1911 South Somerset by-election

UK parliamentary by-election

The 1911 South Somerset by-election was a Parliamentary by-election held on 21 November 1911.[1] The constituency returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post voting system.

## Vacancy

[edit]

Sir Edward Strachey the Liberal MP since 1892, was raised to the peerage as Baron Strachie, of Sutton Court in the County of Somerset and accepted ennoblement at start of November 1911 to join the House of Lords.[2] This is in connection with the Parliament Act 1911, where many Liberal peers were created to overcome their relative deficit, a party having had renewed landslide political support of the people in the elected chamber.

## Electoral history

[edit]

General election December 1910: South Somerset[3] Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Liberal | Edward Strachey | 4,784  | 52.6  | −0.1
| Conservative | Aubrey Herbert | 4,317  | 47.4  | +0.1
Majority | 467  | 5.2  | −0.2
Turnout | 9,101  | 89.5  | −3.0
| Liberal hold | Swing | -0.1  |

## Candidates

[edit]

Henry Vivian

Henry Harvey Vivian, born in West Devon, was given the task of defending a seat that had been Liberal since it was created in 1885. He had been Liberal MP for Birkenhead until his defeat at the December 1910 general election.

The Conservative candidate was Hon. Aubrey Herbert who had stood here unsuccessfully in both 1910 general elections. He was second son of the 4th Earl of Carnarvon, whose family owned a small part of the district, including Pixton Park, West Somerset, one of his permanent main homes. A soldier, diplomat, traveller, and intelligence officer, he was later associated with the Albanian independence movement. He was twice offered that nation's throne. He died in 1923, aged 43.

## Campaign

[edit]

The campaign seems to have fought mostly on the issue of the National Insurance Act.[4][5] On 13 November, in a portent of things to come, the Unionists won a Liberal seat in a by-election at Oldham. Herbert entered polling day in a mood of great optimism [6]

## Result

[edit]

Aubrey Herbert gained the seat for the Conservative Party from the Liberal Party.

Aubrey Herbert By-Election 21 November 1911: South Somerset[7] Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Conservative | Aubrey Herbert | 4,878  | 50.8  | +3.4
| Liberal | Henry Harvey Vivian | 4,730  | 49.2  | −3.4
Majority | 148  | 1.6  | N/A
Turnout | 9,608  | 91.1  | +1.6
| Conservative gain from Liberal | Swing | +3.4  |

## Aftermath

[edit]

A General Election was due to take place by the end of 1915. By the autumn of 1914, the following candidates had been adopted to contest that election. Due to the outbreak of war, the election never took place.

* Unionist: Aubrey Herbert
* Liberal: Henry Harvey Vivian

For the 1918 elections, the seat grew eastwards, reflecting urban population rise elsewhere since 1885, to become "Yeovil"

General election 14 December 1918: Yeovil  Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Unionist | *Aubrey Herbert | 10,522  | 50.5  |
| Labour | W. T. Kelly  | 7,589  | 36.3  | New
| Liberal | J. R. Brough  | 2,743  | 13.2  |
Majority | 2,933  | 14.2  |
Turnout | 20,884  |  |
| Unionist win (new seat)

* endorsed by the Coalition Government.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Craig, F.W.S. (1987). Chronology of British Parliamentary By-elections 1833–1987. Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 106.
2. ^ "No. 28547". The London Gazette. 3 November 1911. p. 7952.
3. ^ British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig)
4. ^ The Times, 14 November 1911 p10
5. ^ The Times, 16 November 1911 p8
6. ^ The Times, 21 November 1911 p10
7. ^ "British by-election: Unionist returned". Dominion. 24 November 1911. Retrieved 6 October 2012.

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1911|

* February: Arfon
* Cambridge University
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* December: North Ayrshire
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1912|

* January: Carmarthen District
* February: Edinburgh East
* Glasgow St Rollox
* March: Manchester South
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* April: Nottingham East
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1913|

* January: Flint Boroughs
* Londonderry City
* February: East Waterford
* East Antrim
* Chorley
* March: Houghton-le-Spring
* Kendal
* April: Shrewsbury
* Whitechapel
* May: Newmarket
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* July: St George's, Hanover Square
* August: Chesterfield
* November: North Cork
* Linlithgowshire
* Reading
* Keighley
* December: Wick Burghs
* South Lanarkshire

1914|

* January: North West Durham
* February: Wycombe
* Cork City
* Bethnal Green South West
* Poplar
* Leith Burghs
* April: Belfast East
* East Fife
* May: Great Grimsby
* North East Derbyshire
* Ipswich
* June: Brighton
* Oxford University
* July: Birmingham West
* East Worcestershire
* North Galway
* August: Swansea District
* West Wicklow
* September: Bolton
* The Hartlepools
* November: Londonderry City
* December: East Galway
* Tullamore
* Sheffield Attercliffe

1915|

* February: Norwich
* Swansea District
* Scarborough
* Shipley
* Howdenshire
* Thirsk & Malton
* Wigtownshire
* Chesterton
* Saffron Walden
* Liverpool Kirkdale
* Mid Antrim
* Maidstone
* March: Carmarthen Boroughs
* April: Mid Durham
* May: Kilmarnock Burghs
* June: Preston
* Dublin College Green
* North Tipperary
* Keighley
* July: Arfon
* Glasgow Central
* October: Dublin Harbour
* Appleby
* November: Heywood
* Uxbridge
* Cardiff
* Kingston
* St Helens
* St Austell
* Merthyr Tydfil
* Tiverton
* December: Cleveland

1916|

* January: Newington West
* St George's, Hanover Square
* Portsmouth
* North West Staffordshire
* Chesterton
* Bradford Central
* Mile End
* Rotherham
* February: Liverpool East Toxteth
* North Louth
* South Tyrone
* Bolton
* Chester
* Droitwich
* March: Cockermouth
* Hertford
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* Harborough
* Hyde
* April: Wimbledon
* Dublin University
* Ossory
* May: Tewkesbury
* South Londonderry
* Widnes
* July: Berwickshire
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* Colne Valley
* Abingdon
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* St Pancras West
* Winchester
* North Fermanagh
* November: West Cork
* December: Hornsey
* Ashton-under-Lyne
* Sheffield Hallam
* Whitechapel
* Derby
* Edinburgh & St Andrews Universities

1917|

* January: Inverness-shire
* February: North Roscommon
* Dublin University
* Rotherham
* Rossendale
* West Perthshire
* Tamworth
* March: Stockton
* Oxford
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* Norwich
* October: Dublin University
* Islington East
* Spalding
* Basingstoke
* November: Salford North
* North Armagh
* December: Wisbech
* Southampton

1918|

* January: Mid Armagh
* Prestwich
* February: South Armagh
* March: Waterford City
* Manchester South
* April: East Tyrone
* Tullamore
* Birmingham West
* Keighley
* May: Ross
* Exeter
* Newcastle-upon-Tyne
* Wansbeck
* June: Gravesend
* Bridgwater
* East Cavan
* Clapham
* July: Finsbury East
* Manchester North East
* Fareham
* East Grinstead
* August: Canterbury
* September: Banbury
* October: St George's, Hanover Square
* Bath
* Mid Norfolk
* Elgin Burghs
* South Shields
* Prestwich
* November: Wilton

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