1914 Ipswich by-election

1914 UK parliamentary by-election May 2015 May 2015 1914 Ipswich by-election presidential United Kingdom Ipswich (UK Parliament constituency)#Elections in the 1910s 1910 Ipswich (UK Parliament constituency)#Elections in the 1910s 1918 23 May 1914 Ganzoni 65px Unionist Party (UK) 6,406 50.6% Masterman 65px Liberal Party (UK) 5,874 46.3% Scurr 65px Socialist Party 395 3.1% Ipswich2007Constituency.svg 250px MP Subsequent MP Horne Liberal Party (UK) Ganzoni Unionist Party (UK) The 1914 Ipswich by-election was a Parliamentary by-election held on 23 May 1914.Craig F.W.S. 1987 Chronology of British Parliamentary By-elections 1833–1987 Chichester Parliamentary Research Services 109 The constituency returned two Members of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post voting system. Vacancy Silvester Horne had been one of the Liberal MPs for the dual member seat of Ipswich since the January 1910 election. In 1914, returning from New York, he was taken ill suddenly and died. Previous result thumb|120px|Horne General election December 1910 Liberal Party (UK) Daniel Ford Goddard 5,931 26.2 +0.1 Liberal Party (UK) Silvester Horne 5,791 25.7 +0.2 Conservative Party (UK) Arthur Churchman 5,447 24.1 -0.2 Conservative Party (UK) Bunnell Henry Burton 5,409 24.0 -0.1 140 0.5 344 1.6 +0.4 22,578 89.9 -3.4 Liberal Party (UK) +0.2 Liberal Party (UK) +0.2 In terms of a purely party vote, the votes cast for the party ticket were as follows; General election December 1910Craig, F. W. S., British parliamentary election results 1885-1918 Liberal Party (UK) Goddard/Horne 5,757 52.0 Conservative Party (UK) Churchman/Burton 5,318 48.0 Candidates thumb|120px|Masterman 41-year-old Charles Masterman was chosen as the Liberal candidate. In 1914 he was appointed to the Cabinet as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. However under the law at the time, any MP nominated as minister was legally required to recontest their seat in a by-election. Masterman lost his own seat at Bethnal Green, though this was not uncommon, and sought a return to parliament here. 32-year-old London Barrister John Ganzoni was chosen by the Unionists as their candidate. He had been in place long enough to effectively nurse the constituency. He claimed to have had a haircut in every Barber's Shop in Ipswich.Eastern Daily Press, 18 May 1914 38-year-old Australian John Scurr stood as a Socialist candidate. In 1913 he was a Socialist candidate at the Chesterfield by-election. He had also stood as Socialist candidate against Masterman at Bethnal Green. Scurr was Chairman of the London District Committee of the Dock, Wharf, Riverside and General Labourers' Union. Masterman had personal misgiving about contesting Ipswich; "It was an area of small employers, hostile to Insurance. It was a very Protestant area, reluctant about Home Rule. The local Liberals were enthusiastic and pressed hard for him to come, and Mr. Illingworth (Liberal Chief Whip) did not see how to refuse them."C. F. G. Masterman by Lucy Masterman Campaign The campaign was dominated by the National Insurance Act introduced by Masterman in 1911. Both the Unionist and Socialist candidates attacked the Act. On 22 May 1914 David Lloyd George a close ally of Masterman, visited the constituency to speak for the Liberal campaign. He attacked the Unionists for their behaviour over Ulster which he considered a threat to constitutional government. Unionists had given support to a possible call to arms to resist the introduction of the Liberals Irish Home Rule Bill. He also emphasised the benefits of National Insurance and Old Age Pensions.Lloyd George, Liberalism and the Land: The Land Issue and Party Politics in England 1906-14 by Ian Packer Result This was the last contested by-election to take place before the outbreak of the Great War, after which the main political parties agreed an electoral truce. thumb|120px|Ganzoni By-election 23 May 1914 Unionist Party (UK) John Ganzoni 6,406 50.6 +2.6 Liberal Party (UK) Charles Masterman 5,874 46.3 −5.7 Socialist Party John Scurr 395 3.1 New 532 4.3 N/A 12,675 91.4 +1.5 Unionist Party (UK) Liberal Party (UK) +8.3 Change of vote share and swing calculated from the 1910 party ticket vote. Scurr threatened that he would continue to harass Masterman by standing against him wherever he was a candidate.C. F. G. Masterman by Lucy Masterman He never stood against Masterman again. Aftermath Masterman's defeat forced him to resign from the Government. At the 1918 elections he unsuccessfully fought West Ham Stratford. A general election was due to take place by the end of 1915. By the autumn of 1914, the following candidates had been adopted to contest that election. Due to the outbreak of war, the election never took place. General election 1914/15: Ipswich Unionist Party (UK) John Ganzoni Liberal Party (UK) Daniel Ford Goddard At the 1918 general election, Scurr unsuccessfully contested the Conservative Party safe seat of Buckingham. The Ipswich constituency had its representation cut from two to one member. General election 14 December 1918: Ipswich Unionist Party (UK) John Ganzoni 13,553 53.5 +2.9 Labour Party (UK) Robert Jackson 8,143 32.1 +29.0 Liberal Party (UK) George Hay Morgan 3,663 14.4 −31.9 5,410 21.4 +17.1 25,359 67.9 −23.5 Unionist Party (UK) Ganzoni was the endorsed candidate of the Coalition Government. References Craig, F. W. S. (1974). British parliamentary election results 1885-1918 (1 ed.). London: Macmillan. Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org Who's Who: www.ukwhoswho.com Debrett's House of Commons 1916 1914 Category:1914 elections in the United Kingdom Category:1914 in England Ipswich Category:May 1914 in the United Kingdom