The

Oldham Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, wh ...

by-election was a Parliamentary by-election held on 13 November 1911. The constituency returned two

Members 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

Alfred Emmott Alfred Emmott, 1st Baron Emmott, (8 May 1858 – 13 December 1926) was a British businessman and Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Party politician. Background and education The eldest surviving son of Thomas Emmott, of Brookfield, Oldham, he was e ...

had been Liberal MP for dual member

since gaining a seat from the Conservatives in 1899. He was appointed Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies by

H. H. Asquith Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith, (12 September 1852 – 15 February 1928), generally known as H. H. Asquith, was a British statesman and Liberal Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom f ...

and the following month he was raised to the peerage as Baron Emmott, of Oldham in the County Palatine of Lancaster.

Electoral history

This was the result at the previous General Election;

Candidates

The Liberal candidate chosen to defend the seat was

Arthur Stanley Arthur Stanley may refer to: *Arthur Stanley (politician) (1869–1947), British Conservative politician *Arthur Stanley, 5th Baron Stanley of Alderley (1875–1931), English nobleman and Governor of Victoria * Arthur Jehu Stanley Jr. (1901–2001), ...

. He had been Liberal MP for Eddisbury, Cheshire until losing to the Conservastives in January 1910. He had lost there again in December 1910. His sister, Venetia Stanley, was a close correspondent of the Prime Minister and leader of the Liberal party, H. H. Asquith. The Conservative candidate was

Edmund Bartley-Denniss Sir Edmund Robert Bartley Bartley-Denniss KC (born Denniss, 9 April 1854 – 20 March 1931) was an English barrister, prominent Freemason and Conservative Party Member of Parliament in the United Kingdom. He was also a pioneer of the sport ...

who had stood here in December 1910. His only connection with the area was that his father-in-law had recently been Mayor of Oldham. The Labour party, who had never previously stood a candidate here, intervened in the contest, choosing

William Cornforth Robinson William Cornforth Robinson (12 July 1861 – 11 June 1931) was a British Labour Member of Parliament. Born in Carlton, West Riding of Yorkshire, he began work at the age of ten in a mill in Burnley. At the age of 17 he organised a trade union af ...

as their candidate. He was General Secretary of the

Amalgamated Association of Beamers, Twisters and Drawers The Amalgamated Association of Beamers, Twisters and Drawers (Hand and Machine) (AABTD) was a British trade union which existed between 1866 and 2002. It represented skilled workers in the cotton industry who were responsible for preparing warp ...

and President of the United Textile Factory Workers Association. His candidature was significant given the large number of textile workers resident in the constituency. Since 1906, most dual member constituencies in industrialised towns had seen one Liberal and one Labour candidate run in harness against two Unionists. Oldham had been an exception to this with two Liberals running. The Labour Party national leadership were therefore keen to see this practice extended to Oldham and were happy to back the locally chosen Labour candidate.

Campaign

Polling Day was set for 13 November.

Result

The Conservatives gained the seat. The Labour intervention had proved crucial in denying the Liberal victory.

Aftermath

A General Election was due to take place by the end of 1915. By the autumn of 1914, the following candidates had been adopted to contest that election. (Due to the outbreak of war, the election never took place.) Despite Labour finishing third, their candidate had done well enough to support a claim to run in tandem with a Liberal in future, which is why only one Liberal candidate was in place. Robinson was fortunate enough to have his candidacy sponsored by the UTFWA. *Liberal Party =

Andrew William Barton Sir Andrew William Barton (5 August 1862 – 9 July 1957) was a British Liberal politician and businessman. Family Barton was born on 5 August 1862 near Glasgow, the son of Robert Barton, a mining engineer from Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, ...

*Labour Party = William C. Robinson *Unionist Party =

*Barton and Denniss were the endorsed candidates of the Coalition Government.

References

{{By-elections to the 30th UK Parliament Oldham 1911 Oldham by-election Oldham by-election Oldham by-election Elections in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham Oldham 1911 1910s in Lancashire