The 1921 Penrith and Cockermouth 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 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 Penrith and Cockermouth in

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is a historic county in the far North West England. It covers part of the Lake District as well as the north Pennines and Solway Firth coast. Cumberland had an administrative function from the 12th century until 1974. From 19 ...

on 13 May 1921.

Vacancy

The by-election was caused by the resignation of the sitting Unionist

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), the Right Hon. James Lowther. Lowther was retiring as

Speaker of the House of Commons Speaker of the House of Commons is a political leadership position found in countries that have a House of Commons, where the membership of the body elects a speaker to lead its proceedings. Systems that have such a position include: * Speaker of ...

and was created Viscount Ullswater later in 1921.

Candidates

The election was straight fight between Major-General

Cecil Lowther Major General Sir (Henry) Cecil Lowther, (1 January 1869 – 1 November 1940) was a British general and Conservative politician, big-game hunter and adventurer. Career Born in Ampthill, Bedfordshire, he was the fourth son of William Lowther. ...

, the brother of the retiring MP, soldier and former big game hunter for the Unionists and

Levi Collison Levi Collison (28 December 1875 – 22 October 1965) was an English art publisher and printer and Liberal Member of Parliament. Private life Levi Collison was born in Preston, Lancashire, and educated at private schools. He married and had two so ...

, an art printer from Preston in

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

for the

Asquithian 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 (UK), Liberal Party politician who served as Prime Minister of ...

Independent

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 ...

Issues

Liberals

For the Liberals, the by-election was an opportunity to attack the record of the

Coalition government A coalition government is a form of government in which political parties cooperate to form a government. The usual reason for such an arrangement is that no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an election, an atypical outcome in ...

David Lloyd George David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor, (17 January 1863 – 26 March 1945) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1922. He was a Liberal Party politician from Wales, known for leading the United Kingdom during t ...

. They particularly tried to highlight the waste and inefficiency of the government with the local farming community. They were however hampered by years of political inactivity and poor organisation in the constituency. It was reported that Collison, despite his principal trade of art printer, had considerable experience of farming, advocated an advanced agricultural policy and that many local farmers regarded him as a real friend. Collison also favoured some degree of nationalisation in the mining industry, which was less popular, even against the background of coal strikes which had made supplies in the area scarce.

Government

Lowther strongly attacked all forms of socialism and schemes of nationalisation, raising the spectre of land nationalisation if the electorate deserted the coalition. He also hoped to gain votes through his family association with the previous MP who had held the seat since 1886 and with Speaker Lowther's son,

Christopher Christopher is the English language, English version of a Europe-wide name derived from the Greek language, Greek name Χριστόφορος (''Christophoros'' or ''Christoforos''). The constituent parts are Χριστός (''Christós''), "Jesus ...

who was Coalition

Tory A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. Th ...

MP in nearby North Cumberland.

The result

The by-election resulted in a narrow win for the

Coalition A coalition is a group formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political or economical spaces. Formation According to ''A Gui ...

candidate, a majority of just 31 votes out of 15,325 cast. Lowther commented that the result of the election showed the public did not favour nationalisation and did not wish to see Ireland given complete independence. Collison's attacks on government extravagance were seen as the reason he came so near to gaining the seat. Lowther and Collison faced each other again in the 1922 general election with Collison successful on that occasion by 378 votes.F W S Craig, ''British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949''; Political Reference Publications, Glasgow, 1949 p316

Vacancy

Candidates

Issues

Liberals

Government

The result

The votes

References

See also