The 1922 Chertsey by-election was a 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 of Chertsey on 24 March 1922.

Vacancy

The by-election was caused by the death of the sitting Unionist MP, Sir Donald Macmaster on 3 March 1922. He had been MP here since winning the seat in January 1910.

Election history

Chertsey had returned Conservative or Unionist candidates at every election since the constituency was created in 1885, apart from the Liberal landslide of 1906. The result at the last General election was

Candidates

*The Unionist's chose first time candidate

Philip Richardson Sir Philip Wigham Richardson, 1st Baronet, (26 January 1865 – 23 November 1953) was a British sport shooter and Conservative politician. He was the first son of John Wigham Richardson, the shipbuilder from Newcastle upon Tyne. He also compet ...

, who had won a Silver Medal at the 1908 London Olympics, for Shooting. He was a Shipbuilder who ran his business from Wallsend. *The Labour Party, who had run a candidate in 1918 left the field and the Liberal Party, who had not run a candidate in 1918, intervened. The Liberals also chose a first time candidate in

Sir Hubert Gough General Sir Hubert de la Poer Gough ( ; 12 August 1870 – 18 March 1963) was a senior officer in the British Army in the First World War. A favourite of the British Commander-in-Chief, Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig, he experienced a meteoric ...

, who had commanded the British Fifth Army during the Great War and had recently retired from the Army.

Result

The Unionists held onto the seat with a greatly reduced majority.

Aftermath

continued as the MP until retiring in 1931.

did not stand for election again. The Liberal Party never managed to mount as strong a challenge again as Chertsey remained a safe Conservative seat throughout its history. The result at the following General election;

References