Oldham by-election, 1899
Encyclopedia
The Oldham by-election of 1899 occurred in the summer of that year, and involved a by-election
to fill both seats in the two-member Oldham Parliamentary borough
. The block voting method
allowed each elector to vote for two candidates. The election resulted in the Liberal Party
winning both seats from the Conservatives
who had previously held them; however the election is principally notable for being the first to be fought by future Prime Minister Winston Churchill
.
and James Oswald
. However, Oswald had been chronically ill for many months and had been absent from his Parliamentary duties and his constituency; he had indicated that he would not seek re-election and left a resignation note with the Conservative Party and instructed them to use it if they thought it expedient. Ascroft was an active Parliamentarian, but was struck down with pneumonia
at his home in Croydon
on Monday 12 June, becoming partially unconscious. Over the next few days his condition did not improve, and by Sunday 18 June there was said to be "very little hope". He died on the afternoon of 19 June.
Ascroft's sudden death created an opportunity for the Conservative Party to use Oswald's resignation note and hold a double by-election, but the party delayed the decision until Ascroft's funeral on Friday 23 June. It was later observed that Ascroft was very popular in the town but had not maintained a group of election campaign workers, presumably hoping that his personal support would be enough. The forcing of a by-election therefore caught Oldham Conservatives unawares. Nevertheless on Monday 26 June Oswald's resignation note was sent in, and in consequence he was appointed Steward of the Manor of Northstead
as a way of resigning his seat
.
to the House of Commons
to ask him to replace Oswald and run as the second candidate at the next election. The date of the meeting had been fixed for some time when Churchill noticed in the newspapers that Ascroft had died. The Conservative Party officers met in Oldham
on the evening of 23 June as arranged to hear from Churchill, and unanimously adopted him as the party's candidate for the single by-election to replace Ascroft. The meeting then decided to leave the question of a second candidate to another meeting on the following night. Churchill was principally known as the son of Lord Randolph Churchill
, a senior Conservative politician who had died four years earlier; although only 24, he had begun a journalistic career as a war correspondent with the Morning Post. According to one observer, society then knew Churchill as "a brilliant and irrepressible talker".
The second Conservative candidate turned out to be James Mawdsley
, who was secretary of the Amalgamated Association of Operative Cotton Spinners
, an unusual case of a Conservative who was an active trade unionist. The choice of Mawdsley as Conservative candidate had been kept secret and surprised several Conservatives who were not in the very small meeting at which the candidates were adopted. There was some discussion of which of the two very different Conservative candidates, the aristocrat or the labour representative, would be more popular in Oldham.
Only one name was initially put forward for the Liberal Party selection, that of Alfred Emmott; however by the time the selection meeting took place on the evening of Monday 26 June it was clear that there would be a double vacancy and Emmott was adopted together with Walter Runciman
. Emmott had been a member of Oldham corporation for nearly twenty years and was the town's Mayor
in 1891–92; he had been invited, but had declined, the offer of the Liberal candidacy in 1886
. Runciman was the 28-year-old son of a shipping magnate
, with whom he shared a name.
by the Conservative chief whip William Walrond
on Tuesday 27 June. Polling day was set for Thursday 6 July.
As the previous election had been close, the by-election campaign was an intense one in which the candidates addressed meetings "at breakfast time, during the dinner hour, and in the evening". One of the main campaign issues was the Clerical Tithes Bill, which the Conservative-dominated government was promoting; the Bill gave additional help to Church of England
clergy and to Church schools. Oldham included many non-conformists who were opposed to the Bill. When the issue of the Bill was raised, the Liberal candidates opposed it, arguing that Parliament was not the place to discuss matters of faith; Churchill initially supported it on the basis that legislation was needed to maintain law and order. A Protestant delegation representing several organisations was pleased with the pledge to support the Bill and strongly endorsed Churchill and Mawdsley. However, when Churchill (who later admitted that he knew nothing of the issue) found out how unpopular the Bill was, he declared in a speech three days before polling day that he would have voted against it in accordance with the wishes of his constituents.
Churchill made a campaigning visit to Hollinwood, then known as a strongly anti-Conservative area, as his father had done in previous elections; his appearance prompted a heckler to declare "Eh, lad, thou art a chip of t'owd block". On 3 July the two Conservative candidates received a delegation on Women's suffrage
, to which Churchill declared himself opposed, saying that it would lessen the respect for women "which all men very rightly have". Mawdsley, however, declared his support.
The presence of trade unionist James Mawdsley as a Conservative candidate caused some degree of protest. The Royton
branch of his union passed (by 107 to 54 votes) a motion protesting at his candidature, and Mawdsley was asked why he had not come forward as a Labour candidate when invited to in 1895. Mawdsley replied that there had been a decision to run two candidates: one being Liberal-Labour
and the other (himself) a Conservative-Labour candidate. He further said that he would support a Liberal-Labour candidate. The Independent Labour Party
, despite not standing a candidate, held a meeting calling on working men to free themselves from both established parties. It was reported that the Conservatives accepted Mawdsley as a candidate on the assumption that if elected, he would be allowed to express his own views on trade union issues.
to bring voters to the polls, but it broke down at Stafford
and never arrived. Polling closed at 8 PM.
Shortly after 11 PM the result was announced from the town hall.
, took it as an object lesson that "playing at pitch and toss" with Conservative principles would not lead to a victory and that it was better that the party went into opposition than "surrender to every Socialistic demand".
Winston Churchill
had impressed as an election candidate, being described as "working like a Trojan". However The Times correspondent felt that his speeches concentrated more on good phrases than on good arguments and that his popularity was superficial.
By-election
A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....
to fill both seats in the two-member Oldham Parliamentary borough
Oldham (UK Parliament constituency)
Oldham was a parliamentary constituency centred on the town of Oldham, England. It returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom...
. The block voting method
Plurality-at-large voting
Plurality-at-large voting is a non-proportional voting system for electing several representatives from a single multimember electoral district using a series of check boxes and tallying votes similar to a plurality election...
allowed each elector to vote for two candidates. The election resulted in the Liberal Party
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...
winning both seats from the Conservatives
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...
who had previously held them; however the election is principally notable for being the first to be fought by future Prime Minister Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
.
Cause
At the beginning of 1899, the two Members of Parliament for Oldham were Robert AscroftRobert Ascroft
Robert Ascroft , JP. MP, was a prominent Lancashire solicitor and an English politician. He was one of the two Members of Parliament for Oldham between 1895 and his death, as a member of the Conservative Party.- External links :...
and James Oswald
James Francis Oswald
James Francis Oswald was a British politician. He was elected as a Conservative Member of Parliament for Oldham in 1895, resigning in 1899 by becoming Steward of the Manor of Northstead.- External links :...
. However, Oswald had been chronically ill for many months and had been absent from his Parliamentary duties and his constituency; he had indicated that he would not seek re-election and left a resignation note with the Conservative Party and instructed them to use it if they thought it expedient. Ascroft was an active Parliamentarian, but was struck down with pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
at his home in Croydon
Croydon
Croydon is a town in South London, England, located within the London Borough of Croydon to which it gives its name. It is situated south of Charing Cross...
on Monday 12 June, becoming partially unconscious. Over the next few days his condition did not improve, and by Sunday 18 June there was said to be "very little hope". He died on the afternoon of 19 June.
Ascroft's sudden death created an opportunity for the Conservative Party to use Oswald's resignation note and hold a double by-election, but the party delayed the decision until Ascroft's funeral on Friday 23 June. It was later observed that Ascroft was very popular in the town but had not maintained a group of election campaign workers, presumably hoping that his personal support would be enough. The forcing of a by-election therefore caught Oldham Conservatives unawares. Nevertheless on Monday 26 June Oswald's resignation note was sent in, and in consequence he was appointed Steward of the Manor of Northstead
Manor of Northstead
The Manor of Northstead was once a collection of fields and farms in the parish of Scalby in the North Riding of Yorkshire in England. By 1600, the manor house had fallen into disrepair and was occupied only by a shepherd. At present the Manor is part of the Barrowcliff area of the town of...
as a way of resigning his seat
Resignation from the British House of Commons
Members of Parliament sitting in the House of Commons in the United Kingdom are technically forbidden to resign. To circumvent this prohibition, a legal fiction is used...
.
Candidates
Before his illness, Ascroft had already invited Winston ChurchillWinston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
to the House of Commons
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
to ask him to replace Oswald and run as the second candidate at the next election. The date of the meeting had been fixed for some time when Churchill noticed in the newspapers that Ascroft had died. The Conservative Party officers met in Oldham
Oldham
Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amid the Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers Irk and Medlock, south-southeast of Rochdale, and northeast of the city of Manchester...
on the evening of 23 June as arranged to hear from Churchill, and unanimously adopted him as the party's candidate for the single by-election to replace Ascroft. The meeting then decided to leave the question of a second candidate to another meeting on the following night. Churchill was principally known as the son of Lord Randolph Churchill
Lord Randolph Churchill
Lord Randolph Henry Spencer-Churchill MP was a British statesman. He was the third son of the 7th Duke of Marlborough and his wife Lady Frances Anne Emily Vane , daughter of the 3rd Marquess of Londonderry...
, a senior Conservative politician who had died four years earlier; although only 24, he had begun a journalistic career as a war correspondent with the Morning Post. According to one observer, society then knew Churchill as "a brilliant and irrepressible talker".
The second Conservative candidate turned out to be James Mawdsley
James Mawdsley (trade unionist)
James Mawdsley was an English trade unionist. Alongside Winston Churchill, he stood as a Conservative Party candidate in the double Oldham by-election of 1899.-Biography:...
, who was secretary of the Amalgamated Association of Operative Cotton Spinners
Amalgamated Association of Operative Cotton Spinners
The Amalgamated Association of Operative Cotton Spinners was formed in 1870. It was a union for male mule spinners in Lancashire, England. There had been previous attempts at forming a union for spinners. There had been the Manchester Spinners Union and the Grand General Union of Operative...
, an unusual case of a Conservative who was an active trade unionist. The choice of Mawdsley as Conservative candidate had been kept secret and surprised several Conservatives who were not in the very small meeting at which the candidates were adopted. There was some discussion of which of the two very different Conservative candidates, the aristocrat or the labour representative, would be more popular in Oldham.
Only one name was initially put forward for the Liberal Party selection, that of Alfred Emmott; however by the time the selection meeting took place on the evening of Monday 26 June it was clear that there would be a double vacancy and Emmott was adopted together with Walter Runciman
Walter Runciman, 1st Viscount Runciman of Doxford
Walter Runciman, 1st Viscount Runciman of Doxford PC was a prominent Liberal, later National Liberal politician in the United Kingdom from the 1900s until the 1930s.-Background:...
. Emmott had been a member of Oldham corporation for nearly twenty years and was the town's Mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
in 1891–92; he had been invited, but had declined, the offer of the Liberal candidacy in 1886
United Kingdom general election, 1886
-Seats summary:-See also:*MPs elected in the UK general election, 1886*The Parliamentary Franchise in the United Kingdom 1885-1918-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987**...
. Runciman was the 28-year-old son of a shipping magnate
Walter Runciman, 1st Baron Runciman
Walter Runciman, 1st Baron Runciman was an English shipping magnate. Referred to by his grandson Steven as "a Geordie of Scots descent who ran away to sea at 11, was a master mariner by 21 and founded a shipping line", Runciman wrote several books based on his years at sea...
, with whom he shared a name.
Campaign
The writ for a new election for both seats was moved in the House of CommonsBritish House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
by the Conservative chief whip William Walrond
William Walrond, 1st Baron Waleran
William Hood Walrond, 1st Baron Waleran PC , known as Sir William Walrond, Bt, between 1889 and 1905, was a British Conservative politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1880 until 1906 when he was raised to the peerage...
on Tuesday 27 June. Polling day was set for Thursday 6 July.
As the previous election had been close, the by-election campaign was an intense one in which the candidates addressed meetings "at breakfast time, during the dinner hour, and in the evening". One of the main campaign issues was the Clerical Tithes Bill, which the Conservative-dominated government was promoting; the Bill gave additional help to Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
clergy and to Church schools. Oldham included many non-conformists who were opposed to the Bill. When the issue of the Bill was raised, the Liberal candidates opposed it, arguing that Parliament was not the place to discuss matters of faith; Churchill initially supported it on the basis that legislation was needed to maintain law and order. A Protestant delegation representing several organisations was pleased with the pledge to support the Bill and strongly endorsed Churchill and Mawdsley. However, when Churchill (who later admitted that he knew nothing of the issue) found out how unpopular the Bill was, he declared in a speech three days before polling day that he would have voted against it in accordance with the wishes of his constituents.
Churchill made a campaigning visit to Hollinwood, then known as a strongly anti-Conservative area, as his father had done in previous elections; his appearance prompted a heckler to declare "Eh, lad, thou art a chip of t'owd block". On 3 July the two Conservative candidates received a delegation on Women's suffrage
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...
, to which Churchill declared himself opposed, saying that it would lessen the respect for women "which all men very rightly have". Mawdsley, however, declared his support.
The presence of trade unionist James Mawdsley as a Conservative candidate caused some degree of protest. The Royton
Royton
Royton is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, in Greater Manchester, England. It lies by the source of the River Irk, on undulating land at the foothills of the Pennines, north-northwest of Oldham, south-southeast of Rochdale and northeast of the city of Manchester.Historically a...
branch of his union passed (by 107 to 54 votes) a motion protesting at his candidature, and Mawdsley was asked why he had not come forward as a Labour candidate when invited to in 1895. Mawdsley replied that there had been a decision to run two candidates: one being Liberal-Labour
Liberal-Labour (UK)
The Liberal–Labour movement refers to the practice of local Liberal associations accepting and supporting candidates who were financially maintained by trade unions...
and the other (himself) a Conservative-Labour candidate. He further said that he would support a Liberal-Labour candidate. 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...
, despite not standing a candidate, held a meeting calling on working men to free themselves from both established parties. It was reported that the Conservatives accepted Mawdsley as a candidate on the assumption that if elected, he would be allowed to express his own views on trade union issues.
Result
On polling day, the Conservatives were said to have been outnumbered by Liberals in the number of carriages conveying voters to the polls by 130 to 90. Lady Randolph Churchill turned up in a striking blue dress and sunshade. Churchill himself tried to obtain a motor car from CoventryCoventry
Coventry is a city and metropolitan borough in the county of West Midlands in England. Coventry is the 9th largest city in England and the 11th largest in the United Kingdom. It is also the second largest city in the English Midlands, after Birmingham, with a population of 300,848, although...
to bring voters to the polls, but it broke down at Stafford
Stafford
Stafford is the county town of Staffordshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It lies approximately north of Wolverhampton and south of Stoke-on-Trent, adjacent to the M6 motorway Junction 13 to Junction 14...
and never arrived. Polling closed at 8 PM.
Shortly after 11 PM the result was announced from the town hall.
Aftermath
The loss of both seats caused some recriminations in Conservative circles. Henry Howorth, in a letter to The TimesThe Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
, took it as an object lesson that "playing at pitch and toss" with Conservative principles would not lead to a victory and that it was better that the party went into opposition than "surrender to every Socialistic demand".
Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
had impressed as an election candidate, being described as "working like a Trojan". However The Times correspondent felt that his speeches concentrated more on good phrases than on good arguments and that his popularity was superficial.
See also
- Oldham by-election, 1925Oldham by-election, 1925The Oldham by-election, 1925 was a by-election held on 24 June 1925 for the House of Commons constituency of Oldham. Oldham was at that time a two member constituency...