The 1910 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 20 July 1910 for the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

constituency of Liverpool Kirkdale.

Vacancy

The by-election was caused by the death on 3 July 1910 of

Charles McArthur Charles McArthur (May 1844 – 3 July 1910) was a British average adjuster from Liverpool. He became a Liberal Unionist politician who sat in the House of Commons in two periods between 1897 and 1910. Life McArthur was born near Bristol in Kin ...

, Kirkdale's

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). He had held the seat since a by-election in 1907, having previously been MP for Liverpool Exchange from 1897 to 1906. The

writ In common law, a writ (Anglo-Saxon ''gewrit'', Latin ''breve'') is a formal written order issued by a body with administrative or judicial jurisdiction; in modern usage, this body is generally a court. Warrants, prerogative writs, subpoenas, a ...

for the by-election was moved in the Commons on 12 July by Sir Alexander Acland-Hood, the MP for

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

Candidates

By 5 July, rumours were circulating in Liverpool that the Conservative candidate would be Alderman Barran, but ''The Times'' newspaper reported that these were unfounded. The paper also reported that it was unlikely that a Liberal candidate would be nominated, making the election a two-contest between Labour and the Conservatives, as had been the case in the general elections of

1906 Events January–February * January 12 – Persian Constitutional Revolution: A nationalistic coalition of merchants, religious leaders and intellectuals in Persia forces the shah Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar to grant a constitution, ...

and January 1910. However, the paper noted that Liberal votes would likely be cast almost entirely for the Labour candidate, while Labour were confident that their likely candidate

Alexander Gordon Cameron Alexander Gordon Cameron (15 June 1876 – 30 May 1944) was a British trade unionist and Labour Party politician. Biography Cameron was born in 1876 in Oban, Argyll, and served his apprenticeship as a joiner in Glasgow."Obituary: Mr A. G. Ca ...

would attract the

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

votes which were so significant in that area. On 9 July the Conservatives adopted Colonel

Gerald Kyffin-Taylor Brigadier-General Gerald Kyffin-Taylor (9 March 1863 – 11 December 1949) was a British soldier and politician. Kyffin-Taylor was educated at Liverpool College.''Who Was Who'', Published by A&C Black Limited. Online edition, 2020 His brothe ...

as their candidate. He announced that his priority at the election would be defence of the

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...

, and he also committed himself to

tariff reform The Tariff Reform League (TRL) was a protectionist British pressure group formed in 1903 to protest against what they considered to be unfair foreign imports and to advocate Imperial Preference to protect British industry from foreign competitio ...

, while opposing to

Irish Home Rule The Irish Home Rule movement was a movement that campaigned for Devolution, self-government (or "home rule") for Ireland within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It was the dominant political movement of Irish nationalism from 1 ...

and reform of the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

Campaign

Kikdale was known in Liverpool as the "bedroom of the docks"; an area housing dock labourers and the poorest of the poor, as well as the skilled tradesmen who worked in the constituency's docks and shipyards. There was nothing resembling an upper class in Kirkdale, where skilled artisans and shopkeepers sat at the top of the social scale. ''The Times'' reported that while both groups deplored the passionate religious sectarianism which was rife in the poorer areas of the constituency, Kyffin-Taylor had made a strident

Protestantism Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

a main plank of his campaign. Cameron denounced the sectarianism, and ''The Times'' reported that despite the furious speeches on religious matters, the election was likely to be decided by whether voters preferred Kyffin-Taylor's tariff reform to Cameron's socialism, although Cameron made little use of the term. The Liberals' role in the campaign was subdued, with support for the Labour candidate expressed in terms of patronage and apology. Despite Cameron's support for Home Rule, and the large number of Irish people in the constituency, there was no

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 ...

campaign in his support, whereas many

Irish Unionists Unionism is a political tradition on the island of Ireland that favours political union with Great Britain and professes loyalty to the United Kingdom, British Monarchy of the United Kingdom, Crown and Constitution of the United Kingdom, cons ...

addressed public meetings. The Labour campaign also lacked high-profile speakers.

Ramsay MacDonald James Ramsay MacDonald (; 12 October 18669 November 1937) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, the first who belonged to the Labour Party, leading minority Labour governments for nine months in 1924 ...

made one speech before leaving again, whereas the Conservatives had a succession of good local speakers, including all their local MPs.

Result

Polling took place on 20 July, and the count took place that evening. The result was a victory for Kyffin-Taylor, who held the seat for the Conservatives with a majority of 841 votes, or 11% of the total. This was a slight increase on McArthur's 2.8% majority in January. After the declaration, Kyffin-Taylor went to the Liverpool Conservative Club, where he described his win as a victory for Constitutionalism against Socialism, as a declaration that a Protestant country should have a Protestant king. He said that voters were tired of a government which would not look after the defences of the Empire and tired of seeing men unemployed when tariff reform could restore jobs. His speech was followed by an address from Alderman Salvidge, who denounced ''The Times'' special correspondent for preferring to have a socialist sitting in the Commons, and complained that other leading Conservative journalists had also tried to discredit Kyffin-Taylor's campaign.

Aftermath

Kyffin-Taylor was re-elected at the general election in December 1910, with an increased majority. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, he was appointed to command the Artillery of the West Lancashire Division in January 1915 as a temporary colonel, and he resigned from the Commons in February 1915 due to his military commitments.National Archives
/ref> In 1917 he was promoted to the rank of

Brigadier General Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

Vacancy

Candidates

Campaign

Result

Aftermath

Votes

References

See also