The 1913

Altrincham Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester city centre, southwest of Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2011 Census, it had a population o ...

by-election was a Parliamentary by-election held on 28 May 1913. The constituency returned one

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(MP) to the

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, 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 vacancy occurred following the resignation of

John Kebty-Fletcher John Robert Kebty-Fletcher (1869 – 12 July 1918) was a British Conservative politician. Born in Liverpool, Kebty-Fletcher was educated at Liverpool College and on the continent of Europe, and was a linguist, speaking five languages.''Who Was Wh ...

, the sitting Unionist

for

Electoral history

Kebty-Fletcher had won the seat from the

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 ...

at the previous general election in December 1910 with a slim majority of 119 votes.

Candidates

On 2 May, the candidates for the

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 ...

were selected. The Altrincham Unionist Association chose George Hamilton of

Knutsford Knutsford () is a market town in the borough of Cheshire East, in Cheshire, England. Knutsford is south-west of Manchester, north-west of Macclesfield and 12.5 miles (20 km) south-east of Warrington. The population at the 2011 Census wa ...

, while the Liberals nominated Lawrence Kay-Shuttleworth, eldest son of Lord Shuttleworth,

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Campaign

The writ for the by-election was moved on 8 May, and the date for the election was set as 28 May. The delay was due to allow for the week-long

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holiday enjoyed by

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

workers.''Altrincham Polling Day'', The Times, 10 May 1913, p.8 The Liberals had formed a

minority government A minority government, minority cabinet, minority administration, or a minority parliament is a government and Cabinet (government), cabinet formed in a parliamentary system when a political party or Coalition government, coalition of parties do ...

with the support of

Irish Nationalists 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 ...

. As the price of Nationalist support the government was attempting to introduce

Home Rule Home rule is government of a colony, dependent country, or region by its own citizens. It is thus the power of a part (administrative division) of a state or an external dependent country to exercise such of the state's powers of governance wit ...

for

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. One of the main issues in the contest was Home Rule The Irish Nationalist leaders

John Redmond John Edward Redmond (1 September 1856 – 6 March 1918) was an Irish nationalism, Irish nationalist politician, barrister, and Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), MP in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. He was best known as lead ...

and T P O'Connor urged Irish voters to support Kay-Shuttleworth. Hamilton spoke out in support of the

Ulster Unionists The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) is a unionist political party in Northern Ireland. The party was founded in 1905, emerging from the Irish Unionist Alliance in Ulster. Under Edward Carson, it led unionist opposition to the Irish Home Rule movem ...

who were threatening armed insurrection to resist devolution. This led to the

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launching an attack on the Conservative candidate as a "revolutionist". The apparent lack of support for Hamilton by Kebty-Fletcher, and his treatment by the local Unionist Party caused some controversy, although he eventually issued a letter discounting the story. The government majority had been reduced from 126 to 106 following the loss of a string of by-elections since December 1910. The Liberals hoped to reverse this trend by regaining the Altrincham seat.''Altrincham Result, Great Rise in Unionist Majority'', The Times, 30 May 1913, p.8 The Liberal Government was planning on passing a Plural Voting Bill that sought to prevent electors who appeared on the electoral register twice from voting twice. Liberal and Unionist HQs were in agreement over 25 seats that were won by Unionists in December 1910 because of plural voting, and this was one of those constituencies. The Altrincham Trades Council called on workers to vote against Hamilton, who as a major employer refused to pay

union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

rates.''Hecklers at Altrincham'', The Times, 21 May 1913, p.8

Result

The Unionists easily held the seat with a greatly increased majority. This was however partly explained by an increase in the electorate of 1,939 voters since 1910. Nevertheless, the result was deeply disappointing for the government. In contrast, Unionists were delighted, and

Lord Londonderry Marquess of Londonderry, of the County of Londonderry ( ), is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. History The title was created in 1816 for Robert Stewart, 1st Earl of Londonderry. He had earlier represented County Down in the Irish House of ...

, President of the

Ulster Unionist Council The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) is a unionist political party in Northern Ireland. The party was founded in 1905, emerging from the Irish Unionist Alliance in Ulster. Under Edward Carson, it led unionist opposition to the Irish Home Rule movem ...

sent a message of congratulation to Hamilton.

Aftermath

Hamilton held the seat for ten years, losing to a Liberal candidate at the 1923 general election.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Altrincham By-Election, 1913 1913 elections in the United Kingdom 1913 in England 20th century in Cheshire Altrincham Elections in Trafford By-elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom in Greater Manchester constituencies By-elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom in Cheshire constituencies May 1913 events