The 1917 Rossendale 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 ...

held 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 Rossendale on 13 February 1917.

Vacancy

Lewis Viscount Harcourt by Solomon J Solomon

The by-election was caused by the elevation to the peerage of the sitting

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 ...

MP,

Lewis Harcourt Lewis Vernon Harcourt, 1st Viscount Harcourt (born Reginald Vernon Harcourt; 31 January 1863 – 24 February 1922), was a British Liberal Party politician who held the Cabinet post of Secretary of State for the Colonies from 1910 to 1915. Lord ...

as the first Viscount Harcourt of

Stanton Harcourt Stanton Harcourt is a village and civil parish in Oxfordshire about southeast of Witney and about west of Oxford. The parish includes the hamlet of Sutton, north of the village. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 960. Arch ...

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...

. Harcourt had himself been elected as MP for Rossendale in a by-election in 1904.

Candidates

The Rossendale Liberal Council selected as their candidate 54 year-old Sir

John Maden Sir John Henry Maden (11 September 1862 – 18 February 1920) was a British Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Party politician. He was elected Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament for Rossendale (UK Parliament constituency), Ro ...

. Maden had been the local MP from

1892 Events January–March * January 1 – Ellis Island begins accommodating immigrants to the United States. * February 1 - The historic Enterprise Bar and Grill was established in Rico, Colorado. * February 27 – Rudolf Diesel applies for ...

until

1900 As of March 1 ( O.S. February 17), when the Julian calendar acknowledged a leap day and the Gregorian calendar did not, the Julian calendar fell one day further behind, bringing the difference to 13 days until February 28 ( O.S. February 15), 2 ...

when he stood down. Maden was the current

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

Bacup Bacup ( , ) is a town in the Rossendale Borough in Lancashire, England, in the South Pennines close to Lancashire's boundaries with West Yorkshire and Greater Manchester. The town is in the Rossendale Valley and the upper Irwell Valley, east of ...

and a cotton manufacturer by trade.The Times, 1 January 1917 p5 The Unionists being partners in the wartime coalition government of

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 ...

did not oppose Maden but an organisation called the British Citizen Party indicated they would stand a candidate in the election. In the end at a special meeting of

Socialists Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the eco ...

and representatives of

organised labour The labour movement or labor movement consists of two main wings: the trade union movement (British English) or labor union movement (American English) on the one hand, and the political labour movement on the other. * The trade union movement ...

Waterfoot, Lancashire Waterfoot is a historic mill town in the Borough of Rossendale between Rawtenstall and Bacup in Lancashire, England. The B6238 road from Burnley meets the A681 road, and Whitewell Brook the River Irwell. History Like the majority of the in ...

it was agreed to run a Labour candidate on a peace ticket. The meeting chose 39 year-old Albert Taylor, the secretary of the

Rossendale Union of Boot, Shoe and Slipper Operatives The Rossendale Union of Boot, Shoe and Slipper Operatives was a trade union representing workers in the footwear trade in the Rossendale area of Lancashire. The union was founded in 1895,University of Warwick Modern Records Centre,Rossendale U ...

.The Times, 13 January 1917 p3 Taylor was a

conscientious objector A conscientious objector (often shortened to conchie) is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, or religion. The term has also been extended to object ...

but had been exempted from combatant service on condition he agree to undertake other work of national importance. He declined to do this.

Issues

There were no domestic or local issues of any importance in the by-election. Maden had stated publicly that he would not raise any such questions, saying that personal opinions on ‘minor matters’ had no place on the hustings and that he stood simply on the platform of supporting the present, or any other government, which worked to bring the then-called

Great War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

to a successful conclusion. He did hold a public meeting in Bacup on 10 February 1917 but the centre piece of the event was his reading a telegram from

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 ...

supporting his candidacy as part of a united front to win the war. Taylor stood as a peace party candidate. His description in the press was ‘Peace by Negotiation’ candidate.The Times, 14 February 1917 p8 However on 30 January 1917 he was fined £2 for refusing to do non-combatant military service and was detained. This did not prevent his nomination as a candidate The Times, 6 February 1917 p5 but it did mean he was unable to campaign in the by-election, being in the custody of the military authorities.

The result

Maden was re-elected as Liberal MP for Rossendale in support of the government coalition with a comfortable majority over Taylor. Coincidentally, the election was 17 years to the day from the

caused by his previous resignation.

Vacancy

Candidates

Issues

The result

The votes

References

See also