The

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

by-election was a Parliamentary by-election held on 6 August 1904. The constituency returned one

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) to the

House of Commons of the United Kingdom 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 me ...

, elected by the

first past the post In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast their ...

voting system.

Vacancy

George Palmer had been Liberal MP for the seat of

since the 1898 Reading by-election. He resigned from Parliament in 1904, due to advancing deafness.

Electoral history

Since the Reading constituency was created in 1885 it had been closely contested between Liberal and Conservative; The Conservatives winning in 1885, 1886 and 1895 and the Liberals in 1892, 1898 and 1900. The Liberal victor on each occasion was Palmer, who was a very well known biscuit manufacturer in the town. At the last election he had won narrowly;

Candidates

*The local Liberal Association selected 44 year-old Rufus Isaacs as their candidate to hold the seat. Isaacs was a London barrister who had been made a QC in 1898. He was standing as a candidate for the first time. In such a marginal seat, the Liberals were taking a risk by choosing an outsider to replace a well-known local man. Cekeyser2

*The local Conservative Association selected 57 year-old stockbroker Charles Keyser as their candidate. He was contesting Reading for the third time, having lost to Palmer in 1898 and 1900.‘KEYSER, Charles Edward’, Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2016; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2014 ; online edn, April 201
accessed 5 January 2017
/ref> *There was some expectation of a socialist candidate making it a three-way contest, as had been the case in the 1898 by-election.

Campaign

Polling day was fixed for the 6 August 1904.

Result

The Liberals held the seat with an almost identical result to the previous election;

Aftermath

Keyser did not stand for parliament again. At the following General Election, Isaacs was re-elected;

References

{{By-elections to the 27th UK Parliament Reading By-election Reading By-election Reading By-election, 1904 20th century in Berkshire