Lancaster by-election, 1928
Encyclopedia
The Lancaster by-election, 1928 was a parliamentary by-election
held in England
for the House of Commons constituency of Lancaster
on 9 February 1928.
MP, Sir Gerald Strickland
. Strickland had been elected as MP for Lancaster at the 1924 general election
gaining the seat from the Liberals
.
. Ramsbotham was educated at Uppingham
and University College, Oxford
, had been called to the Bar in 1911 but entered a City
export business. He had also had a distinguished service career during World War One, being three times mentioned in despatches. Although Ramsbotham now resided in Radlett
in Hertfordshire
, he had strong connections with the Lancaster constituency. He had been the Unionist
candidate there at the December 1910 general election when, although he lost, he had caused the Liberal majority in the seat to fall from 1,084 to just 134.
, a 46 year old corn merchant from Poulton-le-Fylde
and former parliamentary candidate in the Fylde constituency
. Tomlinson was seen as a local man as his home was just across the constituency border and was known for his religious work as a Wesleyan lay preacher across Lancashire
.
settled upon the Reverend David R Davies, a Congregational
minister from Southport
as their candidate. Davies was originally from Glamorgan
and was for 12 years a coal miner. He had beaten off the challenge of a local Labour hopeful to win the candidate selection and was described as an advocate of extreme socialism
.
which had been published as Land and the Nation (also known as the Green Book). It proposed an element of land nationalisation and caused controversy in the party. After heated debate, the more extreme proposals had been taken out and reference to the party’s traditional policy of Land Value Taxation
strengthened, but reform of the agricultural system to benefit rural workers remained a key Liberal policy. In addition, Tomlinson was able to take advantage of his profession as a corn miller to present himself as someone who knew agriculture well and had its interests at heart. There was a general dissatisfaction among farmers and rural workers with the policy of the Tory
government towards agricultural affairs with many claiming to have been promised much by Stanley Baldwin
’s administration but with little to show for it. Tomlinson argued that what the farmers wanted more than anything was security of tenure.
Ramsbotham however was a member of the National Farmers Union and said he stood for many of the Union’s demands, including the easing of local rates
on farms and farm buildings, special purchasing arrangements for meat to feed the British armed forces and the rectifying of other grievances concerning imported milk and eggs. He also attacked the Liberal position on land nationalisation and the bureaucratic control of farmers which Land and the Nation had recommended.
on 9 January, Lancaster would be a struggle for supremacy between the Conservative and Liberal candidates. By February it was being reported that the Labour team was growing in despondency as the awareness of this situation became increasingly apparent.
. Among other policies, he particularly advocated an extension of the national insurance scheme
, electoral reform
to ensure majority rule, temperance and land taxation reform.
in schools, which he supported as a vital need. He said that children should be taught the religion desired by their parents and this was thought to have been an appeal to Roman Catholic voters in Lancaster
where a local controversy over their schools had recently arisen. Given the strong nonconformist associations of the Liberal and Labour candidates, this could be seen as an intelligent appeal.
was a successful businessman, whose family firm in Lancaster produced oil cloth and linoleum
. He had been Liberal MP for Lancaster from 1888-1895 when he was made a peer
. He created Lancaster’s Williamson Park and after the death of his second wife, Jessy, he built the Ashton Memorial
on a hill in the park. He was High Sheriff of Lancashire
in 1885, sometime Deputy Lieutenant
of the county and a Justice of the Peace
. Ashton was therefore well known and influential in the Lancaster constituency.
On 6 February 1928, following a visit to Lancaster by David Lloyd George a few days earlier to campaign for Tomlinson, Ashton wrote a public letter of support to Ramsbotham. In the letter, which bore the address Ryelands, Lancaster, Ashton attacked Lloyd George on a number of policy questions but also described the former prime minister as the man who had wrecked the Liberal Party and someone who was not fully trusted by his own political associates. Ashton said the present position of the Liberal Party was entirely the fault of Lloyd George and could not be put right for a generation. He painted Lloyd George as more extreme than moderate members of the Labour Party and accused him of disloyalty to his party and country during the General Strike. Ashton raised the issue of Tomlinson’s relationship with the Lloyd George fund, claiming that when asked if he was financed by it he evaded the question. He ended by associating Tomlinson with what Lloyd George had described as ‘the whole advanced programme of Liberalism,’ which included radical measures such as those on agriculture in the Green Book and which were thought on the right
to be tantamount to socialism
.
This intervention naturally worried the Liberals. It was reported that Ashton had a record of publicly declaring his support in Lancaster elections since 1922 and that on each occasion the candidate securing his endorsement had gone on to win the seat. Nevertheless, the same report also queried if Ashton’s support for a candidate was actually overrated. In response to Ashton’s letter, Tomlinson characterised its tone as an envenomed and bitter attack on Lloyd George. He re-iterated that he was standing for election as a Liberal without prefix or suffix, implying that the divisions in the Liberal Party occasioned by the split between Lloyd George and H H Asquith were now completely a thing of the past. As if to underline this new unity he declared he was supported not only by Lloyd George but by Asquith, who had sent him a letter of support, and by Herbert Samuel
. The Liberals arranged for Lloyd George to issue a statement in rebuttal and for him return to the constituency to make speeches at Lancaster and Morecambe
.
Although the Conservatives painted Ashton’s intervention as an internal disagreement between Liberals, they were plainly delighted to have received Ashton’s endorsement and Ramsbotham clearly relished bringing the issue of the letter back to the attention of the electorate as late as meetings on the eve of poll itself. By this time too the Liberals were recovering some lost ground over the letter. Lloyd George claimed two days before polling day that the letter had been written for Lord Ashton by an unnamed Tory MP and alleged he had been told this by the writer of the letter himself. Ashton spluttered out a denial.
. The turnout was 82.7%. This victory, together with other Liberal by-election gains which followed at St Ives
a month later, and at Eddisbury
and Holland with Boston
both in March 1929, gave great heart to the Liberal Party and caused the Conservatives to fear the possibility of Liberal revival. They should however have been more worried about the rise of Labour. Over the course of the 1924-1929 Parliament, Labour made thirteen by-election gains in all, eleven from the Tories, and two from the Liberals.
Labour went on to win the 1929 general election
and, despite a rise in their Parliamentary representation, the Liberal position in British in politics did not recover enough to halt the decline which had started with the Asquith-Lloyd George split in 1916.
In Lancaster however, Ramsbotham had the last laugh. He won the seat from the Liberals at the 1929 general and held it until 1941 when he went to the House of Lords
as Lord Soulbury
.
By-election
A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....
held in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
for the House of Commons constituency of Lancaster
Lancaster (UK Parliament constituency)
Lancaster was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of England then of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1867, centred on the historic city of Lancaster in north-west England...
on 9 February 1928.
Vacancy
The by-election was caused by the elevation to the peerage of the sitting ConservativeConservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
MP, Sir Gerald Strickland
Gerald Strickland, 1st Baron Strickland
Gerald Strickland, 1st Baron Strickland, 6th Count of Catena, GCMG was a Maltese and British politician and peer, who served as Prime Minister of Malta, Governor of the Leeward Islands, Governor of Tasmania, Governor of Western Australia and Governor of New South Wales.-Early...
. Strickland had been elected as MP for Lancaster at the 1924 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1924
- Seats summary :- References :* F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987* - External links :* * *...
gaining the seat from the Liberals
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
.
Conservatives
The Conservatives selected 40 year old Herwald RamsbothamHerwald Ramsbotham, 1st Viscount Soulbury
Herwald Ramsbotham, 1st Viscount Soulbury GCMG, GCVO, OBE, MC, PC was a British Conservative politician. He was a government minister between 1931 and 1941 and served as Governor-General of Ceylon between 1949 and 1954....
. Ramsbotham was educated at Uppingham
Uppingham
Disambiguation: "Uppingham" is the colloquial name for Uppingham SchoolUppingham is a market town in the county of Rutland in the East Midlands of England, located on the A47 between Leicester and Peterborough, about 6 miles south of the county town, Oakham.- History :A little over a mile to the...
and University College, Oxford
University College, Oxford
.University College , is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. As of 2009 the college had an estimated financial endowment of £110m...
, had been called to the Bar in 1911 but entered a City
City
A city is a relatively large and permanent settlement. Although there is no agreement on how a city is distinguished from a town within general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status based on local law.For example, in the U.S...
export business. He had also had a distinguished service career during World War One, being three times mentioned in despatches. Although Ramsbotham now resided in Radlett
Radlett
Radlett is a small town in the county of Hertfordshire between St Albans and Borehamwood on Watling Street with a population of approximately 8,000. It is located in the council district of Hertsmere and is covered by two wards, Aldenham East and Aldenham West...
in Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...
, he had strong connections with the Lancaster constituency. He had been the Unionist
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
candidate there at the December 1910 general election when, although he lost, he had caused the Liberal majority in the seat to fall from 1,084 to just 134.
Liberals
The Liberals chose Robert Parkinson TomlinsonRobert Parkinson Tomlinson
Robert Parkinson Tomlinson was a British corn merchant and Liberal politician.- Family and education :Tomlinson was born at Poulton-le-Fylde in Lancashire, the son of William and Agnes Ormond Tomlinson. He was educated at Poulton-le-Fylde Grammar School and Claremont College, Blackpool. He never...
, a 46 year old corn merchant from Poulton-le-Fylde
Poulton-le-Fylde
Poulton-le-Fylde is a market town in Lancashire, England, situated on the coastal plain called the Fylde. As of the 2001 United Kingdom census, it had a population of 18,264. There is evidence of human habitation in the area from 12,000 years ago and several archaeological finds from Roman...
and former parliamentary candidate in the Fylde constituency
Fylde (UK Parliament constituency)
Fylde is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.-History:...
. Tomlinson was seen as a local man as his home was just across the constituency border and was known for his religious work as a Wesleyan lay preacher across Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
.
Labour
The Labour PartyLabour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
settled upon the Reverend David R Davies, a Congregational
United Reformed Church
The United Reformed Church is a Christian church in the United Kingdom. It has approximately 68,000 members in 1,500 congregations with some 700 ministers.-Origins and history:...
minister from Southport
Southport
Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. During the 2001 census Southport was recorded as having a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England...
as their candidate. Davies was originally from Glamorgan
Glamorgan
Glamorgan or Glamorganshire is one of the thirteen historic counties and a former administrative county of Wales. It was originally an early medieval kingdom of varying boundaries known as Glywysing until taken over by the Normans as a lordship. Glamorgan is latterly represented by the three...
and was for 12 years a coal miner. He had beaten off the challenge of a local Labour hopeful to win the candidate selection and was described as an advocate of extreme socialism
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
.
Agriculture
Agriculture was an early issue in the election, with the Liberals aiming a direct appeal at the farmers. This followed the controversy over the Liberal Land enquiry of 1925, instigated by David Lloyd GeorgeDavid Lloyd George
David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor OM, PC was a British Liberal politician and statesman...
which had been published as Land and the Nation (also known as the Green Book). It proposed an element of land nationalisation and caused controversy in the party. After heated debate, the more extreme proposals had been taken out and reference to the party’s traditional policy of Land Value Taxation
Land value tax
A land value tax is a levy on the unimproved value of land. It is an ad valorem tax on land that disregards the value of buildings, personal property and other improvements...
strengthened, but reform of the agricultural system to benefit rural workers remained a key Liberal policy. In addition, Tomlinson was able to take advantage of his profession as a corn miller to present himself as someone who knew agriculture well and had its interests at heart. There was a general dissatisfaction among farmers and rural workers with the policy of the Tory
Tory
Toryism is a traditionalist and conservative political philosophy which grew out of the Cavalier faction in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. It is a prominent ideology in the politics of the United Kingdom, but also features in parts of The Commonwealth, particularly in Canada...
government towards agricultural affairs with many claiming to have been promised much by Stanley Baldwin
Stanley Baldwin
Stanley Baldwin, 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley, KG, PC was a British Conservative politician, who dominated the government in his country between the two world wars...
’s administration but with little to show for it. Tomlinson argued that what the farmers wanted more than anything was security of tenure.
Ramsbotham however was a member of the National Farmers Union and said he stood for many of the Union’s demands, including the easing of local rates
Rates (tax)
Rates are a type of property tax system in the United Kingdom, and in places with systems deriving from the British one, the proceeds of which are used to fund local government...
on farms and farm buildings, special purchasing arrangements for meat to feed the British armed forces and the rectifying of other grievances concerning imported milk and eggs. He also attacked the Liberal position on land nationalisation and the bureaucratic control of farmers which Land and the Nation had recommended.
Socialism
Davies focused his appeal to the electorate on philosophical grounds, pointing out the unfairness of social and political systems based on vested interests to the permanent and deep disadvantage of working people. However Labour's ability to get their messages across seem to have been hampered from the outset by the tactical difficulty of being the third party in a three-cornered contest. At the 1924 general election, the Labour candidate had come third with 17.5% of the poll. It became plain that, despite a good Labour showing in other by-elections, in particular the Labour gain from the Conservatives at NorthamptonNorthampton (UK Parliament constituency)
Northampton was a parliamentary constituency centred on the town of Northampton which existed until 1974.It returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom until its representation was reduced to one member for the 1918 general election...
on 9 January, Lancaster would be a struggle for supremacy between the Conservative and Liberal candidates. By February it was being reported that the Labour team was growing in despondency as the awareness of this situation became increasingly apparent.
Defence of the government
Ramsbotham generally took the line of fighting on the government’s record and attacking the opposition parties for what he called their lack of effectiveness in Parliament. He also attacked the pretensions of the socialist candidate and Liberal problems concerning the leadership of their party. He defended the government’s expenditure on the military and the conversion of War Debt and warned about opposition attempts to misrepresent these policies. Ramsbotham told the electorate that no party had a positive cure for unemployment, which could only be remedied by an improvement in trade. Whether true or not, this emollient line could have given little comfort to those suffering from being out of work or fearing unemployment in a difficult economic climate. As Ramsbotham spoke out for the government’s success, so Tomlinson went on the attack. He argued that the government had failed to keep its pledges, that it must reduce expenditure and that it had failed to grasp the problems in the coal industry in the aftermath of the General Strike1926 United Kingdom general strike
The 1926 general strike in the United Kingdom was a general strike that lasted nine days, from 4 May 1926 to 13 May 1926. It was called by the general council of the Trades Union Congress in an unsuccessful attempt to force the British government to act to prevent wage reduction and worsening...
. Among other policies, he particularly advocated an extension of the national insurance scheme
National Insurance
National Insurance in the United Kingdom was initially a contributory system of insurance against illness and unemployment, and later also provided retirement pensions and other benefits...
, electoral reform
Electoral reform
Electoral reform is change in electoral systems to improve how public desires are expressed in election results. That can include reforms of:...
to ensure majority rule, temperance and land taxation reform.
Religion
Ramsbotham, in his election address, referred to the question of religious educationReligious education
In secular usage, religious education is the teaching of a particular religion and its varied aspects —its beliefs, doctrines, rituals, customs, rites, and personal roles...
in schools, which he supported as a vital need. He said that children should be taught the religion desired by their parents and this was thought to have been an appeal to Roman Catholic voters in Lancaster
Lancaster, Lancashire
Lancaster is the county town of Lancashire, England. It is situated on the River Lune and has a population of 45,952. Lancaster is a constituent settlement of the wider City of Lancaster, local government district which has a population of 133,914 and encompasses several outlying towns, including...
where a local controversy over their schools had recently arisen. Given the strong nonconformist associations of the Liberal and Labour candidates, this could be seen as an intelligent appeal.
The intervention of Lord Ashton
James Williamson, 1st Baron AshtonJames Williamson, 1st Baron Ashton
James Williamson, 1st Baron Ashton was a British businessman and Liberal Party politician.Williamson was a successful businessman, whose family business in Lancaster produced oil cloth and linoleum which were exported around the world...
was a successful businessman, whose family firm in Lancaster produced oil cloth and linoleum
Linoleum
Linoleum is a floor covering made from renewable materials such as solidified linseed oil , pine rosin, ground cork dust, wood flour, and mineral fillers such as calcium carbonate, most commonly on a burlap or canvas backing; pigments are often added to the materials.The finest linoleum floors,...
. He had been Liberal MP for Lancaster from 1888-1895 when he was made a peer
Peerage
The Peerage is a legal system of largely hereditary titles in the United Kingdom, which constitute the ranks of British nobility and is part of the British honours system...
. He created Lancaster’s Williamson Park and after the death of his second wife, Jessy, he built the Ashton Memorial
Ashton Memorial
The Ashton Memorial is a folly in Williamson Park, Lancaster, England built between 1907 and 1909 by millionaire industrialist Baron Ashton in memory of his second wife, Jessy, at a cost of over £80,000 The Ashton Memorial is a folly in Williamson Park, Lancaster, England built between 1907 and...
on a hill in the park. He was High Sheriff of Lancashire
High Sheriff of Lancashire
The High Sheriff of Lancashire is an ancient officer, now largely ceremonial, granted to Lancashire, a county in North West England. High Shrievalties are the oldest secular titles under the Crown, in England and Wales...
in 1885, sometime Deputy Lieutenant
Deputy Lieutenant
In the United Kingdom, a Deputy Lieutenant is one of several deputies to the Lord Lieutenant of a lieutenancy area; an English ceremonial county, Welsh preserved county, Scottish lieutenancy area, or Northern Irish county borough or county....
of the county and a Justice of the Peace
Justice of the Peace
A justice of the peace is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions...
. Ashton was therefore well known and influential in the Lancaster constituency.
On 6 February 1928, following a visit to Lancaster by David Lloyd George a few days earlier to campaign for Tomlinson, Ashton wrote a public letter of support to Ramsbotham. In the letter, which bore the address Ryelands, Lancaster, Ashton attacked Lloyd George on a number of policy questions but also described the former prime minister as the man who had wrecked the Liberal Party and someone who was not fully trusted by his own political associates. Ashton said the present position of the Liberal Party was entirely the fault of Lloyd George and could not be put right for a generation. He painted Lloyd George as more extreme than moderate members of the Labour Party and accused him of disloyalty to his party and country during the General Strike. Ashton raised the issue of Tomlinson’s relationship with the Lloyd George fund, claiming that when asked if he was financed by it he evaded the question. He ended by associating Tomlinson with what Lloyd George had described as ‘the whole advanced programme of Liberalism,’ which included radical measures such as those on agriculture in the Green Book and which were thought on the right
Right-wing politics
In politics, Right, right-wing and rightist generally refer to support for a hierarchical society justified on the basis of an appeal to natural law or tradition. To varying degrees, the Right rejects the egalitarian objectives of left-wing politics, claiming that the imposition of equality is...
to be tantamount to socialism
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
.
This intervention naturally worried the Liberals. It was reported that Ashton had a record of publicly declaring his support in Lancaster elections since 1922 and that on each occasion the candidate securing his endorsement had gone on to win the seat. Nevertheless, the same report also queried if Ashton’s support for a candidate was actually overrated. In response to Ashton’s letter, Tomlinson characterised its tone as an envenomed and bitter attack on Lloyd George. He re-iterated that he was standing for election as a Liberal without prefix or suffix, implying that the divisions in the Liberal Party occasioned by the split between Lloyd George and H H Asquith were now completely a thing of the past. As if to underline this new unity he declared he was supported not only by Lloyd George but by Asquith, who had sent him a letter of support, and by Herbert Samuel
Herbert Samuel, 1st Viscount Samuel
Herbert Louis Samuel, 1st Viscount Samuel GCB OM GBE PC was a British politician and diplomat.-Early years:...
. The Liberals arranged for Lloyd George to issue a statement in rebuttal and for him return to the constituency to make speeches at Lancaster and Morecambe
Morecambe
Morecambe is a resort town and civil parish within the City of Lancaster in Lancashire, England. As of 2001 it has a resident population of 38,917. It faces into Morecambe Bay...
.
Although the Conservatives painted Ashton’s intervention as an internal disagreement between Liberals, they were plainly delighted to have received Ashton’s endorsement and Ramsbotham clearly relished bringing the issue of the letter back to the attention of the electorate as late as meetings on the eve of poll itself. By this time too the Liberals were recovering some lost ground over the letter. Lloyd George claimed two days before polling day that the letter had been written for Lord Ashton by an unnamed Tory MP and alleged he had been told this by the writer of the letter himself. Ashton spluttered out a denial.
The result
The result was a victory for Tomlinson, turning a Conservative majority of 4,158 into a Liberal majority of 1,829. The Labour vote remained at broadly the same level from that of the previous general electionGeneral election
In a parliamentary political system, a general election is an election in which all or most members of a given political body are chosen. The term is usually used to refer to elections held for a nation's primary legislative body, as distinguished from by-elections and local elections.The term...
. The turnout was 82.7%. This victory, together with other Liberal by-election gains which followed at St Ives
St Ives (UK Parliament constituency)
St. Ives is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.-History:...
a month later, and at Eddisbury
Eddisbury (UK Parliament constituency)
Eddisbury is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first-past-the-post system of election.- Boundaries :...
and Holland with Boston
Holland with Boston by-election, 1929
The Holland with Boston by-election, 1929 was a by-election held on 21st March 1929 for the British House of Commons constituency of Holland with Boston in Lincolnshire....
both in March 1929, gave great heart to the Liberal Party and caused the Conservatives to fear the possibility of Liberal revival. They should however have been more worried about the rise of Labour. Over the course of the 1924-1929 Parliament, Labour made thirteen by-election gains in all, eleven from the Tories, and two from the Liberals.
Labour went on to win the 1929 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1929
-Seats summary:-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987*-External links:***...
and, despite a rise in their Parliamentary representation, the Liberal position in British in politics did not recover enough to halt the decline which had started with the Asquith-Lloyd George split in 1916.
In Lancaster however, Ramsbotham had the last laugh. He won the seat from the Liberals at the 1929 general and held it until 1941 when he went to the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
as Lord Soulbury
Viscount Soulbury
Viscount Soulbury, of Soulbury in the County of Buckingham, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1954 for the Conservative politician the Herwald Ramsbotham, 1st Baron Soulbury at the end of his term as Governor-General of Ceylon...
.
The votes
See also
- List of United Kingdom by-elections
- United Kingdom by-election recordsUnited Kingdom by-election recordsUK by-election records is an annotated list of notable records from UK Parliamentary by-elections. A by-election occurs when a Member of Parliament resigns, dies, or is disqualified or expelled, and an election is held to fill the vacant seat...