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The 1921 Orkney and Shetland by-election was a parliamentary by-election held for the
British House of Commons 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 mem ...
constituency of Orkney and Shetland on 17 May 1921.


Vacancy

The by-election was caused by the death in London on 19 April 1921 of the sitting Coalition Liberal MP, Cathcart Wason. Wason had represented Orkney and Shetland since the 1900 general election. At the 1918 general election he had been returned unopposed, having been awarded the Coalition coupon.


Candidates

The Coalition Liberals selected Sir Malcolm Smith, an ex-chief magistrate of Leith and a native of
Shetland Shetland, also called the Shetland Islands and formerly Zetland, is a subarctic archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands and Norway. It is the northernmost region of the United Kingdom. The islands lie about to the no ...
with large commercial interests in the islands.The Times, 21 April 1921 p10 The Unionists did not seek to oppose their Coalition allies, although there was a strong expectation that the Independent Liberals would put up a candidate. There was no Labour Party tradition in the seat at that time. The Asquithian Liberals selected Sir Robert Hamilton, a judge in the East Africa Protectorate, as their candidate but he withdrew his candidature.


Result

The field having been left free for Smith by the other parties, he was returned unopposed. However, Smith held the seat only until the 1922 general election when he did face a challenge from Hamilton who emerged the winner by a majority of 625 votes.F W S Craig, ''British Parliamentary Election Results, 1918-1949;'' Political Reference Publications, Glasgow, 1949 p641


Votes


See also

* Lists of United Kingdom by-elections * United Kingdom by-election records


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Orkney And Shetland, 1921 Orkney and Shetland by-election By-Election By-Election Orkney and Shetland by-election 1920s elections in Scotland Unopposed by-elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom in Scottish constituencies By-Election By-Election Orkney and Shetland by-election