1919 Plymouth Sutton by-election

* * *

| <- 1918 | 28 November 1919 | 1922 ->

|
|

|  |  |  |

|
|
|

Candidate  | Nancy Astor | W.T. Gay  | Isaac Foot
Party  | Unionist | Labour | Liberal
Popular vote  | 14,495 | 9,292  | 4,139
Percentage  | 51.9% | 33.3%  | 14.8%

* * *

| MP before election

Waldorf Astor
Unionist

| Subsequent MP

Nancy Astor
Unionist

|

The 1919 Plymouth Sutton by-election was a parliamentary by-election held on 28 November 1919[1] for the British House of Commons constituency of Sutton in the city of Plymouth, Devon.

The seat had become vacant when the constituency's Conservative Member of Parliament (MP), Waldorf Astor, succeeded the peerage as the second Viscount Astor on the death of his father on 18 October 1919.

Astor had held the seat since the 1918 general election, and its predecessor Plymouth since the December 1910 general election.

## Candidates

[edit]

* The Conservative Party selected as its candidate Astor's wife Nancy, Lady Astor. She was also the candidate of the Coalition Government.
* The Asquithian Liberals stood Isaac Foot, who had served on Plymouth City Council and had previously contested Totnes and Bodmin.
* W. T. Gay stood for Labour, having done so in the 1918 election. Thomas William Mercer again served as his agent.[2]

## Result

[edit]

Lady Astor retained the seat. She became the first woman to take up her seat in the Commons (the first woman to be elected, Countess Markievicz, the Sinn Féin MP for Dublin St Patrick's, refused to take her seat).

## Votes

[edit]

Plymouth Sutton by-election, 1919  Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

C | Unionist | Nancy Astor | 14,495 | 51.9 | −14.0
| Labour | William Thomas Gay  | 9,292  | 33.3  | +12.7
| Liberal | Isaac Foot | 4,139  | 14.8  | +1.3
Majority  | 5,203  | 18.6  | −26.7
Turnout | 27,926  |  |
| Unionist hold | Swing | -13.3  |
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.
General election 1918: Plymouth Sutton  Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

C | Unionist | Waldorf Astor | 17,091 | 65.9 |
| Labour | William Thomas Gay  | 5,334  | 20.6  |
| Liberal | Sidney Ransom  | 3,488  | 13.5  |
Majority  | 11,757  | 45.3  |
Turnout | 25,913  | 59.6  |
| Unionist win (new seat)
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

## See also

[edit]

* List of United Kingdom by-elections
* Plymouth Sutton constituency

## References

[edit]

* Craig, F. W. S. (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918-1949 (3rd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.
* Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "P" (part 2)

1. ^ "Centre for Advancement of Women in Politics". Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 29 November 2010.
2. ^ Joyce Bellamy, "Mercer, Thomas William (1884-1947)", Dictionary of Labour Biography, vol.I, pp.238-239

* v
* t
* e

« 30th Parliament « By-elections to the 31st Parliament of the United Kingdom » 32nd Parliament »

1919|

* February: Liverpool West Derby
* March: Leyton West
* North Londonderry
* Oxford University
* Hull Central
* April: Aberdeenshire and Kincardineshire Central
* May: East Antrim
* July: Swansea East
* Bothwell
* Dublin University
* August: Widnes
* September: Pontefract
* October: Manchester Rusholme
* November: Chester-le-Street
* Croydon South
* Isle of Thanet
* Plymouth Sutton
* December: St Albans
* Bromley
* Spen Valley

1920|

* January: Ashton-under-Lyne
* February: The Wrekin
* Paisley
* Horncastle
* March: Argyll
* Dartford
* Stockport
* Basingstoke
* Camberwell North West
* April: Northampton
* Edinburgh North
* Edinburgh South
* Sunderland
* June: Louth
* Nelson and Colne
* July: Ebbw Vale
* South Norfolk
* Woodbridge
* September: Ilford
* November: Hemel Hempstead
* The Wrekin
* Middleton and Prestwich
* December: Abertillery
* Rhondda West

1921|

* January: Hereford
* Dover
* February: Cardiganshire
* March: Woolwich East
* Dudley
* Birmingham Moseley
* Kirkcaldy Burghs
* Penistone
* Birmingham West
* April: Taunton
* Bristol West
* Glasgow Pollok
* East Dorset
* Bewdley
* Eddisbury
* Bedford
* Chichester
* May: Hastings
* Penrith and Cockermouth
* Abingdon
* Orkney and Shetland
* June: Belfast Duncairn
* Mid Armagh
* North Down
* West Down
* July: Mid Down
* Westminster St George's
* Heywood and Radcliffe
* Hertford
* August: Caerphilly
* Westminster Abbey
* South Londonderry
* September: Lewisham West
* Louth
* October: Westhoughton
* November: Hornsey
* December: Southwark South East

1922|

* January: Ludlow
* Tamworth
* South Londonderry
* February: West Down
* Manchester Clayton
* Camberwell North
* North Down
* Bodmin
* March: Wolverhampton West
* Liverpool Exchange
* Cambridge
* Inverness
* Chertsey
* Leicester East
* May: Clapham
* City of London
* June: North Londonderry
* Newbury
* Moray and Nairn
* Banbury
* Nottingham East
* July: Gower
* North Down
* Pontypridd
* August: Hackney South
* October: Newport

Lists of UK by-elections
1801–1806
1806–1818
1818–1832
1832–1847
1847–1857
1857–1868
1868–1885
1885–1900
1900–1918
1918–1931
1931–1950
1950–1979
1979–2010
2010–present
Northern Ireland
Hereditary peers
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template