There was a
parliamentary by-election for the
House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...
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, ...
of
Leith
Leith (; gd, Lìte) is a port area in the north of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith. In 2021, it was ranked by '' Time Out'' as one of the top five neighbourhoods to live in the world.
The earliest ...
, which took place on Wednesday, 23 March 1927.
Previous MP
When
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 ...
replaced
H. H. Asquith
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 politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom f ...
as Leader of the Liberal Party, the Liberal MP,
William Wedgwood Benn
William Wedgwood Benn, 1st Viscount Stansgate, (10 May 1877 – 17 November 1960) was a British Liberal politician who later joined the Labour Party. A decorated Royal Air Force officer, he was Secretary of State for India between 1929 and 19 ...
decided to cross the floor from the Liberal Party and switch to the Labour Party. Benn believed that his change of party allegiances warranted him resigning his seat and seeking re-election.
Previous result
Candidates
Benn had been the Liberal MP for Leith since the
khaki election of 1918 and was keen to stand for election as a Labour candidate. However, the Leith Constituency Labour Party did not want him as their candidate, so Benn did not contest the by-election.
The Leith CLP selected R.F. Wilson as their candidate. He was a local socialist who had stood against Benn at the two previous general elections.
The Conservatives, who had not contested the seat since 1918, selected Allan Beaton. He was one of the Scottish Conservatives most experienced candidates. He had contested the safe Labour seat of
Edinburgh Central at the previous general election in
1924
Events
January
* January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after.
* January 20– 30 – Kuomintang in China hol ...
.
The Leith Liberal Association struggled to find a Liberal candidate prepared to defend a seat under such difficult circumstances. However, their seventh choice as candidate,
Ernest Brown agreed to contest the seat. Brown was an Englishman who was employed by party headquarters as a speaker. He had briefly served as the Liberal MP for
Rugby
Rugby may refer to:
Sport
* Rugby football in many forms:
** Rugby league: 13 players per side
*** Masters Rugby League
*** Mod league
*** Rugby league nines
*** Rugby league sevens
*** Touch (sport)
*** Wheelchair rugby league
** Rugby union: 1 ...
from 1923-24 when he was defeated at the general election one year later.
Campaign
The Liberal campaign was reliant upon Brown's ability and enthusiasm as a speaker, backed by plentiful funds from Lloyd George's national organisation. However, his task was made difficult because the local Liberal organisation had been allowed to run down during Benn's tenure as MP.
Result
Right up to polling day, the newspapers were predicting either a Labour win or a Conservative win with much talk about the prospect of the Liberal losing his deposit.
[Trial by Ballot by Ivor RM Davies]
Aftermath
Four days after this victory, the Liberals gained a seat from Labour at
Southwark North.
Benn did not have long to wait for a local Labour Party to adopt him as a candidate when a by-election vacancy came at
Aberdeen North in 1928, where he was returned to parliament.
At the 1929 general election Brown was re-elected here. Beaton contested
Dunfermline Burghs without success and Wilson did not stand again.
References
* ''British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949'', compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (The Macmillan Press 1979)
{{DEFAULTSORT:By-Election, 1927
1927 elections in the United Kingdom
1927 in Scotland
1920s elections in Scotland
By-elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom in Edinburgh constituencies
History of Leith