The 1928 Tavistock 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 Tavistock on 11 October 1928.

Vacancy

The by-election was caused by the death of the sitting Unionist MP,

Philip Kenyon-Slaney Major Philip Percy Kenyon-Slaney (12 February 1896 – 9 September 1928) was a British Conservative Party politician. Kenyon-Slaney was son of Percy Kenyon-Slaney (1861–1911) and his wife, Geraldine Ellen Georgina, daughter of the Reverend Ge ...

on 9 September 1928. He had been MP since 1924.

Election history

The constituency was a Unionist-Liberal marginal that had been Unionist in 1918 and 1924 and Liberal in 1922 and 1923. The result at the last general election was:

Candidates

The Unionist candidate was

Wallace Duffield Wright Brigadier-General Wallace Duffield Wright, (20 September 1875 – 25 March 1953) was a British soldier and politician. He was a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to Brit ...

. He served in the British Army, reaching the rank of Brigadier General, being awarded the Victoria Cross.

Maxwell Ruthven Thornton Maxwell Ruthven Thornton (11 July 1878 – 30 August 1950) was an English Liberal politician and lawyer. Early life Thornton was the son of George Ruthven Thornton MA, the Vicar of St Barnabas’ church in Kensington. He was educated at St Paul' ...

, the former Liberal MP who had lost here last time had left the Liberals to join the Unionists in 1925. In 1927, the Liberals selected Reginald Fletcher, the former MP for

Basingstoke Basingstoke ( ) is the largest town in the county of Hampshire. It is situated in south-central England and lies across a valley at the source of the River Loddon, at the far western edge of The North Downs. It is located north-east of Southa ...

as their candidate. The Labour Party decided to intervene, and fielded Richard Davies. He was a Plymouth builder, who had been boss of the Municipal Employees Union and had contested

Hastings Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...

three times without success.

Main Issues and Campaign

With polling day fixed for a date, just 4 weeks after the death or the former MP, the campaign was very short. The Liberals were helped by the fact that Fletcher had been working the constituency for more than a year. Traditionally, the dominant issue in this rural constituency was farming. None of the three candidates were either local or had a strong knowledge of farming issues. On 26 September, voters went to the polls in Cheltenahm, A Unionist seat that had not been won by the Liberals since 1910. The Unionists held the seat with an increased majority, though the intervening Labour candidate managed to poll nearly 19%, costing the Liberal the seat.

Result

Despite a swing to the Liberals, Wright narrowly held onto the seat. The Labour candidate lost his deposit, but took enough votes from the Liberal to let the Unionist win.

Aftermath

Wright held the seat at the following General Election and retired from Parliament in 1931. Fletcher did not contest the 1929 elections, left the Liberals and joined Labour, being elected in 1935 and serving in Attlee's Labour Government. Davies fought here again in 1929 and again lost his deposit. The result at the following General election;

References

* Who's Who: www.ukwhoswho.com * By-Elections in British Politics by Cook and Ramsden