The 1903 Camborne 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 on 8 April 1903 for the

British House of Commons The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 mem ...

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, ...

Camborne Camborne ( kw, Kammbronn) is a town in Cornwall, England. The population at the 2011 Census was 20,845. The northern edge of the parish includes a section of the South West Coast Path, Hell's Mouth and Deadman's Cove. Camborne was formerl ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

. The by-election was triggered by the death of the serving

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 ...

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),

William Sproston Caine William Sproston Caine (26 March 1842 – 17 March 1903) was a British politician and temperance advocate. Biography Caine was born at Seacombe, Cheshire, and was the eldest surviving son of Nathaniel Caine, a metal merchant from Cheshire, and w ...

. The Liberal victor, Wilfrid Lawson had previously been MP for Cockermouth and Carlisle and at 74 was the second oldest victor at a by-election. The Liberal Association invited Lawson to stand for the by-election. They made the offer under peculiarly acceptable conditions, for should he secure the seat, he would be at liberty, when the next election occurred, to return, should he wish, to his old constituency at

Cockermouth Cockermouth is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Allerdale in Cumbria, England, so named because it is at the confluence of the River Cocker as it flows into the River Derwent. The mid-2010 census estimates state that Cocke ...

. Almost immediately after the Cornish electorate returned Lawson with a huge majority, the Cockermouth Liberal Associated selected him to stand as their candidate at the next election.West Cumberland Times, 20 May 1903 In parliament he continued to prosecute his anti-imperialist,

Free Trade Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. It can also be understood as the free market idea applied to international trade. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold econo ...

and temperance views while at home he began to campaign for the oncoming election. In January 1906 he returned with to Carlisle a majority of almost 600. The Liberal Unionist candidate,

Arthur Strauss Arthur Isidor Strauss (28 April 1847 – 30 November 1920) was a British Liberal Unionist, and later Conservative Member of Parliament who latterly joined the Labour Party. Family background Parents Arthur Strauss was born Issidor Arthur Strau ...

, had been the Conservative MP for Camborne from

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 ...

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 ...

, having previously stood in

1892 United Kingdom general election The 1892 United Kingdom general election was held from 4 to 26 July 1892. It saw the Conservatives, led by Lord Salisbury again win the greatest number of seats, but no longer a majority as William Ewart Gladstone's Liberals won 80 more seats ...

. He would later join the

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

Party.

Votes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Camborne By-Election, 1903 By-elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom in Cornish constituencies 1903 elections in the United Kingdom 1903 in England April 1903 events Camborne 1900s in Cornwall