1920 Argyll by-election

UK parliamentary by-election December 2020 November 2013 The 1920 Argyllshire by-election was a parliamentary by-election held for the British House of Commons constituency of Argyllshire on 10 March 1920. Vacancy The by-election was caused by the appointment of the sitting Coalition Liberal MP Sir William Sutherland as a Lord of the Treasury. This was an office of appointment under the Crown which enabled Sutherland to take up the post of Scottish Liberal whip but under the constitutional requirements of the day it meant he had to resign and fight a by-election.The Times, 20 February 1920 p15 Candidates As the candidate of the Liberal-Conservative coalition government Sutherland had no Unionist opponent. Neither did he face opposition by the Independent Asquithian Liberals, who chose not to stand a candidate.The Times, 17 February 1920, p18 He was however opposed by the Reverend M MacCallum of Muckairn, Oban for Labour.The Times, 25 February 1920, p16 Issues Reverend MacCallum was reported as being not only the representative of the Labour Party but also of the Highland Land League.The Times, 1 March 1920, p15 Another candidate representing the Labour and the Highland Land League had been Sutherland's only opponent in Argyllshire at the 1918 general election.F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949; Political Reference Publications, Glasgow, 1949 p614 Sutherland was fighting on the record of the Coalition government. Given this was a straight fight between the Coalition and Labour it is little surprise that Sutherland sought to portray it as a struggle against socialism and nationalisation and that MacCallum played up the issue of community control against the vested interests ranged against the working class.The Times, 24 March 1920, p17 The result The press reported there was little excitement in the constituency on polling day.The Times, 11 March 1920, p14 Perhaps because the combined Liberal and Conservative votes were substantial there seemed little likelihood of an upset. Because of the scattered geography of the constituency it took until 24 March to get all the ballots collected and counted and the result formally declared. Sutherland held the seat with a reduced majority but Labour had nearly doubled its share of the vote. The votes thumb|120px|William Sutherland 1920 Argyll by-election Electorate Liberal Party (UK) William Sutherland 10,187 64.9 -16.5 Labour Party (UK) Malcolm MacCallum 5,498 35.1 New 4,689 29.8 -33.0 15,685 50.2 -1.8 Liberal Party (UK) See also Lists of United Kingdom by-elections United Kingdom by-election records Argyllshire References Category:1920 elections in the United Kingdom Category:By-elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom in Scottish constituencies Category:Politics of Argyll and Bute Category:1920 in Scotland Category:1920s elections in Scotland Category:Ministerial by-elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom Category:March 1920 in the United Kingdom