UK) +1.2 Sir John Randles lost the seat again in the December 1910 election, this time to Sir Wilfred Lawson, son of the former MP. Frederick Guest was eventually returned as a Member of Parliament for East Dorset in the January 1910 general election. See also List of United Kingdom by-elections Cockermouth constituency References The Times, July/August 1906 March 2012 Cockermouth by-election Cockermouth by-election Cockermouth by-election Category:20th century in Cumberland Category:By-elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom in Cumbria constituencies