The 1928 parliamentary by-election 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, ...

Northampton Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...

Previous MP

The sitting Conservative MP, Sir Arthur Holland died on 7 December 1927, causing a by-election. He had been the MP here since 1924, when he gained the seat from Labour.

Electoral history

The Liberal party lost the seat in 1923 and at the 1924 election, the seat became a Labour/Conservative marginal.

Candidates

The Conservative candidate selected to defend the seat was A.F.G. Renton, who had come second at

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 ...

in the 1924 general election. The defeated Labour MP from 1924,

Margaret Bondfield Margaret Grace Bondfield (17 March 1873 – 16 June 1953) was a British Labour Party politician, trade unionist and women's rights activist. She became the first female cabinet minister, and the first woman to be a privy counsellor in th ...

was elected MP for Wallsend in the 1926 by-election, so Labour had to find a new candidate. They selected Cecil L'Estrange Malone. In the 1918 general election, Malone was elected as the

Coalition Liberal The Coalition Coupon was a letter sent to parliamentary candidates at the 1918 United Kingdom general election, endorsing them as official representatives of the Coalition Government. The 1918 election took place in the heady atmosphere of victo ...

MP for Leyton East. Around 1919-20 he became a Communist and stood down from parliament prior to the 1922 general election. He unsuccessfully stood as the Labour candidate for

Ashton-under-Lyne Ashton-under-Lyne is a market town in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England. The population was 45,198 at the 2011 census. Historically in Lancashire, it is on the north bank of the River Tame, in the foothills of the Pennines, east of Manche ...

at the 1924 general election. The Liberal candidate, Sydney Cope Morgan had not contested the last election. A fourth candidate entered the contest in the figure of a 53-year-old Manchester baker, E.A. Hailwood. He had also stood as an Independent Conservative candidate at the 1927 Southend by-election, coming fourth. He put himself forward as a candidate protesting against Baldwin's lack of leadership as Prime Minister.

Campaign

The appeal of Augustine Hailwood was made principally on the issue of trade. He called for the introduction of protective tariffs which he argued would benefit the local shoe and boot industry.

Result

Hailwood had taken just enough votes off the official Conservative candidate to enable Labour to win.

Aftermath

Neither Morgan nor Hailwood contested the 1929 general election. However, L'Estrange and Renton faced each other again.

References

{{By-elections to the 34th UK Parliament 1928 elections in the United Kingdom 1928 in England By-elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom in Northamptonshire constituencies Politics of Northampton 20th century in Northamptonshire