1930 Shipley by-election

The Shipley by-election was a parliamentary by-election for the British House of Commons constituency of Shipley on 6 November 1930.

Vacancy

The by-election was caused by the death of the sitting Labour MP, William Mackinder on 8 September 1930. He had been MP here since winning the seat from the Liberal Party in 1923.

Election history

The result at the last General election was

1929 general election[1] Electorate 51,838
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour William Mackinder 18,654 42.3
Unionist Robert Clough 13,693 31.1
Liberal Francis Wrigley Hirst 11,712 26.6
Majority 4,961 11.2
Turnout 85.0
Labour hold Swing

Candidates

The constituency Labour party selected as their candidate to defend the seat William Albert Robinson from Liverpool. He had contested Liverpool Exchange at the 1929 general election. He was the political secretary of the National Union of Distributive and Allied Workers. The local Conservative Association chose as their candidate, 42-year-old James Horace Lockwood. He was a strong advocate of safeguarding for the textile industry. He had not stood for parliament before. The local Liberals put forward as their candidate, Arthur Davy. He had contested Shipley for the Liberal party at the 1922 general election when he polled 22% of the vote, finishing third behind the victorious National Liberal candidate. The Communist party decided to intervene in the election and fielded 49-year-old Willie Gallacher from Scotland. He had previously stood at Dundee in 1922 and 1923 and West Fife in 1929.

Campaign

Polling day was set for 6 November 1930, nearly two months after the death of the previous MP, allowing for an unusually long campaign.

Result

The Conservative party, which had never before won Shipley, gained the seat from Labour;

Shipley by-election, 1930 Electorate [2] 52,856
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative James Lockwood 15,238 36.0 +4.9
Labour William Albert Robinson 13,537 32.1 -10.2
Liberal Arthur Davy 12,785 30.2 +3.6
Communist Willie Gallacher 701 1.7 +1.7
Majority 1,665 3.9 15.1
Turnout 80.0 -5.0
Conservative gain from Labour Swing +7.5

Aftermath

Lockwood was re-elected at the 1931 general election, but the local Conservative Association did not re-adopt him as their candidate for the 1935 election. He stood instead as an Independent Conservative, but lost his seat, finishing last of 4 candidates with only 13.5% of the votes. Robinson challenged again in 1931 before being elected for St Helens in 1935. Gallacher returned to Scotland and was eventually elected to represent West Fife in 1935. Davy did not stand again. The result at the following General election;

1931 general election[3] Electorate
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative James Lockwood 27,304 64.0
Labour William Albert Robinson 14,725 34.5
New Party W.J. Leaper 601 1.4
Majority 12,579 29.5
Turnout 79.7
Conservative hold Swing
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See also

References
  1. F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949; Political Reference Publications, Glasgow 1949
  2. F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949; Political Reference Publications, Glasgow 1949
  3. F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949; Political Reference Publications, Glasgow 1949
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