1921 Louth by-election

The Louth by-election, 1921 was a by-election held on 22 September 1921 for the British House of Commons constituency of Louth in Lincolnshire.

1921 Louth by-election
22 September 1921
 
Candidate Wintringham Hutchings George
Party Liberal Unionist Labour
Popular vote 8,386 7,695 3,873
Percentage 42.2 38.3 19.5
MP before election

Thomas Wintringham
Liberal

 Subsequent MP

Margaret Wintringham
Liberal

Vacancy

The seat had become vacant following the death of the Liberal Member of Parliament (MP) Thomas Wintringham on 8 August 1921. He had been elected at the by-election in 1920.

Electoral history

The result at the last election was;

T. Wintringham
1920 Louth by-election[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Thomas Wintringham 9,859 57.3 +11.8
C Unionist Christopher Hatton Turnor 7,354 42.7 −11.8
Majority 2,505 14.6 N/A
Turnout 17,213 63.1 +2.8
Liberal gain from Unionist Swing 11.8
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

Candidates
  • The Liberals selected 41-year-old Margaret Wintringham, widow of the former MP, as their candidate to defend the seat. She worked as a teacher, before becoming headmistress of a school in Grimsby. She became a magistrate and a member of the Grimsby Education Committee. She was involved in many political movements, including the National Union of Women Workers, the British Temperance Association, the National Union of Societies for Equal Citizenship (NUSEC), the Women's Institute and the Townswomen's Guild. She was standing for parliament for the first time.
  • On 17 August, the Unionists selected 41-year-old Sir Alan Hutchings as their candidate to challenge for the seat. He was Secretary of the Department of the Director-General of Voluntary Organisations (War Office) from 1915-19.[2] He was standing for parliament for the first time.
  • The Labour Party selected Lt. James George of Peterborough as their candidate to challenge for the seat.[3] He was standing for parliament for the first time.

Campaign

Polling Day was set for 22 September 1921, 45 days after the death of the former MP, allowing for a long campaign. Despite rumours the contrary, on 13 September nominations closed to confirm that the election would be a three-way contest.[4]

Hutchings received the official endorsement of the Coalition Government.

Result

Wintringham held the seat that her husband had gained for the Liberals in a by-election the year before.

Mrs. Wintringham
Louth by-election, 1921[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Margaret Wintringham 8,386 42.2 −15.1
Unionist Alan Hutchings 7,695 38.3 −4.4
Labour James L. George 3,873 19.5 New
Majority 791 3.9 −10.7
Turnout 19,954 72.1 +9.0
Liberal hold Swing

Wintringham become only the second woman to take her seat in the House of Commons, and the first female Liberal MP.

Aftermath

Wintringham was re-elected at the 1922 general election,

1922 general election[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Margaret Wintringham 11,609 52.0
Unionist Alan Hutchings 10,726 48.0
Majority 883 4.0
Turnout 22,335
Liberal hold Swing

See also

References
  1. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
  2. ‘HUTCHINGS, Sir Alan’, Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2007; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2012 ; online edn, Nov 2012 accessed 4 Jan 2014
  3. Grantham Journal, 27 Aug 1921
  4. Grantham Journal, 17 Sep 1921
  5. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
  6. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
  • Craig, F. W. S. (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918-1949 (3rd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.
  • Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.