The 1916 St George, Hanover Square by-election was held on 11 January 1916. The

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

was held due to the elevation to the peerage of the incumbent

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

MP, Sir Alexander Henderson. It was won by the Unionist candidate Sir George Reid, the former

Prime Minister of Australia The prime minister of Australia is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Australia. The prime minister is the chair of the Cabinet of Australia and thus the head of the Australian Government, federal executive government. Under the pr ...

, who acted as a spokesman for the self-governing

Dominion A dominion was any of several largely self-governance, self-governing countries of the British Empire, once known collectively as the ''British Commonwealth of Nations''. Progressing from colonies, their degrees of self-governing colony, colon ...

s in supporting the war effort. He was unopposed. There was a history of unopposed by-elections in the constituency and the

War-time electoral pact The war-time electoral pact was an electoral pact established by the member parties of the United Kingdom coalition governments in the First World War, and re-established in the Second World War. Under the pact, in the event of a by-election A b ...

meant that the other major parties would not endorse candidates in that election. Sir George Reid was to die in 1918 triggering another unopposed by-election.

References

St George's, Hanover Square by-election St George's, Hanover Square by-election St George's, Hanover Square by-election St George's, Hanover Square,1916 1910s in the City of Westminster St George's, Hanover Square,1916 Unopposed by-elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom in English constituencies {{London-UK-Parl-by-election-stub