1918 South Shields by-election

UK parliamentary by-election December 2020 The 1918 South Shields by-election was a parliamentary by-election held for the British House of Commons constituency of South Shields on 28 October 1918. Vacancy The by-election was caused by the resignation of the sitting Liberal Member of Parliament (MP), Cecil Cochrane. Cochrane had held the seat since himself winning it in a by-election on 18 March 1916. Candidates The only candidate nominated was the Liberal Havelock Wilson a former trade union official who had previously been MP for Middlesbrough from 1892 – 1900 and from 1906 –January 1910. The Labour Party had earlier selected Mr George Rowe of the Boilermakers' Society as their candidateThe Times, 17 October 1918 p8 but in the end decided not to contest the seat. Part of the reason for this might have been Havelock Wilson's long connection with the trade union movement and his decision to describe himself as Coalition Liberal and Trade Union candidate. With the exception of the December 1910 general election when Russell Rea was returned unopposed for the Liberals,The Times House of Commons 1911; Politico’s Publishing 2004 p54 all recent elections had been contested by the Unionists. That they chose not to do so in the by-election was presumably because Havelock Wilson was nominated as the candidate of the Coalition government of David Lloyd George in which the Conservative Party participated. The result Havelock Wilson was returned unopposed.The Times, 29 October 1918 p3 South Shields by-election, 1918 Coalition Liberal Havelock Wilson Unopposed N/A N/A Coalition Liberal See also 1916 South Shields by-election List of United Kingdom by-elections United Kingdom by-election records References Category:Unopposed by-elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom in English constituencies South Shields by-election South Shields by-election Category:20th century in County Durham South Shields by-election Category:South Shields by-elections