The 1899 Birmingham North by-election was a parliamentary
by-election held for the
House of Commons constituency of
Birmingham North on 14 February 1899.
Vacancy
The vacancy was caused by the resignation of the sitting
Liberal Unionist MP, the
Rt Hon Alderman William Kenrick.
[The Times, 12 January 1899 p4] Kenrick had held the seat since its creation in
1885
Events
January–March
* January 3– 4 – Sino-French War – Battle of Núi Bop: French troops under General Oscar de Négrier defeat a numerically superior Qing Chinese force, in northern Vietnam.
* January 4 – ...
, first as a
Liberal and then as a Liberal Unionist. At the
1895 general election, Kenrick had defended the seat against Liberal opposition, holding it with nearly 80% of the poll.
[F W S Craig, ''British Parliamentary Election Results, 1885-1918''; Macmillan Press, 1974 p73]
Candidates
William Kenrick was married to Mary Chamberlain, the elder sister of
Joseph Chamberlain and the Liberal Unionists first offered the candidacy to another close associate of the Chamberlain family, Edward Nettlefold (1854-1909), a local manufacturer of screws and other goods, in partnership with Joseph Chamberlain,
but he turned down the approach.
They next turned to
John Throgmorton Middlemore
Sir John Throgmorton Middlemore, 1st Baronet (9 June 1844 – 17 October 1924) was an English Liberal Unionist politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Birmingham North.
He was the son of William Middlemore, who had a leather ...
, a 54-year-old former member of
Birmingham City Council. Middlemore had trained as a
solicitor
A solicitor is a legal practitioner who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally-defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and ...
but had never practised.
[The Times, 15 February 1899 p7] He received income from a leather business and was the founder and chief benefactor of Middlemore Emigration Homes, an organisation which trained destitute children and settled them in Canada. On 25 January, the Liberal Unionists’ local
Conservative allies passed a resolution congratulating Kenrick on being made a
Privy Counsellor and voted to support Middlemore as the representative of
Unionism
Unionism may refer to:
Trades
*Community unionism, the ways trade unions work with community organizations
*Craft unionism, a model of trade unionism in which workers are organised based on a particular craft or trade
* Dual unionism, the develop ...
in the forthcoming by-election.
[The Times, 26 January 1899 p4]
The
writ ordering the by-election was moved in Parliament on 8 February 1899 by
Sir William Walrond, the government
Chief Whip
The Chief Whip is a political leader whose task is to enforce the whipping system, which aims to ensure that legislators who are members of a political party attend and vote on legislation as the party leadership prescribes.
United Kingdom
...
and was received by the
Lord Mayor of Birmingham a day later. The 14 February was set for receipt of nominations.
[The Times, 10 February 1899 p8]
The North Birmingham
Liberals had done poorly against Kenrick in the two previous general elections 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 ...
and
1895
Events
January–March
* January 5 – Dreyfus affair: French officer Alfred Dreyfus is stripped of his army rank, and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil's Island.
* January 12 – The National Trust for Places of Histor ...
and on 25 January they considered their position at a meeting of their Parliamentary Committee. They resolved that “...this committee, while asserting its loyalty to Liberal principles, is of the opinion, in view of the contest in 1895, and the acceptability, from a non-political standpoint, of the candidate chosen by the Liberal Unionists and
Tories, and in view of the approaching general election, that the present time is not a suitable opportunity ...to contest the strength of political parties in North Birmingham.”
There being no other nominations therefore, Middlemore was returned unopposed.
[ The Constitutional Year Book, 1904, published by Conservative Central Office, page 164 (188 in web page)]
The result
See also
*
List of United Kingdom by-elections
*
United Kingdom by-election records
References
{{By-elections to the 26th UK Parliament
1899 elections in the United Kingdom
1899 in England
19th century in Birmingham, West Midlands
February 1899 events
North
Unopposed by-elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom in English constituencies