Bishop Auckland by-election, 1929

Bishop Auckland by-election, 1929

The Bishop Auckland by-election, 1929 was a parliamentary by-election held on 7 February 1929 for the British House of Commons constituency of Bishop Auckland in County Durham.

The seat had become vacant on 22 December 1928 when the constituency's Labour Member of Parliament (MP), Ben Spoor had died aged 50. He had been elected for the previously Liberal-held seat at the 1918 general election, and held it through three further general elections.cite book |last=Craig |first=F. W. S. |authorlink= F. W. S. Craig |title=British parliamentary election results 1918-1949 |origyear=1969 |edition= 3rd edition |year=1983 |publisher= Parliamentary Research Services |location=Chichester |id= ISBN 0-900178-06-X]

Candidates

Spoor had planned to retire at the next general election, and the Bishop Auckland Constituency Labour Party had selected Hugh Dalton as its prospective parliamentary candidate. However, Dalton was already MP for the then-marginal Peckham constituency in South London, and had sought a safer seat. He would have had to resign his Peckham seat to stand in Bishop Auckland. To add to the complications, even he had been minded to do that, a further complication was that the prospective Labour candidate for Peckham was John Beckett, the sitting MP for Gateshead.cite web |url=http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200506/cmhansrd/vo050525/debtext/50525-27.htm#50525-27_spnew0 |title=Maiden speech of Helen Goodman MP |accessmonthday=15 |accessdaymonth=August |accessyear=2007 |date=25 May 2005 |format=HTML |work=Hansard |publisher= |pages=Column 781-782]

To avoid triggering two further by-elections, a Labour candidate was needed who would agree to stand down at the next general election. The seventy members of Bishop Auckland Constituency Labour Party's general committee unanimously chose Hugh Dalton's wife Ruth, because she could be relied on to resign in favour of her husband as soon as Parliament was dissolved; no other candidate was even considered.

The Liberal Party candidate was Aaron Curry, who had contested Houghton-le-Spring at the 1923 and 1924 general elections, and who had also been unsuccessful at the Wallsend by-election in 1926. The Conservative Party, which had not contested Bishop Auckland in 1924, selected as its candidate H. Thompson, who had not previously contested a Parliamentary election.

Result

On a slightly reduced turnout, Ruth Dalton held the seat for Labour, becoming the thirteenth woman elected to the House of Commons. [http://www.qub.ac.uk/cawp/UK%20bios/UK_bios_20s.htm#dalton Centre for Advancement of Women in Politics: Women MPs Elected 1918-1929] ] Her share of the vote was slightly increased over Spoor's 1924 result, but a majority greatly increased by the division of the non-Labour vote between two candidates.

Aftermath

Ruth Dalton stood down as agreed at the general election in May 1929, having been the shortest-serving woman MP. Her 92 days in office is remains an unbeaten record, but it was equalled 45 years later by Margo McDonald, the Scottish National Party MP for Glasgow Govan from 8 November 1973 to 8 February 1974. [http://www.qub.ac.uk/cawp/UKhtmls/RecordsUK.htm Centre for Advancement of Women in Politics: Records] ] She did not stand for Parliament again.

Her husband Hugh won the seat at the 1929 election, with Curry again in second place, but when Labour split two years later and Ramsay MacDonald formed a National Government, Curry took the seat at the 1931 general election. Dalton regained the seat in 1935, and held it until he stood down in 1959.

Votes

Election box begin
title=Bishop Auckland by-election, 7 February 1929
Election box candidate with party link
party = Labour Party (UK)
candidate = Ruth Dalton
votes = 14,797
percentage = 57.1
change = +2.0
Election box candidate with party link
party = Liberal Party (UK)
candidate = Aaron Charlton Curry
votes = 7,725
percentage = 29.9
change = −15.0
Election box candidate with party link
party = Conservative Party (UK)
candidate = H. Thompson
votes = 3,357
percentage = 13.0
change = N/A
Election box majority
votes = 7,072
percentage = 27.2
change = +17.0
Election box turnout
votes = 25,879
percentage = 74.4
change = −6.5
Election box hold with party link
winner = Labour Party (UK)
swing = +8.5

References

See also

*Bishop Auckland constituency
*The town of Bishop Auckland
*List of United Kingdom by-elections (1918–1931)


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужна курсовая?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Bishop Auckland (UK Parliament constituency) — UK constituency infobox Name = Bishop Auckland Map1 = BishopAuckland Map2 = Durham Type = County Year = 1885 Entity = County Durham County = County Durham EP = North East England MP = Helen Goodman Party = LabourBishop Auckland is a county… …   Wikipedia

  • Midlothian and Peebles Northern by-election, 1929 — The Midlothian and Peebles Northern by election, 1929 was a parliamentary by election held in Scotland on 1 January 1929 to elect a new Member of Parliament (MP) for the House of Commons constituency of Midlothian and Peebles Northern. It was the …   Wikipedia

  • United Kingdom by-election records — UK by election records is an annotated list of notable records from United Kingdom 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. A… …   Wikipedia

  • Middlesbrough West by-election, 1928 — The Middlesbrough West by election, 1928 was a parliamentary by election held for the British House of Commons constituency of Middlesbrough West on 7 March 1928. Contents 1 Vacancy 2 Candidates 2.1 Liberals 2.2 Conserv …   Wikipedia

  • Dundee by-election, 1924 — The Dundee by election, 1924 was a by election held on 22 December 1924 for the British House of Commons constituency of Dundee in Scotland. The by election was won by the Labour Party candidate Thomas Johnston. Contents 1 Vacancy 2 Candidates 3 …   Wikipedia

  • Cheltenham by-election, 1928 — The Cheltenham by election, 1928 was a parliamentary by election held on 26 September 1928 for the British House of Commons constituency of Cheltenham in Gloucestershire. The seat had become vacant when the constituency s Conservative Member of… …   Wikipedia

  • Darlington by-election, 1926 — The Darlington by election, 1926 was a by election held on 17 February 1926 for the British House of Commons constituency of Darlington in County Durham. Contents 1 Vacancy 2 Candidates 3 Result …   Wikipedia

  • Combined Scottish Universities by-election, 1927 — The Combined Scottish Universities by election, 1927 was a by election held from 26 April to 29 April 1927 for the Combined Scottish Universities, a university constituency of the British House of Commons. Contents 1 Vacancy 2 Candidates 3 Result …   Wikipedia

  • List of Labour Party (UK) MPs — This is a list of Labour Party MPs. It includes all Members of Parliament elected to the British House of Commons representing the Labour Party from 1900 to 1923 and since 1997. Members of the Scottish Parliament, the Welsh Assembly or the… …   Wikipedia

  • British Israelism — Not to be confused with Israelis in the United Kingdom. British Israelism (also called Anglo Israelism) is the belief that people of Western European descent, particularly those in Great Britain, are the direct lineal descendants of the Ten Lost… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”