1903 Belfast West by-election

UK Parliamentary by-election March 2023 March 2023 The 1903 Belfast West by-election was a Parliamentary by-election held on 23 October 1903.Craig F.W.S. 1987 Chronology of British Parliamentary By-elections 1833–1987 Chichester Parliamentary Research Services 294 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. Vacancy Under the provisions of the Succession to the Crown Act 1707 and a number of subsequent Acts, MPs appointed to certain ministerial and legal offices were at this time required to seek re-election.F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results, 1885-1918; Macmillan Press, 1974 p. xiv The by-election in Belfast West was caused by the appointment on 6 October 1903 of the sitting Liberal Unionist MP, H. O. Arnold-Forster as Secretary of State for War.27603 6 October 1903 6087 Arnold-Forster had been Member of Parliament for the constituency since the 1892 general election.M.P. for Dewsbury: One Hundred Years of Parliamentary Representation 297 Christopher John James Rastrick Common 1970 9780950138800 Candidates The Liberal Unionist Party re-selected H.O. Arnold-Forster to defend the seat. Arnold-Forster did not return to Belfast during the campaign, having strained his heart.Arnold-Forster Mary 1910 The Right Honorable Hugh Oakeley Arnold-Forster. A Memoir by his wife https://archive.org/details/righthonourableh00arnoiala/ London Edward Arnold 233–234 It was announced that he was ill in London, but that he attended the War Office daily.Hepburn Anthony C. 2008 Catholic Belfast and Nationalist Ireland in the Era of Joe Devlin, 1871-1934 https://books.google.com/books?id=rHUTDAAAQBAJ New York Oxford University Press 62 978-0-19-929884-6 The Nationalist candidate was Patrick Dempsey. Dempsey was a businessman and the brother of Alexander Dempsey, a senior hospital consultant and of Belfast Alderman James Dempsey. He was selected by a nominating convention of the United Irish League attended by John Redmond MP. His candidacy was announced only three days before polling. 21 October 1903 Opposition to Foster https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/87091000/9187892 The Bunbury Herald 2 Bunbury, West Australia 22 March 2023 22 October 1903 The Belfast West Election https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/86411661/8220093 The Bairnsdale Advertiser 3 22 March 2023 Dempsey had the Roman Catholic Bishop of Down and Connor, Henry Henry campaigning for him through the Belfast Catholic Association, though it was viewed that this intervention was unhelpful to Dempsey due to Henry's "quixotic" anti-Parnellite campaigning tactics.A Century of Northern Life: The Irish News and 100 Years of Ulster History, 1890s-1990s 161 Eamon Phoenix 1995 Ulster Historical Society 9780901905703 Result The result was declared on Saturday 24 October, the count being postponed overnight to prevent rioting. 29 October 1903 Ministers Re-Elected https://papuraunewydd.llyfrgell.cymru/view/3715322/3715325 Towyn-on-Sea and Merioneth County Times 3 22 March 2023 31 October 1903 Bye-Election Results https://papuraunewydd.llyfrgell.cymru/view/3415566/3415572 Cardiff Times and South Wales Weekly News 6 22 March 2023 1903 Belfast West by-electionWalker Brian Mercer Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801-1922 Dublin 1978 Royal Irish Academy 164 0-901714-12-7 1908 The Liberal Year Book for 1908 https://archive.org/details/liberalyearbook01unkngoog/ London The Liberal Publication Department 216–217 28 October 1903 The Belfast Seat https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/64653618/5176198 The North-Western Advocate and the Emu Bay Times 3 Devonport, Tasmania 22 March 2023 Liberal Unionist Party H. O. Arnold-Forster 3,912 51.6 N/A Irish Parliamentary Party Patrick Dempsey 3,671 48.4 New 241 3.2 N/A 7,583 88.0 N/A 8,617 Liberal Unionist Party N/A References Category:1903 elections in the United Kingdom Category:1903 elections in Ireland Category:Ministerial by-elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom Category:20th century in Belfast West Category:October 1903 in the United Kingdom