The 1929 Lanarkshire North by-election was a parliamentary by-election held in the

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on 21 March 1929 for the House of Commons

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 North Lanarkshire in

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Vacancy

The by-election was caused by the death on 8 February of the constituency's 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 ...

, Sir Alexander Sprot, who had gained the seat from

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 ...

at the 1924 general election.

History

Candidates

*The Unionists selected 29-year-old

Mungo Murray Mungo David Malcolm Murray, 7th Earl of Mansfield and Mansfield (9 August 1900 – 2 September 1971), styled Lord Scone from 1906 to 1935, was a Scottish Unionist Party politician. Mansfield was the son of Alan Murray, 6th Earl of Mansfield and ...

to defend the seat. He was the son of Lord Mansfield. A graduate of the

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, he had served in the Black Watch. He was standing for parliament for the first time. *The Labour Party needed to select a new candidate as their last candidate, the former MP, Joseph Sullivan, had been elected at the

1926 Bothwell by-election The 1926 Bothwell by-election was held on 26 March 1926. The by-election was held due to the death of the incumbent Labour MP, John Robertson John, Jon, or Jonathan Robertson may refer to: Politicians United Kingdom politicians * J. M. Robertso ...

. Sullivan had been a prominent figure in the Lanarkshire Miners Association and local Labour Party would have liked to choose another miners representative. However, they settled on Miss Jennie Lee, a teacher from

Fife Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross (i ...

and a graduate from Edinburgh University. She was standing for parliament for the first time. *The local Liberal Association selected 49-year-old Miss Elizabeth Mitchell as their candidate. She had contested Lanark at the 1924 general election. She was the daughter of Andrew Mitchell, a former sheriff of Lanarkshire and a member of Lanarkshire Education Authority. She was educated at St. George's School for Girls, Edinburgh, Edinburgh University, and Oxford University. She taught at the Royal Holloway College, University of London. She was Hon. Secretary to the Committee on Women in Agriculture in Scotland, Convener of Continuation classes at the County of Lanark and Vice- President of the Scottish Liberal Federation.The Liberal Yearbook, 1926

Campaign

On 1 March, nationally, Liberal leader, David Lloyd George launched the Liberal programme for the upcoming General Election, titled ''We Can Conquer Unemployment''.

Result

Aftermath

References

* ''British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949'', compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (The Macmillan Press 1979) {{By-elections to the 34th UK Parliament 1929 elections in the United Kingdom 1929 in Scotland 1920s elections in Scotland Lanarkshire, North East Lanarkshire