The Westminster Abbey by-election, 1921 was a parliamentary by-election

By-election

A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....

 held on 25 August 1921 for the British House of Commons constituency

United Kingdom constituencies

In the United Kingdom , each of the electoral areas or divisions called constituencies elects one or more members to a parliament or assembly.Within the United Kingdom there are now five bodies with members elected by constituencies:...

 of Westminster Abbey in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

. The seat had become vacant when the Conservative

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...

 Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 (MP) William Burdett-Coutts had died on 28 July 1921. Burdett-Coutts had held the seat since it had been created for the 1918 general election

United Kingdom general election, 1918

The United Kingdom general election of 1918 was the first to be held after the Representation of the People Act 1918, which meant it was the first United Kingdom general election in which nearly all adult men and some women could vote. Polling was held on 14 December 1918, although the count did...

, when he had been returned unopposed. The Conservative candidate, John Nicholson

John Sanctuary Nicholson

Brigadier-General John Sanctuary Nicholson, CB, CMG, CBE, DSO was a British soldier and politician. He was a Conservative Member of Parliament from 1921 to 1924....

 held the seat for the party. He remained the constituency's MP until his death in 1924, when a further by-election

Westminster Abbey by-election, 1924

The Westminster Abbey by-election, 1924 was a parliamentary by-election held on 19 March 1924 for the British House of Commons constituency of Westminster Abbey in London. The seat had become vacant when the Conservative Member of Parliament John Nicholson had died on 21 February 1924. Nicholson...

 was held.

At the time the Anti-Waste League

Anti-Waste League

The Anti-Waste League was a political party in the United Kingdom, founded in 1921 by Lord Rothermere.The formation of the League was announced in a January 1921 edition of the Sunday Pictorial with Rothermere attacking what he saw as government waste during a time of recession. As such the party...

 was active, and all three candidates claimed to be anti-waste. The League was formed to advance the political ambitions of the newspaper owner Lord Rothermere. The objects of the League were to insist upon measures being taken to restore the country to solvency, urge a wholesale reduction of expenditure, fight the battle of local rates and oppose sham Anti-Waste candidates. The Conservative candidate won the election, but the Anti-Waste League, whose candidate Reginald Applin

Reginald Applin

Lieutenant-Colonel Reginald Vincent Kempenfelt Applin DSO, OBE was a British military officer who took a prominent part in the development of machine gun tactics in the British Army...

 became the Conservative MP for Enfield

Enfield (UK Parliament constituency)

Enfield was a parliamentary constituency of Middlesex centred on the town of Enfield. The area formed part of the London conurbation. 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 system.-History:The...

 in 1924

United Kingdom general election, 1924

- Seats summary :- References :* F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987* - External links :* * *...

, polled respectably. The Liberal

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...

 candidate Arnold Lupton

Arnold Lupton

Arnold Lupton was a British Liberal Party politician.He was elected at the 1906 as the Member of Parliament for the Sleaford division of Lincolnshire, defeating the Conservative MP Henry Chaplin who had represented Sleaford and its predecessor seat since 1868...

 had been a MP from 1906

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**...

 to January 1910.

Result