Smethwick by-election, 1926
Encyclopedia
The Smethwick by-election, 1926 was a by-election
held on 21 December 1926 for the British House of Commons
constituency
of Smethwick
in Staffordshire
(now in the West Midlands county
).
The by-election was caused by the resignation
of the town's Labour Party
Member of Parliament
(MP), John Davison
, who had represented the constituency since its creation for the 1918 general election
.
The result was a victory for the Labour candidate Oswald Mosley
, who held the seat comfortably with a slightly increased share of the vote. He represented Smethwick until the 1931 general election
, having left Labour in early 1931 to found the New Party. The New Party was unsuccessful, and the following year he founded the British Union of Fascists
.
By-election
A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....
held on 21 December 1926 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
United Kingdom constituencies
In the United Kingdom , each of the electoral areas or divisions called constituencies elects one or more members to a parliament or assembly.Within the United Kingdom there are now five bodies with members elected by constituencies:...
of Smethwick
Smethwick (UK Parliament constituency)
Smethwick was a parliamentary constituency, centred on the town of Smethwick in Staffordshire. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post voting system....
in Staffordshire
Staffordshire
Staffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...
(now in the West Midlands county
West Midlands (county)
The West Midlands is a metropolitan county in western central England with a 2009 estimated population of 2,638,700. It came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972, formed from parts of Staffordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire. The...
).
The by-election was caused by the resignation
Resignation from the British House of Commons
Members of Parliament sitting in the House of Commons in the United Kingdom are technically forbidden to resign. To circumvent this prohibition, a legal fiction is used...
of the town's Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
Member of Parliament
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,...
(MP), John Davison
John Davison (politician)
John Emanuel Davison was a Labour Party politician in the United Kingdom who served as a Member of Parliament from 1918 to 1926....
, who had represented the constituency since its creation for the 1918 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1918
The United Kingdom general election of 1918 was the first to be held after the Representation of the People Act 1918, which meant it was the first United Kingdom general election in which nearly all adult men and some women could vote. Polling was held on 14 December 1918, although the count did...
.
The result was a victory for the Labour candidate Oswald Mosley
Oswald Mosley
Sir Oswald Ernald Mosley, 6th Baronet, of Ancoats, was an English politician, known principally as the founder of the British Union of Fascists...
, who held the seat comfortably with a slightly increased share of the vote. He represented Smethwick until the 1931 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1931
The United Kingdom general election on Tuesday 27 October 1931 was the last in the United Kingdom not held on a Thursday. It was also the last election, and the only one under universal suffrage, where one party received an absolute majority of the votes cast.The 1931 general election was the...
, having left Labour in early 1931 to found the New Party. The New Party was unsuccessful, and the following year he founded the British Union of Fascists
British Union of Fascists
The British Union was a political party in the United Kingdom formed in 1932 by Sir Oswald Mosley as the British Union of Fascists, in 1936 it changed its name to the British Union of Fascists and National Socialists and then in 1937 to simply the British Union...
.
Votes
See also
- List of United Kingdom by-elections (1918–1931)
- Smethwick constituencySmethwick (UK Parliament constituency)Smethwick was a parliamentary constituency, centred on the town of Smethwick in Staffordshire. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post voting system....
- Smethwick by-election, 1945Smethwick by-election, 1945The Smethwick by-election, 1945 was a by-election held on 1 October 1945 for the British House of Commons constituency of Smethwick in Staffordshire ....