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1909 High Peak by-election

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1909 High Peak by-election

← 1906 22 July 1909 Jan. 1910 →
 
Candidate Partington Profumo
Party Liberal Conservative
Popular vote 5,619 5,272
Percentage 51.5% 48.4%

MP before election

Oswald Partington
Liberal

Subsequent MP

Oswald Partington
Liberal

The High Peak by-election was a Parliamentary by-election held on 22 July 1909.[1] 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

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Oswald Partington had been Liberal MP for the seat of High Peak since the 1900 general election. On 5 July 1909, he was appointed as a Junior Lord of the Treasury, which meant, in accordance with the times, that he was required to resign his seat and seek re-election to parliament.

Electoral history

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The seat had been Liberal since Partington gained it from the Conservatives in 1900. He easily held the seat at the last election, with an increased majority;

Partington
General election January 1906[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Oswald Partington 5,450 53.9
Conservative Albert Profumo 4,662 46.1
Majority 788 7.8 +6.0
Turnout 10,112 90.7 +4.1
Liberal hold Swing

Candidates

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The local Liberal Association re-selected 37-year-old Oswald Partington to defend the seat. The Conservatives retained 30-year-old barrister Albert Profumo as their candidate. He had unsuccessfully tried to re-gain the seat from Partington at the last election.[3]

Campaign

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The Manager of the local Kinder Print Works shown with car depicting a Conservative 'Vote Profumo' poster

Polling Day was fixed for 22 July, allowing for a short 17-day campaign.

On 9 July the Liberals retained a by-election in Cleveland, Yorkshire. On 15 July, the Liberals retained a by-election in nearby Mid Derbyshire. On 20 July, the Liberals retained a by-election in Dumfries Burghs.[2]

The major incident of the campaign was Partington's challenge to fight a reporter of the Sheffield Daily Telegraph. The presses of that paper had been used to print the High Peak Elector, a campaign newspaper published by the Conservatives, which Partington claimed had slighted his wife, Clara.[4]

Result

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The Liberals held the seat and managed a slightly reduced majority;

High Peak by-election, 1909[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Oswald Partington 5,619 51.5 −2.3
Conservative Albert Profumo 5,272 48.4 +2.3
Majority 347 3.2 −4.6
Turnout 10,891 91.1 +0.4
Liberal hold Swing -2.3

Aftermath

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Partington retained the seat at the following General Election;

General election January 1910[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Oswald Partington 5,912 50.5 −1.1
Conservative Samuel Hill-Wood 5,806 49.5 +1.1
Majority 106 1.0 −2.2
Turnout 11,718 94.4 +3.3
Liberal hold Swing -1.1

References

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  1. ^ Craig, F.W.S. (1987). Chronology of British Parliamentary By-elections 1833–1987. Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 103.
  2. ^ a b c d British parliamentary election results 1885–1918
  3. ^ Who's Who
  4. ^ A Liberal Chronicle: Journals and Papers of J.A. Pease, 1st Lord Gainford, 1908–1910