1911 Luton by-election

The 1911 Luton by-election was a Parliamentary by-election held on 20 July 1911. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post voting system.

Vacancy

Thomas Ashton had been the Liberal MP here since 1895. Luton had been Liberal since the seat was created in 1885. He was raised to the peerage as Baron Ashton of Hyde, in the County of Chester, with a seat in the House of Lords.

Electoral history

Thomas Ashton

General election December 1910 Electorate 16,564

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Thomas Ashton	7,601	53.4	+0.5
	Conservative	John Owen Hickman	6,623	46.6	−0.5
Majority			978	6.8	+1.0
Turnout			14,224	85.9	−4.8
	Liberal hold		Swing	+0.5

Candidates

The new Liberal candidate selected to defend the seat was Cecil Harmsworth. He had been Liberal MP for Droitwich, Worcestershire until his defeat there in January 1910. The Conservatives re-selected John Owen Hickman, who had been their candidate last time.

Result

Cecil Harmsworth held the seat for the Liberal Party.

Cecil Harmsworth

Luton by-election, 1911 Electorate 17,177

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Cecil Harmsworth	7,619	52.1	−1.3
	Conservative	John Owen Hickman	7,006	47.9	+1.3
Majority			613	4.2	−2.6
Turnout			14,625	85.1	−0.8
	Liberal hold		Swing	-1.3

Aftermath

A General Election was due to take place by the end of 1915. By the autumn of 1914, the following candidates had been adopted to contest that election. Due to the outbreak of war, the election never took place.

General Election 1914/15 Electorate 19,199

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Cecil Harmsworth
	Unionist

General election 14 December 1918 Electorate 37,051

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	*Cecil Harmsworth	13,501	69.4	+16.0
	Labour	Willet Ball	5,964	30.6	New
Majority			7,537	38.8	+32.0
Turnout			19,465	52.5	−23.4
	Liberal hold		Swing

• Harmsworth was the endorsed candidate of the Coalition Government.