The 1897 Liverpool Exchange by-election was a
by-election
A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...
held in
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
on 10 November 1897 for the
House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...
constituency
An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger State (polity), state (a country, administrative region, ...
of
Liverpool Exchange.
The
Liberal unionist
The Liberal Unionist Party was a British political party that was formed in 1886 by a faction that broke away from the Liberal Party. Led by Lord Hartington (later the Duke of Devonshire) and Joseph Chamberlain, the party established a political ...
candidate,
Charles McArthur
Charles McArthur (May 1844 – 3 July 1910) was a British average adjuster from Liverpool. He became a Liberal Unionist politician who sat in the House of Commons in two periods between 1897 and 1910.
Life
McArthur was born near Bristol in Kin ...
held the seat with a very small majority over his
Liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* a supporter of liberalism
** Liberalism by country
* an adherent of a Liberal Party
* Liberalism (international relations)
* Sexually liberal feminism
* Social liberalism
Arts, entertainment and m ...
opponent.
Vacancy
![John Charles Bigham, Vanity Fair, 1898-02-03](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7c/John_Charles_Bigham%2C_Vanity_Fair%2C_1898-02-03.jpg)
The seat had become vacant in October 1897 when the
Liberal Unionist
The Liberal Unionist Party was a British political party that was formed in 1886 by a faction that broke away from the Liberal Party. Led by Lord Hartington (later the Duke of Devonshire) and Joseph Chamberlain, the party established a political ...
Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
(MP),
John Bigham, had been appointed as a judge of the
Queen's Bench
The King's Bench (), or, during the reign of a female monarch, the Queen's Bench ('), refers to several contemporary and historical courts in some Commonwealth jurisdictions.
* Court of King's Bench (England), a historic court court of common ...
division of the
High Court.
He had held the seat since the
1895 general election, having contested it unsuccessfully in
1892
Events
January–March
* January 1 – Ellis Island begins accommodating immigrants to the United States.
* February 1 - The historic Enterprise Bar and Grill was established in Rico, Colorado.
* February 27 – Rudolf Diesel applies for ...
.
Candidates
Immediately after Bigham's appointment was announced, ''
The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...
'' newspaper reported on Saturday 16 October that the Liberal Unionist candidate was likely to be
Charles McArthur
Charles McArthur (May 1844 – 3 July 1910) was a British average adjuster from Liverpool. He became a Liberal Unionist politician who sat in the House of Commons in two periods between 1897 and 1910.
Life
McArthur was born near Bristol in Kin ...
, an
average adjuster from Liverpool and former chairman of the city's
chamber of commerce
A chamber of commerce, or board of trade, is a form of business network. For example, a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to ad ...
.
Business people in Liverpool welcomed the prospect of McArthur's candidacy, but while the Liberals met that weekend to consider their options, they postponed a decision.
On Monday 18th, the McArthur accepted a formal invitation to be the Unionist candidate, and he accepted the nomination.
Some local Unionists felt that this constituency should be represented by a
ship-owner
A ship-owner is the owner of a merchant vessel (commercial ship) and is involved in the shipping industry. In the commercial sense of the term, a shipowner is someone who equips and exploits a ship, usually for delivering cargo at a certain freig ...
, but others noted McArthur was as much involved in shipping as the owners.
He told the selection meeting that his main priority would be to protect the commercial and shipping interests of Liverpool, and that he objected to the
River Mersey
The River Mersey () is in North West England. Its name derives from Old English and means "boundary river", possibly referring to its having been a border between the ancient kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria. For centuries it has formed part ...
being "made a cesspool for Manchester" through the construction of the
Manchester Ship Canal
The Manchester Ship Canal is a inland waterway in the North West of England linking Manchester to the Irish Sea. Starting at the Mersey Estuary at Eastham, near Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, it generally follows the original routes of the river ...
.
The Liberals interviewed H. Wade Deacon, who had been the Liberal candidate in
Widnes
Widnes ( ) is an Industrial city, industrial town in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England, which at the 2011 United Kingdom census, 2011 census had a population of 61,464.
Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, it is on t ...
at the previous general election,
but he refused for personal reasons.
They were still without a candidate by the evening of Tuesday 19th, when local ship-owners met to discuss the election. The businessmen were aggrieved at the
Unionist government's treatment of shipping and at the unsympathetic reception received by a recent delegation to the
President of the Board of Trade
The president of the Board of Trade is head of the Board of Trade. This is a committee of the His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, Privy Council of the United Kingdom, first established as a temporary committee of inquiry in the 17th centu ...
,
Charles Ritchie. They agreed that it was important to have an MP who supported the ship-owners.
''The Times'' leader-writers observed on 20 October that if the Liberals fielded a prominent ship-owner, McArthur would have a hard fight on his hands.
The following day the Liberals selected
Russell Rea
Russell Rea Privy Council of the United Kingdom, PC (11 December 1846
– 5 February 1916) was an English ship-owner from Liverpool and Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Party politician. He sat in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of ...
, the managing director of ship-owning company R. & J. H. Rea. However, in the early 1880s Liverpool-born Rea had relocated his head office to
Leadenhall Street
__NOTOC__
Leadenhall Street () is a street in the City of London. It is about and links Cornhill, London, Cornhill in the west to Aldgate in the east. It was formerly the start of the A11 road (England), A11 road from London to Norwich, but th ...
in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, and lived in
Hackney.
His main line of business was in shipping coal for the
South Wales coalfield
The South Wales Coalfield ( cy, Maes glo De Cymru) extends across Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire, Swansea, Neath Port Talbot, Bridgend, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Merthyr Tydfil, Caerphilly, Blaenau Gwent and Torfaen. It is rich in coal deposits, espec ...
s, and despite his shipping interests, ''The Times'' reported a claim that Rea was not a member of the Liverpool Steamship-Owners Association.
On the 19th, the local branch of the
Irish National League
The Irish National League (INL) was a nationalist political party in Ireland. It was founded on 17 October 1882 by Charles Stewart Parnell as the successor to the Irish National Land League after this was suppressed. Whereas the Land League h ...
pledged itself to support "any candidate who is thoroughy sound on the
Home Rule
Home rule is government of a colony, dependent country, or region by its own citizens. It is thus the power of a part (administrative division) of a state or an external dependent country to exercise such of the state's powers of governance wit ...
question".
On the 24th, the
Speaker of the House of Commons Speaker of the House of Commons is a political leadership position found in countries that have a House of Commons, where the membership of the body elects a speaker to lead its proceedings.
Systems that have such a position include:
* Speaker of ...
William Gully gave notice in the ''
London Gazette
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
'' that by accepting appointment as a judge, Bigham had vacated his seat. The Speaker therefore intended to issue the
writ of election
A writ of election is a writ issued ordering the holding of an election. In Commonwealth countries writs are the usual mechanism by which general elections are called and are issued by the head of state or their representative. In the United S ...
in 6 days time.
The writ was received on 2 November, and nominations were set for 5 November, with polling on the 10th.
The constituency
The Exchange division included the central business district of Liverpool, which had long been Conservative-leaning, but the constituency had been held by the Liberals for most of existence.
Since 1885, it had always been a
marginal seat
A marginal seat or swing seat is a constituency held with a small majority in a legislative election, generally one conducted under a single-winner voting system. In Canada, they may be known as target ridings. The opposite is a safe seat. The ...
, in which the largest majority had been the 4.4% lead won by Bigham in 1895.
St Anne's and
Vauxhall
Vauxhall ( ) is a district in South West London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. Vauxhall was part of Surrey until 1889 when the County of London was created. Named after a medieval manor, "Fox Hall", it became well known for ...
wards contained some of the worst slums in Liverpool, with about 2,000 Irishmen who were all expected to vote Liberal because of that party's support for
Irish Home Rule
The Irish Home Rule movement was a movement that campaigned for Devolution, self-government (or "home rule") for Ireland within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It was the dominant political movement of Irish nationalism from 1 ...
.
However, their numbers had been reduced since the general election by the demolition of many condemned buildings, which had removed over 150 Liberal-supporting voters from the
electoral register
An electoral roll (variously called an electoral register, voters roll, poll book or other description) is a compilation that lists persons who are entitled to vote for particular elections in a particular jurisdiction. The list is usually broke ...
.
Both sides took care to try to trace voters who had moved home since the register was compiled. This was easier for the Unionists, whose merchant supporters were easily identified. However, the working-class Liberal-supporters moved more often, sometimes trying to evade location by creditors or school inspectors. The Liberals found an effective solution by distributing printed lists of untraced voters, asking for information on their current addresses.
Campaign
![T](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1d/T._P._O%27Connor.jpg)
Rea made support for Irish Home Rule the first item in his
election address,
and his meeting in Picton Hall on 5 November was addressed by
T. P. O'Connor
Thomas Power O'Connor (5 October 1848 – 18 November 1929), known as T. P. O'Connor and occasionally as Tay Pay (mimicking his own pronunciation of the initials ''T. P.''), was an Irish nationalist politician and journalist who served as a ...
, the Nationalist MP for
Liverpool Scotland.
George Baden-Powell, the Conservative MP for
Liverpool Kirkdale, denounced Rea's stance in a letter to McArthur. He claimed that Rea "surrenders himself as the 'white slave' of their masters, the Nationalists, whose one avowed aim is the disintegration of the United Kingdom, the certain forerunner of the breakup of our great and valiant
empire
An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...
".
Shipping interests dominated much of the campaign, and some Unionist-supporting shipowners were ready to use the election to force the government's hand on the abolition of
light dues
Light dues are the charges levied on ships for the maintenance of lighthouses and other aids to navigation.
British Isles
Light dues are levied on commercial vessels and larger pleasure boats calling at ports in the British Isles and paid into the ...
.
On the 25th, McArthur told workers that his opponents were "exploiting" the light dues issue, but that he was equally committed to their abolition, preferring that
navigational aids
Navigation is a field of study that focuses on the process of monitoring and controlling the movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another.Bowditch, 2003:799. The field of navigation includes four general categories: land navigation, ...
should be funded by central government. Rea held a meeting at
Liverpool Town Hall
Liverpool Town Hall stands in High Street at its junction with Dale Street, Castle Street, and Water Street in Liverpool, Merseyside, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed build ...
, where
Northwich
{{Infobox UK place
, static_image_name = Northwich - Town Bridge.jpg
, static_image_caption = Town Bridge, the River Weaver and the spire of Holy Trinity Church
, official_name = Northwich
, country ...
MP
Sir John Brunner accused McArthur of bluffing.
However, Rea's opposition to the
Workmen's Compensation Act damaged his standing with labourers.
Result
![Town Hall Liverpool](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1b/Town_Hall_Liverpool.png)
Polling took place on Wednesday 10 November and both parties worked hard to get out their voters, with each using teams of cyclists to
get out the vote
"Get out the vote" or "getting out the vote" (GOTV) describes efforts aimed at increasing the voter turnout in elections. In countries that do not have or enforce compulsory voting, voter turnout can be low, sometimes even below a third of the ...
. Rumours circulated of votes being cast on behalf of dead people, and two people were charged with that sort of
personation
Personation (rather than ''im''personation) is a primarily-legal term, meaning 'to assume the identity of another person with intent to deceive'. It is often used for the kind of voter fraud where an individual votes in an election, whilst prete ...
.
Early polling was high in nationalist areas, giving the Liberals confidence of victory, but a steady flow of voters in other areas shifted the balance. In Irish areas such as St Anne's Street and Great Crosshall street, bottles were thrown at the carriages of Conservative supporters.
The votes were counted that evening in
Liverpool Town Hall
Liverpool Town Hall stands in High Street at its junction with Dale Street, Castle Street, and Water Street in Liverpool, Merseyside, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed build ...
, and as the tallies were completed it was reported that Rea had won the seat with a majority of 47 votes.
Local newspapers reported a Liberal victory, but a
recount
An election recount is a repeat tabulation of votes cast in an election that is used to determine the correctness of an initial count. Recounts will often take place if the initial vote tally during an election is extremely close. Election reco ...
found a bundle of misplaced ballot papers, and shortly after 10pm the result was declared by the
Lord Mayor John Houlding
John Houlding ( – 17 March 1902) was an English businessman, most notable for being Lord Mayor of Liverpool, and the founder of Liverpool Football Club. In November 2018, Houlding was commemorated with a bronze bust outside Anfield to mark th ...
as a 54-vote majority for McArthur.
Aftermath
McArthur was re-elected in
1900
As of March 1 ( O.S. February 17), when the Julian calendar acknowledged a leap day and the Gregorian calendar did not, the Julian calendar fell one day further behind, bringing the difference to 13 days until February 28 ( O.S. February 15), 2 ...
, but was defeated at the
next election, in 1906.
He was returned as the MP for
Liverpool Kirkdale at a
by-election in 1907, and held the seat until his death in 1910.
Rea was elected in
1900
As of March 1 ( O.S. February 17), when the Julian calendar acknowledged a leap day and the Gregorian calendar did not, the Julian calendar fell one day further behind, bringing the difference to 13 days until February 28 ( O.S. February 15), 2 ...
as the MP for
Gloucester
Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...
, and held the seat until his defeat in
January 1910.
Later that year he won a
by-election
A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...
for
South Shields
South Shields () is a coastal town in South Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the south bank of the mouth of the River Tyne. Historically, it was known in Roman times as Arbeia, and as Caer Urfa by Early Middle Ages. According to the 20 ...
, and held that seat until his death in 1916,
having served briefly as a
Junior Lord of the Treasury
In the United Kingdom there are at least six Lords Commissioners of His Majesty's Treasury, serving as a commission for the ancient office of Treasurer of the Exchequer. The board consists of the First Lord of the Treasury, the Second Lord of the ...
.
Votes
See also
*
Liverpool Exchange (UK Parliament constituency)
Liverpool Exchange was a borough constituency within the city of Liverpool in England, centred on Liverpool Exchange railway station. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, ele ...
*
1887 Liverpool Exchange by-election
*
1922 Liverpool Exchange by-election
The 1922 Liverpool Exchange by-election was a by-election held in England for the House of Commons constituency of Liverpool Exchange on 13 March 1922.
This was a ministerial by-election, held under laws in force until 1926 which required an MP ...
*
1933 Liverpool Exchange by-election
*
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
*
Lists of United Kingdom by-elections
The list of by-elections in the United Kingdom is divided chronologically by parliament:
Parliament of the United Kingdom
* List of United Kingdom by-elections (1801–1806)
* List of United Kingdom by-elections (1806–1818)
* List of United Kin ...
References
{{By-elections to the 26th UK Parliament
Exchange, 1897
1897 elections in the United Kingdom
1897 in England
1890s in Liverpool
November 1897 events