Carmarthen by-election, 1924
Encyclopedia
The Carmarthen by-election, 1924 was a parliamentary by-election
for the British House of Commons
constituency of Carmarthen
in West Wales
held on 14 August 1924.
MP
, Sir Ellis Ellis-Griffith
. Ellis-Griffith was 64 years old and had first been elected an MP in 1895. Soon after being elected for Carmarthen at the 1923 general election
he made it known to his local party that he would not be standing again at the next election. He had been in public life a long time and was one Liberal who had not supported the decision of the party to allow the minority Labour government to take office in January 1924. According to one source, local Liberal opinion in July 1924 favoured an immediate appeal to the electorate and Ellis-Griffith resigned from Parliament using the traditional device of applying for the Chiltern Hundreds
at the end of that month.
. Mond was an industrialist
and financier
of Jewish descent who would later become most well-known for being the man behind the formation of ICI
. Mond was aged 56 at this time and had been Liberal MP for a number of other constituencies , most recently for Swansea West
.
candidate at the last general election
. Labour selected the Reverend E T Owen.
, whereas Mond was not, affect the attitude of the electors and how far, if at all, this matter would resonate with Welsh national feeling
in the area. On UK wide issues, the main battleground was the fight between socialist and anti-socialist feeling. Mond took up the anti-socialist crusade with vigour and had Lloyd George come to Carmarthen
to support him on this, against the background of the record and statements of the Labour government and Labour ministers.
Owen faced a straight fight with Mond, the Conservatives having fled the field ceding to the right-wing Mond (later to defect to the Conservatives) the anti-socialist banner.
By-election
A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....
for the British House of Commons
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
constituency of Carmarthen
Carmarthen (UK Parliament constituency)
Carmarthen was the name of a parliamentary constituency in Wales which returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom between 1542 and 1997...
in West Wales
West Wales
West Wales is the western area of Wales.Some definitions of West Wales include only Pembrokeshire, Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire, an area which historically comprised the Welsh principality of Deheubarth., an area called "South West Wales" in the Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics....
held on 14 August 1924.
Vacancy
The by-election was caused by the resignation of the sitting LiberalLiberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
MP
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
, Sir Ellis Ellis-Griffith
Sir Ellis Ellis-Griffith, 1st Baronet
Sir Ellis Jones Ellis-Griffith, 1st Baronet PC KC , was a British barrister and Liberal politician.Born in Blaenau Ffestiniog, Ellis-Griffith was the son of Thomas Morris Griffith, a builder...
. Ellis-Griffith was 64 years old and had first been elected an MP in 1895. Soon after being elected for Carmarthen at the 1923 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1923
-Seats summary:-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987*-External links:***...
he made it known to his local party that he would not be standing again at the next election. He had been in public life a long time and was one Liberal who had not supported the decision of the party to allow the minority Labour government to take office in January 1924. According to one source, local Liberal opinion in July 1924 favoured an immediate appeal to the electorate and Ellis-Griffith resigned from Parliament using the traditional device of applying for the Chiltern Hundreds
Chiltern Hundreds
Appointment to the office of Crown Steward and Bailiff of the three Chiltern Hundreds of Stoke, Desborough and Burnham is a sinecure appointment which is used as a device allowing a Member of the United Kingdom Parliament to resign his or her seat...
at the end of that month.
Liberals
The Liberals selected Alfred MondAlfred Mond, 1st Baron Melchett
Alfred Moritz Mond, 1st Baron Melchett PC, FRS , known as Sir Alfred Mond, Bt, between 1910 and 1928, was a British industrialist, financier and politician...
. Mond was an industrialist
Business magnate
A business magnate, sometimes referred to as a capitalist, czar, mogul, tycoon, baron, oligarch, or industrialist, is an informal term used to refer to an entrepreneur who has reached prominence and derived a notable amount of wealth from a particular industry .-Etymology:The word magnate itself...
and financier
Financier
Financier is a term for a person who handles typically large sums of money, usually involving money lending, financing projects, large-scale investing, or large-scale money management. The term is French, and derives from finance or payment...
of Jewish descent who would later become most well-known for being the man behind the formation of ICI
Imperial Chemical Industries
Imperial Chemical Industries was a British chemical company, taken over by AkzoNobel, a Dutch conglomerate, one of the largest chemical producers in the world. In its heyday, ICI was the largest manufacturing company in the British Empire, and commonly regarded as a "bellwether of the British...
. Mond was aged 56 at this time and had been Liberal MP for a number of other constituencies , most recently for Swansea West
Swansea West (UK Parliament constituency)
Swansea West is a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election....
.
Others
The Conservatives chose Sir Arthur Stephens, a Welsh speaker and employer of labour in the constituency who had been the ToryTory
Toryism is a traditionalist and conservative political philosophy which grew out of the Cavalier faction in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. It is a prominent ideology in the politics of the United Kingdom, but also features in parts of The Commonwealth, particularly in Canada...
candidate at the last general election
United Kingdom general election, 1923
-Seats summary:-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987*-External links:***...
. Labour selected the Reverend E T Owen.
Issues
The main local issue in the by-election was the importance of agriculture, given the largely rural nature of the constituency. However an interesting question was how far would the fact that Sir Arthur Stephens and the Reverend Owen were both Welsh speakersWelsh language
Welsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...
, whereas Mond was not, affect the attitude of the electors and how far, if at all, this matter would resonate with Welsh national feeling
Welsh nationalism
Welsh nationalism emphasises the distinctiveness of Welsh language, culture, and history, and calls for more self-determination for Wales, which may include more Devolved powers for the Welsh Assembly or full independence from the United Kingdom.-Conquest:...
in the area. On UK wide issues, the main battleground was the fight between socialist and anti-socialist feeling. Mond took up the anti-socialist crusade with vigour and had Lloyd George come to Carmarthen
Carmarthen
Carmarthen is a community in, and the county town of, Carmarthenshire, Wales. It is sited on the River Towy north of its mouth at Carmarthen Bay. In 2001, the population was 14,648....
to support him on this, against the background of the record and statements of the Labour government and Labour ministers.
The result
The result was a hold for the Liberal Party with Mond obtaining a slightly increased majority of 4,409 votes, although their share of the poll was marginally reduced. This time it was Labour that secured second place, with Stephens coming third. This must have been a disappointment to the Tories who were said to have fought the election hard. Labour could probably take the most comfort from the result, given the difficult time the minority Labour government was experiencing at Westminster.In fact at the next general electionUnited Kingdom general election, 1924
- Seats summary :- References :* F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987* - External links :* * *...
Owen faced a straight fight with Mond, the Conservatives having fled the field ceding to the right-wing Mond (later to defect to the Conservatives) the anti-socialist banner.
The votes
See also
- Carmarthen by-electionCarmarthen by-electionCarmarthen by-elections are the by-elections held on occasion for the British House of Commons constituency of Carmarthen in North Wales:* Carmarthen by-election, 1878* Carmarthen by-election, 1882* Carmarthen by-election, 1924* Carmarthen by-election, 1928...
- List of United Kingdom by-elections
- United Kingdom by-election recordsUnited Kingdom by-election recordsUK by-election records is an annotated list of notable records from UK Parliamentary by-elections. A by-election occurs when a Member of Parliament resigns, dies, or is disqualified or expelled, and an election is held to fill the vacant seat...