The 1925 Eastbourne 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 ...

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

Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. Eastbourne is immediately east of Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in Great Britain and part of the la ...

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

on 17 June 1925.

Vacancy

The by-election was caused by the

resignation Resignation is the formal act of leaving or quitting one's office or position. A resignation can occur when a person holding a position gained by election or appointment steps down, but leaving a position upon the expiration of a term, or choos ...

on 25 May of the town's Unionist Party

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) Rt Hon. Sir George Lloyd, who was elevated to the peerage as Baron Lloyd and appointed as British High Commissioner in Egypt and the

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

. He had held the seat since the 1924 general election, having previously been MP for West Staffordshire from 1910 to 1918.

Election history

The constituency was created in 1885 and had been won by a Unionist candidate at every election apart from 1906, the year of the Liberal landslide when it was won by a Liberal candidate. The result at the last General Election was

Candidates

*On the 24 May, the Eastbourne Unionist Association chose 55-year-old Vice-Admiral Sir Reginald 'Blinker' Hall as their candidate to defend the seat. He had been the Director of Naval Intelligence (DNI) from 1914 to 1919 and the MP for

Liverpool West Derby Liverpool, West Derby is a List of United Kingdom Parliament constituencies, constituency represented in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, UK Parliament since 2019 by Ian Byrne ...

from 1919 to 1923 when he was defeated by the Liberal candidate. He did not contest the 1924 general election. *On 29 May, the Eastbourne Liberal Association adopted 30-year-old Harcourt 'Crinks' Johnstone as their candidate to challenge for the seat. He had been MP for Willesden East from 1923 to 1924. He first stood for parliament at Willesden East for the Liberals at the general election of 1922. However the sitting

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, resigned in 1923 causing the

1923 Willesden East by-election The 1923 Willesden East by-election was a parliamentary by-election for the British House of Commons constituency of Willesden East held on 3 March 1923. The constituency was a large one extending from Kilburn in the south to the Welsh Harp a ...

. Johnstone was again chosen to contest the seat for the Liberals and won by a majority of 5,176 votes over the Unionist. Johnstone held the seat in the 1923 general election, only to lose it to the Unionist at the 1924 general election. *The Eastbourne Constituency Labour Party selected 48-year-old Lt-Col. Beauchamp Williams as their candidate to challenge for the seat. He had been MP for

Kennington Kennington is a district in south London, England. It is mainly within the London Borough of Lambeth, running along the boundary with the London Borough of Southwark, a boundary which can be discerned from the early medieval period between the ...

from 1923 to 1924. He was defeated at the next general, election in October 1924 by the Unionist candidate.Craig, page 34 All three candidates were former MPs seeking a new seat.

Campaign

Polling Day was set for 17 June 1925. From the outset, the Unionists were expected to hold the seat. The main interest would focus on the battle for second place. On the eve of poll, Johnstone received a telegram of support from leading Liberal

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 ...

. Lloyd George had visited the constituency earlier in the campaign to speak for Johnstone. At the end of the campaign, the Unionist team were predicting a majority of 6,000Aberdeen Journal, 18 June 1925

Result

Hall managed to hold onto the seat for the Unionists but with a much reduced majority. The Liberals comfortably beat Labour to finish in second place. After a very disappointing 1924 general election, this was the first sign of a Liberal Party revival in the polls.

Aftermath

Hall was replaced as Unionist candidate for the next General Election which the Unionists retained with a new candidate. In fact all the candidates fighting Eastbourne for the first time. The result at the following General Election; Johnstone sought entrance to parliament next at the

1927 Westbury by-election The 1927 Westbury by-election was a by-election held on 16 June 1927 for the British House of Commons constituency of Westbury. Vacancy The Unionist MP, Walter William Shaw died on 10 May 1927 at the age of 58. He had been MP here since the la ...

again finishing second. Williams did not stand for parliament again.