The 1925 Ripon by-election was a parliamentary by-election held on 5 December 1925 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 An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger State (polity), state (a country, administrative region, ...

Ripon Ripon () is a cathedral city in the Borough of Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England. The city is located at the confluence of two tributaries of the River Ure, the Laver and Skell. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, the city ...

Vacancy

The by-election was a consequence of the sitting MP Edward Wood – later the 3rd Viscount Halifax and the 1st Earl of Halifax – being elevated to the peerage as Baron Irwin in order to serve as

Viceroy of India The Governor-General of India (1773–1950, from 1858 to 1947 the Viceroy and Governor-General of India, commonly shortened to Viceroy of India) was the representative of the monarch of the United Kingdom and after Indian independence in 19 ...

Election history

Wood had served Ripon as a

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

since 1910. At every election since 1918, Wood was returned unopposed.

Candidates

Two candidates were nominated. The Conservative candidate was the

John Waller Hills Major John Waller Hills PC (1867 – 24 December 1938) was a British Liberal Unionist and Conservative politician and author. The second son of Herbert Augustus and Anna Hills of High Head Castle, Cumberland, Hills was educated at Eton and B ...

, who had represented the City of Durham until he was defeated in the 1922 general election. He was opposed in the by-election by the

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

candidate John Murray, another former MP who had lost his seat in the 1923 general election in

Leeds West Leeds West is a borough constituency in the city of Leeds, West Yorkshire which is represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first-past-the-post system of elect ...

. Murray had subsequently fought unsuccessfully in the Kirkcaldy Burghs constituency in the 1924 general election. There was no

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

candidate.

Main issues and campaign

During the campaign Murray openly disagreed with his own leader Lloyd George's plans for

nationalization Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to pri ...

of land and the coal industry.B W Clapp, ''John Murray'' in ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', OUP 2004-09

Result

The Conservatives held the seat;

Aftermath

After his defeat, Murray did not stand for parliament again while Hills sought to defend Ripon at the General election. The result at the following General election; Hills was to remain MP for Ripon until his death in 1939.

External links

Results

Announcement of candidates
{{By-elections to the 34th UK Parliament Ripon by-election Ripon by-election 1920s in Yorkshire Ripon by-election History of Ripon By-elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom in North Yorkshire constituencies Politics of the Borough of Harrogate Politics of Ripon