The 1898 Liverpool Kirkdale by-election was a parliamentary

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 9 December 1898 for the

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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 Kirkdale.

Vacancy

The seat had become vacant when the sitting

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

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), Sir George Baden-Powell had died on 20 November 1898, aged 50. He had held the seat since its creation for the 1885 general election, and had been re-elected with comfortable majorities at each of the three subsequent general elections.

Candidates

Several names were floated as possible Conservative candidates for the seat. On 26 November, ''

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 that those being considered included: *

David MacIver David MacIver (24 August 1840 – 1 September 1907) was an English steam ship owner and a Conservative politician who sat in the House of Commons in two periods between 1874 and 1907. MacIver was the eldest son of Charles MacIver of Calderstone ...

, the chair of the Liverpool Conservatives who had been the MP for nearby

Birkenhead Birkenhead (; cy, Penbedw) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England; historically, it was part of Cheshire until 1974. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the south bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liver ...

from

1874 Events January–March * January 1 – New York City annexes The Bronx. * January 2 – Ignacio María González becomes head of state of the Dominican Republic for the first time. * January 3 – Third Carlist War &ndas ...

until he stood down at the 1885 general election, owing to business commitments *Alderman

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 ...

, a former

Lord Mayor of Liverpool The office of Lord Mayor of Liverpool has existed in one form or another since the foundation of Liverpool as a borough by the Royal Charter of King John in 1207, simply being referred to as the Mayor of Liverpool. The position is now a most ...

* Joseph Hoult, a local

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 ...

* Sir Edward P. Bates, the son of former

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

Sir Edward Bates, 1st Baronet Sir Edward Bates, 1st Baronet DL (17 March 1816 – 17 October 1896) was a ship-owner and Conservative politician who represented Plymouth. Biography Bates was the son of Joseph Bates, a wool finisher and exporter and his wife Rebekah Walke ...

The

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

had already adopted as their candidate for the next election William Nelson, a ship-owner and

Liverpool City Council Liverpool City Council is the governing body for the city of Liverpool in Merseyside, England. It consists of 90 councillors, three for each of the city's 30 wards. The council is currently controlled by the Labour Party and is led by Mayor ...

lor. By the time Kirkdale Conservative Association met on 29 November, the local executive committee had already sent a telegram to 40-year-old Austin Taylor, inviting to be their candidate. Taylor, who was president of the Laymen's League and son of the Archdeacon of Liverpool, had deferred his answer until the day of the meeting. At the meeting, the divisional council refused to be bound by the decision of their executive, and the names of David MacIver and John Houlding were also formally proposed. After a discussion described by ''The Times'' as "long and animated", a substantial majority voted to select MacIver, a ship-owner whose father Charles had been manager of the

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from 1865 to 1897. The

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 ...

s met on 1 December, and lamented their lack of preparedness. Local ship-owner Sir Christopher Furness had been invited to stand, but declined. Another ship-owner, H. Bell, had also turned down a request, and the meeting rejected a proposal to adopt

Thomas Snape Thomas Snape (1835 – 9 August 1912) was a British industrialist and Liberal politician. Snape was born in Salford, and was initially employed by John Hutchinson and Sons, a company that pioneered the use of the Leblanc process to produce sod ...

, the former MP for Heywood. The meeting decided to ask the Liberal

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to suggest potential candidates, as a result of which an approach was made to

Sir Spencer Walpole Sir Spencer Walpole KCB, FBA (6 February 1839 – 7 July 1907) was an English historian and civil servant. Background He came of the younger branch of the ''de facto'' first prime minister, Robert Walpole who revived the Whig Party, bei ...

, who rejected the invitation. ''The Times'' reported that several other unsuccessful approaches had been made. Kirkdale had a large

Irish Nationalist Irish nationalism is a nationalist political movement which, in its broadest sense, asserts that the people of Ireland should govern Ireland as a sovereign state. Since the mid-19th century, Irish nationalism has largely taken the form of cu ...

population, so any candidate needed the support of both Liberals and Nationalists, but local councillor Thomas J. Flynn also refused to accept nomination despite an offer to meet all his election expenses.

Result

By the time nominations closed on 9 December, the Liberals had still not chosen a candidate. MacIver was the only candidate nominated, so the poll had been scheduled for 15 December, but never took place. MacIver was returned unopposed.