The 1905

Stalybridge Stalybridge () is a town in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England, with a population of 23,731 at the 2011 Census. Historic counties of England, Historically divided between Cheshire and Lancashire, it is east of Manchester city centre and no ...

by-election was a Parliamentary by-election held on 7 January 1905. 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

The by-election was caused by the succession of the sitting Conservative MP,

Matthew White Ridley Matthew Ridley may refer to: *Matthew Ridley (barrister), British Member of Parliament for Newcastle-upon-Tyne (UK Parliament constituency), Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 1747–1774 *Sir Matthew White Ridley, 2nd Baronet (1745–1813) *Sir Matthew White Ri ...

to his father's

viscountcy A viscount ( , for male) or viscountess (, for female) is a title used in certain European countries for a noble of varying status. In many countries a viscount, and its historical equivalents, was a non-hereditary, administrative or judicial ...

on 28 November 1904. Ridley had been MP for Stalybridge since the 1900 general election.

Electoral history

The seat had been Conservative since they gained it in 1885. They held the seat at the last election, with a reduced majority, the smallest majority since before they gained it:

Candidates

*The local Conservative Association selected 31-year-old James Travis-Clegg as their candidate to defend the seat. He was standing for parliament for the first time. He was from

Crompton, Lancashire Shaw and Crompton is a civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which contains the town of Shaw and lies on the River Beal at the foothills of the South Pennines. It is located north of Oldham, south ...

. In 1898 he had been elected to

Lancashire County Council Lancashire County Council is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Lancashire, England. It consists of 84 councillors. Since the 2017 election, the council has been under Conservative control. Prior to the 2009 La ...

. *The local Liberal Association re-selected 70-year-old

John Frederick Cheetham John Frederick Cheetham PC (1835 – 25 February 1916) was a cotton mill-owner in Cheshire and a Liberal Party politician. He sat in the House of Commons for two five-year periods, in the 1880s and the 1900s. Cheetham was born in Stalybridge, ...

who had been their candidate in 1900 when he had achieved a swing of 4.5%. Cheetham was born in

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

, the eldest son of John Cheetham, a local cotton manufacturer who became a

for South Lancashire in 1852. Cheetham took over control of the family business, which employed 1,400 in two mills. He contested several elections before being returned as MP for

North Derbyshire High Peak is a local government district with borough status in Derbyshire, England. The borough compromises high moorland plateau in the Dark Peak area of the Peak District National Park. The district stretches from Holme Moss in the north to ...

at the 1880 general election. He held that seat for five years, until the constituency was abolished at the 1885 general election, when he stood unsuccessfully in the new High Peak constituency. He contested High Peak again 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 was also unsuccessful in

Bury Bury may refer to: *The burial of human remains *-bury, a suffix in English placenames Places England * Bury, Cambridgeshire, a village * Bury, Greater Manchester, a town, historically in Lancashire ** Bury (UK Parliament constituency) (1832–19 ...

at the 1895 general election.Craig, ''British parliamentary election results 1885–1918'', page 89

Campaign

Although the vacancy was known on 28 November 1904, Polling Day was fixed for 7 January 1905.

Result

The Liberals gained the seat from the Conservatives:

Aftermath

At the following General Election Cheetham and Travis-Clegg faced each other again. The Liberal held onto the seat with a reduced majority:

References

{{By-elections to the 27th UK Parliament History of Cheshire 1905 in England 1905 elections in the United Kingdom Politics of Cheshire Elections in Cheshire By-elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom in Cheshire constituencies 20th century in Cheshire Stalybridge