1918 Gravesend by-election

UK parliamentary by-election November 2019 The 1918 Gravesend by-election was a Parliamentary by-election held on 7 June 1918.Craig F.W.S. 1987 Chronology of British Parliamentary By-elections 1833–1987 Chichester Parliamentary Research Services 114 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 Sir Gilbert Parker had been Conservative MP for the seat of Gravesend since the 1900 general elections. In 1918, Parker resigned his seat. Electoral history Parker had encountered few problems in holding the seat for the Conservatives, even in the Liberal landslide year of 1906. At the previous general election in 1910, Parker had a comfortable majority. General election December 1910: Gravesend Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1916 Conservative Party (UK) Gilbert Parker 3,108 55.4 -0.3 Liberal Party (UK) Samuel Roberts Jenkins 2,506 44.6 +0.3 602 10.8 -0.6 5,614 83.4 -4.2 Conservative Party (UK) -0.3 Candidates Alexander Richardson was chosen to defend the seat for both the Unionist Party and the Coalition Government. He was a 54 year old engineering journalist and editor.‘RICHARDSON, Sir Alexander’, Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2016; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2014; online edn, April 2014 accessed 22 May 2017 He was standing for parliament for the first time. Due to the war-time electoral truce, he faced no opposition from either the Liberal Party or the Labour Patty. He faced two opponents, Alderman Henry Edward Davis running as an Independent Unionist and Harry Hinkley running as an Independent Labour candidate. Alderman Davis also supported the Coalition Government. Campaign Polling Day was fixed for 7 June 1918. Result The Unionists held the seat with a reduced share of the vote. 1918 Gravesend by-election Unionist Party (UK) Alexander Richardson 1,312 44.0 -11.4 Independent Unionist Henry Edward Davis 1,106 37.1 New Independent Labour Harry Hinkley 562 18.9 New 206 6.9 -3.9 2,980 36.6 -46.8 Unionist Party (UK) Aftermath At the general election later that year, Richardson was again endorsed by the Coalition Government. He again faced Davis and Hinkley. Hinkley this time being endorsed by the right-wing National Party. The Labour and Liberal parties also ran candidates, splitting the ant-coalition government vote and Richardson thus won easily. General election 1918: Gravesend Unionist Party (UK) Alexander Richardson 7,841 51.6 -3.8 Labour Party (UK) James Butts 3,254 21.5 New Independent Unionist Henry Edward Davis 1,817 12.0 New Liberal Party (UK) Charles Edward Best 1,271 8.4 -36.2 National Party (UK, 1917) Harry Hinkley 985 6.5 New 4,587 30.1 +19.3 15,168 48.8 -34.6 31,070 Unionist Party (UK) +21.6 References Gravesend by-election Gravesend by-election Gravesend Category:Gravesham Category:History of Gravesend Category:By-elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom in Kent constituencies Gravesend by-election, 1918