Kingston upon Hull Central by-election, 1919
Encyclopedia
The Kingston upon Hull Central by-election, 1919 was a parliamentary by-election
held for the British House of Commons
constituency
of Kingston upon Hull Central
on 29 March 1919.
The seat had become vacant when the Coalition Conservative Member of Parliament
(MP) Sir Mark Sykes had died on 16 February 1919 aged 39, a victim of the Spanish flu
pandemic. He had held the seat since winning a by-election there on 5 July 1911.
According to reports in The Times
newspaper, the by-election proved largely uneventful and the parties were expecting a small poll. In the event there was a turnout of 51% which although on the lower end of the spectrum for by-elections of the day, was not the lowest experienced during the 1918-1922 Parliament.
Popular opinion was swinging against the coalition government
of David Lloyd George
and Andrew Bonar Law and particularly against the Conservative half of the coalition. As a result, the Liberal
candidate, Joseph Kenworthy, gained the seat for his party with a majority of 917 over his Coalition Conservative opponent, Lord Eustace Percy
.
By-election
A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....
held for the British 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...
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 Kingston upon Hull Central
Kingston upon Hull Central (UK Parliament constituency)
Kingston upon Hull Central was a parliamentary constituency in the city of Kingston upon Hull in East Yorkshire. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom....
on 29 March 1919.
The seat had become vacant when the Coalition Conservative 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) Sir Mark Sykes had died on 16 February 1919 aged 39, a victim of the Spanish flu
Spanish flu
The 1918 flu pandemic was an influenza pandemic, and the first of the two pandemics involving H1N1 influenza virus . It was an unusually severe and deadly pandemic that spread across the world. Historical and epidemiological data are inadequate to identify the geographic origin...
pandemic. He had held the seat since winning a by-election there on 5 July 1911.
According to reports in The Times
The 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...
newspaper, the by-election proved largely uneventful and the parties were expecting a small poll. In the event there was a turnout of 51% which although on the lower end of the spectrum for by-elections of the day, was not the lowest experienced during the 1918-1922 Parliament.
Popular opinion was swinging against the coalition government
Coalition Government 1916-1922
The Coalition Government of David Lloyd George came to power in the United Kingdom in December 1916, replacing the earlier wartime coalition under H.H. Asquith, which had been held responsible for reverses during the Great War. Those Liberals who continued to support Asquith served as the Opposition...
of David Lloyd George
David Lloyd George
David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor OM, PC was a British Liberal politician and statesman...
and Andrew Bonar Law and particularly against the Conservative half of the coalition. As a result, 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, Joseph Kenworthy, gained the seat for his party with a majority of 917 over his Coalition Conservative opponent, Lord Eustace Percy
Eustace Percy, 1st Baron Percy of Newcastle
Eustace Sutherland Campbell Percy, 1st Baron Percy of Newcastle PC , styled Lord Eustace Percy between 1899 and 1953, was a British diplomat, Conservative politician and public servant...
.
Votes
See also
- List of United Kingdom by-elections (1918–1931)
- 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...