The Westminster Abbey by-election, 1924 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 19 March 1924 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) 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....

 had died on 21 February 1924. Nicholson had held the seat since a 1921 by-election

Westminster Abbey by-election, 1921

The Westminster Abbey by-election, 1921 was a parliamentary by-election held on 25 August 1921 for the British House of Commons constituency of Westminster Abbey in London. The seat had become vacant when the Conservative Member of Parliament William Burdett-Coutts had died on 28 July 1921...

. The Conservative candidate Otho Nicholson

Otho Nicholson

Otho William Nicholson was a British politician. He was a Conservative Member of Parliament from 1924 to 1932....

 held the seat for the party.

Otho Nicholson was challenged by the very prominent politician 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...

 and Labour

Labour 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...

 stalwart Fenner Brockway

Fenner Brockway, Baron Brockway

Fenner Brockway, Baron Brockway , was a British anti-war activist and politician.-Biography:Archibald Fenner Brockway was born in Calcutta, India, which was at that time under British Imperial rule...

.

Churchill had lost his seat of Dundee

Dundee (UK Parliament constituency)

Dundee was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1832 to 1950, when it was split into Dundee East and Dundee West....

 in the 1922 general election

United Kingdom general election, 1922

The United Kingdom general election of 1922 was held on 15 November 1922. It was the first election held after most of the Irish counties left the United Kingdom to form the Irish Free State, and was won by Andrew Bonar Law's Conservatives, who gained an overall majority over Labour, led by John...

, having left the Conservative Party and joined 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...

. After losing his seat, he unsuccessfully stood in the 1923 general election

United Kingdom general election, 1923

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

. He stood in the Westminster Abbey by-election as a "Constitutionalist" and received unofficial conservative support. At first it seemed he would be adopted as the official conservative candidate; Conservative MPs chaired each of his election committees, the Beaverbrook and Rothermere newspapers supported his candidature and when the local Conservatives nominated Otho Nicholson, the nephew of the former member, Churchill complained to the Conservative leader 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...

. Although Baldwin stayed officially neutral when Leo Amery campaigned against Churchill and in favour of Nicholson, Baldwin allowed Arthur Balfour

Arthur Balfour

Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour, KG, OM, PC, DL was a British Conservative politician and statesman...

 to release a public letter to the press supporting Churchill.

Nicholson won by lost by 43 votes over Churchill who was re-elected to Parliament in the 1924 general election

United Kingdom general election, 1924

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

. Fenner Brockway later became an MP for Leyton East

Leyton East (UK Parliament constituency)

Leyton East was a parliamentary constituency in the Municipal Borough of Leyton, then part of Essex but now in Greater London.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 constituency...

 and Eton and Slough

Eton and Slough (UK Parliament constituency)

Eton and Slough was a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament by the first-past-the-post voting system....

. Otho Nicholson resigned

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...

 in 1932 by becoming 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...

, causing a by-election

Westminster Abbey by-election, 1932

The Westminster Abbey by-election, 1932 was a parliamentary by-election held on 12 July 1932 for the British House of Commons constituency of Westminster Abbey in London. The seat had become vacant when the Conservative Member of Parliament Otho Nicholson resigned from the Commons by becoming the...

.

Result