1908 Wolverhampton East by-election

UK parliamentary by-election January 2017 January 2017 1908 Wolverhampton East by-election presidential United Kingdom Wolverhampton East (UK Parliament constituency)#Elections in the 1900s 1906 Wolverhampton East (UK Parliament constituency)#Elections in the 1910s Jan. 1910 5 May 1908 Thorne 85px Liberal Party (UK) 4,514 50.0% Amery 85px Liberal Unionist Party 4,506 50.0% 250px MP Subsequent MP Henry Fowler Liberal Party (UK) George Rennie Thorne Liberal Party (UK) The 1908 Wolverhampton East by-election was held on 5 May 1908. The by-election was held due to the elevation to the peerage of the incumbent Liberal MP, Henry Fowler, who became Viscount Wolverhampton. It was won by the Liberal candidate George Rennie Thorne.http://www.leighrayment.com/commons/Wcommons5.htm The Wolverhampton East by-election of 1908 - the first vote cast by a woman? Leigh Rayment 2013 29 January 2014 leighrayment.com dead https://web.archive.org/web/20101231174353/http://www.leighrayment.com/commons/Wcommons5.htm 31 December 2010 Background Thorne, who had stood unsuccessfully for election twice in the South and West divisions of Wolverhampton, seemed in nearly every way the stereotypical Liberal of his day; a pronounced nonconformist, a Baptist,The Times, 6 May 1908 in a constituency where there were many nonconformist voters.The Times, 14 April 1908 In his election meetings and literature he declared himself a supporter of free trade, the proposed Bill on Old Age Pensions, restricting to eight the hours that miners could be made to work daily, women’s suffrage, Irish Home Rule and any necessary reform of the House of Lords.The Times, 21 April 1908 He was also strongly in favour of temperance and a supporter of the disestablishment of the Church of England. Fowler had been unopposed in two of the previous four elections, and had won the last, in 1906, with more than two thirds of the votes cast, a majority of 2,865.The Times, 13 April 1908. thumb|120px|Fowler General election 1906: Wolverhampton East British Parliamentary Election Results 1885-1918, FWS CraigThe Liberal Year Book, 1907 Liberal Party (UK) Henry Fowler 5,610 67.1 N/A Liberal Unionist Party Leo Amery 2,745 32.9 New 2,865 34.2 N/A 8,355 85.6 N/A Liberal Party (UK) N/A Result Thorne won the by-election by a majority of just eight votes from the Unionist candidate Leo Amery, who had lost to Fowler in 1906. thumb|120px|Thorne Wolverhampton East by-election, 1908 British Parliamentary Election Results 1885-1918, FWS Craig Liberal Party (UK) George Rennie Thorne 4,514 50.0 -17.1 Liberal Unionist Party Leo Amery 4,506 50.0 +17.1 8 0.0 -34.2 9,020 89.7 +4.1 Liberal Party (UK) -17.1 One of reasons it was such a narrow margin was the policy of the Suffragists at this time to oppose the candidates of the Liberal government because they would not bring in a Bill to provide votes for women. This was despite the individual views of the candidates, many of whom, like Thorne, were pro-women’s suffrage. A Mrs Lois Dawson, who had incorrectly been placed on the electoral register as Louis Dawson, was allowed to vote by a surprised polling station presiding officer, as she was clearly on the electoral roll. Her vote was allowed to stand, although had there been a court scrutiny of the election result it would almost certainly have been rejected.The Times, 7 May 1908 Aftermath General election January 1910: Wolverhampton East Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1916British Parliamentary Election Results 1885-1918, FWS Craig Liberal Party (UK) George Rennie Thorne 5,276 54.2 +4.2 Liberal Unionist Party Leo Amery 4,462 45.8 -4.2 814 8.4 +8.4 9,738 95.1 +5.4 10,238 Liberal Party (UK) +4.2 References Wolverhampton East by-election Wolverhampton East by-election Category:By-elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom in Staffordshire constituencies Category:By-elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom in West Midlands (county) constituencies Category:Elections in Wolverhampton Category:20th century in Staffordshire Wolverhampton East by-election