Leeds South by-election, 1908
Encyclopedia
The Leeds South by-election, 1908 was a parliamentary by-election
for the House of Commons constituency of Leeds South
in the West Riding of Yorkshire
held on 13 February 1908.
MP, John Lawson Walton
. Lawson was Attorney-General in the Liberal government of Henry Campbell-Bannerman
and had been MP for Leeds South since 1892 when he himself won the seat at a by-election
.
, a 57 year old solicitor
to be their candidate. Middlebrook had been a local councillor in Leeds
and Morley
and it seems that one of the reasons he was selected was his ability to give financial aid to the Leeds South Liberal Association. John Lawson Walton had had paid the salary of his political agent and Middlebrook undertook to pay the constituency £100 a year.
originally seemed to be favouring the candidacy of Sir Henry Fairfax-Lucy, scion of the well-known Lucy family
. Sir Henry had fought Leeds South for the Tories at the 1906 general election
. However Sir Henry was a free-trader
, which was a traditional Liberal policy and the Conservatives feared that tariff reform
would become a controversial topic in the election if they chose Sir Henry as their man. Perhaps to enable the local Conservatives to overcome this problem, Fairfax-Lucy diplomatically announced that he was not able to stand for Parliament at this time because he was too busy with the Territorial Force
Association in Warwickshire
of which he was chairman.
At a meeting on 27 January 1908, the local Conservative organisation in Leeds South adopted R J Neville
, the Recorder
of Bury St Edmunds as their candidate. Neville was 44 years old and had unsuccessfully contested South Leeds for the Conservatives on four previous occasions.
candidate at the 1906 general election, Albert Fox, the secretary of the Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen
expressed his desire to stand again at the by-election but members of a rival railway trade union
, the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants
had protested against his candidacy and this caused some doubt over Labour’s participation. It seems there had been a falling out between Fox and some railway workers over the tactics and policies to be adopted in respect of union campaigning for improved working conditions and union recognition by the employers. There was considerable discord between the two unions over strategy and Fox’s loyally to the labour cause was questioned. For some of his labour colleagues it was clear that Fox’s socialism
did not go far enough. It was reported that Fox had secured the approval of party headquarters but the local Labour Representation Committee (LRC) were required to endorse him and there remained a danger that if he stood, a rival Labour candidate would enter the field as well. The National Council of the Independent Labour Party
had considered standing T R Williams who had been the Labour candidate in Huddersfield
in 1906 among other possibles but these men withdrew their interest due to lack of funding to fight a campaign.
In the final week of January, the Labour party had officially appointed Joseph Pointer
as their candidate. Pointer was aged 32 and a trades council
activist from Sheffield
, a member of the United Patternmakers' Association. It was reported he and his supporters had started campaigning in Leeds but by the end of the month Pointer had withdrawn from the field, the internal struggles in the Labour organisation having taken their toll. Fox emerged after all as Labour’s candidate for the by-election despite the reservations of the local LRC about whether or not they should actively support his campaign. In the end the LRC voted by 89 votes to 85 not to endorse Fox’s candidature but, despite this setback, he carried on as the representative of labour in the election fight.
. He agreed with Balfour’s policy to reduce unemployment by taxation reform. He spoke in favour of freedom for Roman Catholic, Nonconformist and Jewish
parents to choose to have their children taught about their religion. Neville was expected to carry the 900 or so votes of the Catholic community who strongly opposed national and local measures taken by the Liberal Party in respect of education and training which they claimed would destroy the character of Catholic schools. However Irish voters in the constituency were divided in their loyalties, supporting Neville’s stance on Catholic education but disliking his party’s opposition to Irish Home Rule
. Neville also opposed the Licensing Bill, which proposed restoration of local control of drinking establishments, a reduction in the number of public houses and the abolition of certain rights to compensation of suppressed license-holders. Neville called this an attempt to confiscate without full and reasonable compensation the interests of the property of a trade which has received the sanction and encouragement of the state. It was reported that all sections of the licensing trade were aligning themselves with Neville.
Middlebrook’s election address was a generally uncontroversial tract, pledging support for the policies of the Liberal government and avowed his support for Free Trade. However he found it necessary (possibly even on the instruction of party headquarters in London) to specify his support for the granting of votes for women
, who were qualified. At this time the suffragettes
were campaigning against all Liberal candidates in by-elections, whatever their declared opinion on votes for women, in protest at the government’s unwillingness to bring in a women’s suffrage Bill and in retaliation for the government’s crackdown on their growing militancy. They promised to attend all Liberal meetings during the election, to heckle and disrupt proceedings. They were apparently unable to make good the threat, as it was reported at the beginning of February that the suffragettes had confined their campaign to the handing out of leaflets, although both Mary Gawthorpe
and Emmeline Pankhurst
visited the constituency before the election to campaign against Middlebrook and one source records that one suffragette organiser arranged twenty-two meetings in one week alone.
At one meeting on the eve of poll, close to the location of a pro-Middlebrook meeting being addressed by Rowland Barran
the Liberal MP for Leeds North
, the suffragettes called on electors to keep out the Liberal in retaliation for the government’s having sent 54 women to prison for their part in the votes for women movement. The Liberals in Leeds were definitely divided on the issue of women’s suffrage and the government’s response to the actions of the Women's Social and Political Union
, the main suffragette organisation and one local suffragette recorded that some Liberal women refused to work or canvass for Middlebrook.
Fox’s election address declared in favour of social reform
, including the immediate introduction of old age pensions, unemployment relief and education reform free from religious sectarianism
or class
favouritism. He supported free trade and universal adult suffrage
, no doubt hoping to gain the support of the suffragettes and those voters who were in favour of their campaign.
on 17 January and of the Ross or Southern Division of Herefordshire
on 31 January, both seats falling to the Liberal Unionists
. But all governments suffer mid-term reverses and the government elected in 1906 was voted in with a landslide majority. The government continued to lose by-elections down to the next general election in January 1910 but they held many seats too, an indicator that the tide of public opinion was not flowing irreversibly away from the Liberal Party. In Leeds South, Middlebrook went on to increase his majority substantially in January 1910, albeit in a straight fight with the Conservatives. Even in a three-cornered contest in December 1910 he managed a majority of 2,260.
By-election
A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....
for the House of Commons constituency of Leeds South
Leeds South (UK Parliament constituency)
Leeds South was a parliamentary constituency in the city of Leeds, West Yorkshire, which returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1885 until it was abolished for the 1983 general election...
in the West Riding of Yorkshire
West Riding of Yorkshire
The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of the three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county, County of York, West Riding , was based closely on the historic boundaries...
held on 13 February 1908.
Vacancy
The by-election was caused by the death of the sitting LiberalLiberal 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...
MP, John Lawson Walton
John Lawson Walton
Sir John Lawson Walton KC was a British barrister and Liberal politician.-Family and education:John Lawson Walton was the son of the Reverend John Walton MA, a Wesleyan missionary in Ceylon who later preached at Grahamstown in South Africa and who became President of the Wesleyan Conference for...
. Lawson was Attorney-General in the Liberal government of Henry Campbell-Bannerman
Henry Campbell-Bannerman
Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman GCB was a British Liberal Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1905 to 1908 and Leader of the Liberal Party from 1899 to 1908. He also served as Secretary of State for War twice, in the Cabinets of Gladstone and Rosebery...
and had been MP for Leeds South since 1892 when he himself won the seat at a by-election
Leeds South by-election, 1892
The Leeds South by-election, 1892 was a parliamentary by-election for the House of Commons constituency of Leeds South in the West Riding of Yorkshire held on 22 September 1892.-Vacancy:...
.
Liberals
The South Leeds Liberals selected William MiddlebrookSir William Middlebrook, 1st Baronet
Sir William Middlebrook, 1st Baronet was an English solicitor and Liberal Party politician.-Family and education:...
, a 57 year old solicitor
Solicitor
Solicitors are lawyers who traditionally deal with any legal matter including conducting proceedings in courts. In the United Kingdom, a few Australian states and the Republic of Ireland, the legal profession is split between solicitors and barristers , and a lawyer will usually only hold one title...
to be their candidate. Middlebrook had been a local councillor in Leeds
Leeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
and Morley
Morley
- Places :United Kingdom* Morley, County Durham, England* Morley, Derbyshire, England* Morley, West Yorkshire, England* Morley Saint Botolph, Norfolk, England* Morley Saint Peter, Norfolk, EnglandUnited States* Morley, Iowa* Morley, Michigan...
and it seems that one of the reasons he was selected was his ability to give financial aid to the Leeds South Liberal Association. John Lawson Walton had had paid the salary of his political agent and Middlebrook undertook to pay the constituency £100 a year.
Conservatives
The ConservativesConservative 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...
originally seemed to be favouring the candidacy of Sir Henry Fairfax-Lucy, scion of the well-known Lucy family
Cameron-Ramsay-Fairfax-Lucy Baronets
The Fairfax, later Ramsay-Fairfax, later Cameron-Ramsay-Fairfax-Lucy Baronetcy, of The Holmes in the County of Roxburgh, is a title in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 14 March 1836 for Henry Fairfax, in honour of his father, Vice-Admiral Sir William George Fairfax...
. Sir Henry had fought Leeds South for the Tories at the 1906 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1906
-Seats summary:-See also:*MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1906*The Parliamentary Franchise in the United Kingdom 1885-1918-External links:***-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987**...
. However Sir Henry was a free-trader
Free trade
Under a free trade policy, prices emerge from supply and demand, and are the sole determinant of resource allocation. 'Free' trade differs from other forms of trade policy where the allocation of goods and services among trading countries are determined by price strategies that may differ from...
, which was a traditional Liberal policy and the Conservatives feared that tariff reform
Protectionism
Protectionism is the economic policy of restraining trade between states through methods such as tariffs on imported goods, restrictive quotas, and a variety of other government regulations designed to allow "fair competition" between imports and goods and services produced domestically.This...
would become a controversial topic in the election if they chose Sir Henry as their man. Perhaps to enable the local Conservatives to overcome this problem, Fairfax-Lucy diplomatically announced that he was not able to stand for Parliament at this time because he was too busy with the Territorial Force
Territorial Force
The Territorial Force was the volunteer reserve component of the British Army from 1908 to 1920, when it became the Territorial Army.-Origins:...
Association in Warwickshire
Warwickshire
Warwickshire is a landlocked non-metropolitan county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, although the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare...
of which he was chairman.
At a meeting on 27 January 1908, the local Conservative organisation in Leeds South adopted R J Neville
Sir Reginald Neville, 1st Baronet
Sir Reginald James Neville Neville, 1st Baronet , born Reginald Neville White, was a British barrister and Conservative and Unionist member of parliament...
, the Recorder
Recorder
The recorder is a woodwind musical instrument of the family known as fipple flutes or internal duct flutes—whistle-like instruments which include the tin whistle. The recorder is end-blown and the mouth of the instrument is constricted by a wooden plug, known as a block or fipple...
of Bury St Edmunds as their candidate. Neville was 44 years old and had unsuccessfully contested South Leeds for the Conservatives on four previous occasions.
Labour
The LabourLabour 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...
candidate at the 1906 general election, Albert Fox, the secretary of the Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen
Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen
The Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen is the trade union representing railway workers in Great Britain who are train drivers or in the line of promotion to train driver....
expressed his desire to stand again at the by-election but members of a rival railway trade union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
, the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants
National Union of Railwaymen
The National Union of Railwaymen was a trade union of railway workers in the United Kingdom. It an industrial union founded in 1913 by the merger of the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants , the United Pointsmen and Signalmen's Society and the General Railway Workers' Union .The NUR...
had protested against his candidacy and this caused some doubt over Labour’s participation. It seems there had been a falling out between Fox and some railway workers over the tactics and policies to be adopted in respect of union campaigning for improved working conditions and union recognition by the employers. There was considerable discord between the two unions over strategy and Fox’s loyally to the labour cause was questioned. For some of his labour colleagues it was clear that Fox’s 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,...
did not go far enough. It was reported that Fox had secured the approval of party headquarters but the local Labour Representation Committee (LRC) were required to endorse him and there remained a danger that if he stood, a rival Labour candidate would enter the field as well. The National Council of the Independent Labour Party
Independent Labour Party
The Independent Labour Party was a socialist political party in Britain established in 1893. The ILP was affiliated to the Labour Party from 1906 to 1932, when it voted to leave...
had considered standing T R Williams who had been the Labour candidate in Huddersfield
Huddersfield (UK Parliament constituency)
-Elections in the 2000s:-Elections in the 1990s:- Notes and references :...
in 1906 among other possibles but these men withdrew their interest due to lack of funding to fight a campaign.
In the final week of January, the Labour party had officially appointed Joseph Pointer
Joseph Pointer
Joseph Pointer was a British Labour Party Member of Parliament.Born in the Attercliffe district of Sheffield, Pointer became a convinced socialist early in his life, and joined the Independent Labour Party...
as their candidate. Pointer was aged 32 and a trades council
Labour council
A labour council, trades council or industrial council is an association of labour unions or union branches in a given area. Most commonly, they represent unions in a given geographical area, whether at the district, city, region, or provincial or state level...
activist from Sheffield
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
, a member of the United Patternmakers' Association. It was reported he and his supporters had started campaigning in Leeds but by the end of the month Pointer had withdrawn from the field, the internal struggles in the Labour organisation having taken their toll. Fox emerged after all as Labour’s candidate for the by-election despite the reservations of the local LRC about whether or not they should actively support his campaign. In the end the LRC voted by 89 votes to 85 not to endorse Fox’s candidature but, despite this setback, he carried on as the representative of labour in the election fight.
Election issues
Neville issued his election address on 30 January, declaring himself a loyal supporter of Arthur BalfourArthur Balfour
Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour, KG, OM, PC, DL was a British Conservative politician and statesman...
. He agreed with Balfour’s policy to reduce unemployment by taxation reform. He spoke in favour of freedom for Roman Catholic, Nonconformist and Jewish
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
parents to choose to have their children taught about their religion. Neville was expected to carry the 900 or so votes of the Catholic community who strongly opposed national and local measures taken by the Liberal Party in respect of education and training which they claimed would destroy the character of Catholic schools. However Irish voters in the constituency were divided in their loyalties, supporting Neville’s stance on Catholic education but disliking his party’s opposition to Irish Home Rule
Irish Home Rule Movement
The Irish Home Rule Movement articulated a longstanding Irish desire for the repeal of the Act of Union of 1800 by a demand for self-government within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The movement drew upon a legacy of patriotic thought that dated back at least to the late 17th...
. Neville also opposed the Licensing Bill, which proposed restoration of local control of drinking establishments, a reduction in the number of public houses and the abolition of certain rights to compensation of suppressed license-holders. Neville called this an attempt to confiscate without full and reasonable compensation the interests of the property of a trade which has received the sanction and encouragement of the state. It was reported that all sections of the licensing trade were aligning themselves with Neville.
Middlebrook’s election address was a generally uncontroversial tract, pledging support for the policies of the Liberal government and avowed his support for Free Trade. However he found it necessary (possibly even on the instruction of party headquarters in London) to specify his support for the granting of votes for women
Women's suffrage
Women's suffrage or woman suffrage is the right of women to vote and to run for office. The expression is also used for the economic and political reform movement aimed at extending these rights to women and without any restrictions or qualifications such as property ownership, payment of tax, or...
, who were qualified. At this time the suffragettes
Suffragette
"Suffragette" is a term coined by the Daily Mail newspaper as a derogatory label for members of the late 19th and early 20th century movement for women's suffrage in the United Kingdom, in particular members of the Women's Social and Political Union...
were campaigning against all Liberal candidates in by-elections, whatever their declared opinion on votes for women, in protest at the government’s unwillingness to bring in a women’s suffrage Bill and in retaliation for the government’s crackdown on their growing militancy. They promised to attend all Liberal meetings during the election, to heckle and disrupt proceedings. They were apparently unable to make good the threat, as it was reported at the beginning of February that the suffragettes had confined their campaign to the handing out of leaflets, although both Mary Gawthorpe
Mary Gawthorpe
Mary Eleanor Gawthorpe was a British suffragette, socialist, trade unionist and editor, described by Rebecca West as "a merry militant saint"....
and Emmeline Pankhurst
Emmeline Pankhurst
Emmeline Pankhurst was a British political activist and leader of the British suffragette movement which helped women win the right to vote...
visited the constituency before the election to campaign against Middlebrook and one source records that one suffragette organiser arranged twenty-two meetings in one week alone.
At one meeting on the eve of poll, close to the location of a pro-Middlebrook meeting being addressed by Rowland Barran
Rowland Barran
Sir Rowland Hirst Barran was an English Liberal Party politician, Member of Parliament for Leeds North from 30 July 1902 to the General Election of 14 December 1918.Barran was the son of John Barran, a pioneer in clothing manufacture...
the Liberal MP for Leeds North
Leeds North (UK Parliament constituency)
Leeds North was a borough constituency in the city of Leeds, West Yorkshire, which returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post voting system.-History:...
, the suffragettes called on electors to keep out the Liberal in retaliation for the government’s having sent 54 women to prison for their part in the votes for women movement. The Liberals in Leeds were definitely divided on the issue of women’s suffrage and the government’s response to the actions of the Women's Social and Political Union
Women's Social and Political Union
The Women's Social and Political Union was the leading militant organisation campaigning for Women's suffrage in the United Kingdom...
, the main suffragette organisation and one local suffragette recorded that some Liberal women refused to work or canvass for Middlebrook.
Fox’s election address declared in favour of social reform
Welfare reform
Welfare reform refers to the process of reforming the framework of social security and welfare provisions, but what is considered reform is a matter of opinion. The term was used in the United States to support the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act...
, including the immediate introduction of old age pensions, unemployment relief and education reform free from religious sectarianism
Sectarianism
Sectarianism, according to one definition, is bigotry, discrimination or hatred arising from attaching importance to perceived differences between subdivisions within a group, such as between different denominations of a religion, class, regional or factions of a political movement.The ideological...
or class
Social class
Social classes are economic or cultural arrangements of groups in society. Class is an essential object of analysis for sociologists, political scientists, economists, anthropologists and social historians. In the social sciences, social class is often discussed in terms of 'social stratification'...
favouritism. He supported free trade and universal adult suffrage
Universal suffrage
Universal suffrage consists of the extension of the right to vote to adult citizens as a whole, though it may also mean extending said right to minors and non-citizens...
, no doubt hoping to gain the support of the suffragettes and those voters who were in favour of their campaign.
The result
Middlebrook held the seat for the Liberals with a majority of 359 votes over Neville who restored the Conservatives to second place, Fairfax-Lucy having come bottom of the poll at the 1906 general election. Fox forfeited the second place he had achieved in 1906. While the government was no doubt pleased to retain the seat, the increase of 2,700 votes for the Conservatives and the loss of 1,000 for the Liberals and 1,600 for Labour (Fox presumably suffering from the damaging split in the labour ranks over his candidature) must have been a disappointment to Middlebrook and the Liberal Party, given the turnout was much the same as at the previous general election. The Leeds South result followed the loss of AshburtonAshburton by-election, 1908
The Ashburton by-election, 1908 was a by-election held in England on 17 January 1908 to elect a new Member of Parliament for the British House of Commons constituency of Ashburton in Devon....
on 17 January and of the Ross or Southern Division of Herefordshire
Ross (UK Parliament constituency)
Ross, or the Southern division of Herefordshire was a county constituency centred on the town of Ross-on-Wye in Herefordshire. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post voting system.The constituency was...
on 31 January, both seats falling to the Liberal Unionists
Liberal Unionist Party
The Liberal Unionist Party was a British political party that was formed in 1886 by a faction that broke away from the Liberal Party. Led by Lord Hartington and Joseph Chamberlain, the party formed a political alliance with the Conservative Party in opposition to Irish Home Rule...
. But all governments suffer mid-term reverses and the government elected in 1906 was voted in with a landslide majority. The government continued to lose by-elections down to the next general election in January 1910 but they held many seats too, an indicator that the tide of public opinion was not flowing irreversibly away from the Liberal Party. In Leeds South, Middlebrook went on to increase his majority substantially in January 1910, albeit in a straight fight with the Conservatives. Even in a three-cornered contest in December 1910 he managed a majority of 2,260.
The votes
See also
- Leeds South by-election, 1892Leeds South by-election, 1892The Leeds South by-election, 1892 was a parliamentary by-election for the House of Commons constituency of Leeds South in the West Riding of Yorkshire held on 22 September 1892.-Vacancy:...
- 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...