1906 Dulwich by-election

1906 Dulwich by-election

15 May 1906

Candidate Bonar Law Williamson Party Conservative Liberal Popular vote 6,709 5,430 Percentage 55.3% 44.7%

MP before election Harris Conservative Subsequent MP Bonar Law Conservative

The 1906 Dulwich by-election was a by-election held on 15 May 1906 for the British House of Commons constituency of Dulwich in South London.

The by-election was triggered by the resignation of the serving Conservative Party Member of Parliament (MP), Dr Frederick Rutherfoord Harris, who was moving back to South Africa where he had previously lived for many years. The Unionist candidate was Bonar Law, former Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade who had lost his seat in the Liberal landslide in the February general election. The Liberal Party candidate was David Williamson, who had also contested the February election.

Result

Dulwich by-election, 1906

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Bonar Law	6,709	55.3
	Liberal	David Williamson	5,430	44.7
Majority			1,279	10.6
Turnout			12,139
	Conservative hold		Swing

The Conservative majority increased by over 900 votes, which the Times attributed not only to Bonar Law's candidature but also to the unpopularity of the Government's Education Bill, suggesting that the Catholic vote, estimated at 700, had gone mostly to the Conservatives as a result.

See also

• List of United Kingdom by-elections
• Dulwich constituency

References

• The Times, 16 May 1906
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs