John Henry Whitley
Harry Barnes

The 1928 Halifax by-election was a parliamentary by-election held on 13 July 1928 for the British House of Commons constituency of Halifax in the West Riding of Yorkshire.[1]

The seat had become vacant when the constituency's Member of Parliament (MP), John Henry Whitley, the Speaker of the House of Commons since 1921, had resigned his seat[2] due to ill-health.[citation needed] He had been elected as a Liberal Party MP at the 1900 general election,[2] and as speaker had been returned unopposed at the general elections in 1922, 1923[citation needed] and 1924.[3] The last time that there had been a contested election for the seat was at the 1918 general election, when Whitley had been opposed only by a Socialist Labour Party candidate.[citation needed]

The result of the three-way contest was a victory for the Labour candidate, Arthur Longbottom, who won with a majority of 4,951 over the Liberal Harry Barnes,[1] who had previously been MP for Newcastle upon Tyne East.[4] Longbottom had previously been a councillor in Halifax and served as its mayor in 1923.[5]

Result

Halifax by-election, 1928[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Arthur Longbottom 17,536 42.8 New
Liberal Harry Barnes 12,585 30.8 N/A
Unionist Francis Savile Crossley 10,804 26.4 New
Majority 4,951 12.0 N/A
Turnout 40,925 78.7 N/A
Labour gain from Speaker Swing N/A

Aftermath

At the following year's general election Longbottom held the seat with an increased majority of 7,063 votes. That contest also saw a new Conservative candidate, Gilbert Gledhill overtake the Liberals and move into second place.[5] In 1931, Gledhill took the seat for the Conservatives, defeating Longbottom by over 20,000 votes.[6]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c "News of the Week". The Spectator. No. 5221. London. 20 July 1928. p. 3. Retrieved 14 February 2016.
  2. ^ a b "Mr Speaker, a son of Halifax". Halifax Courier. Johnston Publishing. 28 June 2009. Archived from the original on 6 January 2014. Retrieved 14 February 2016.
  3. ^ "Foreign News: Longbottom's Seat". Time. New York. 23 July 1928. Retrieved 14 February 2016.
  4. ^ Debrett's House of Commons. London: Forgotten Books. 2013 [1921]. p. 137. Archived from the original on 22 February 2016. Retrieved 14 February 2016.
  5. ^ a b The Times House of Commons 1929. London: The Times Office. 1929. p. 42.
  6. ^ The Times House of Commons 1931. London: The Times Office. 1931. p. 40.
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