Southwark North by-election, 1927
Encyclopedia
The Southwark North by-election, 1927 was a parliamentary by-election
for the British House of Commons
constituency of Southwark North
held on 28 March 1927.
MP
, Leslie Haden-Guest
. Haden-Guest had represented Southwark North since the 1923 general election
but found himself increasingly at odds with official Labour Party policy. The immediate cause of Haden-Guest’s resignation from the Parliamentary Labour Party was the policy the party had adopted in respect of the Chinese Civil War
. Haden-Guest believed that Labour’s policy was tantamount to a call for intervention in the civil war
and was therefore in contravention to the policy agreed at the party conference
in Margate
in 1926 and that as a consequence British citizens in Shanghai
would be put at risk. Labour leader Ramsay Macdonald
called on Haden-Guest to resign his seat, assuming that Labour would be able to hold it in the ensuing by-election. Haden-Guest declared that he was willing to contest a by-election, standing as an Independent Constitutionalist
. There was never any Constitutional Party as such with any centralised organisation but it fielded candidates in the 1924 general election
in constituencies where local Conservative
and Liberal
parties were willing to join forces against socialism
. Haden-Guest sought local Conservative Party backing for his candidacy, attending a meeting of the North Southwark Conservative Association on 3 March 1927 – although making it clear he would not stand as a Conservative. The Tories endorsed his stance against Labour’s Chinese policy which they described as ‘anti-British’ and their candidate, Rear Admiral
Humphrey Hugh Smith announced his willingness to stand aside for Haden-Guest at a by-election urging local Conservative supporters to vote for him. Smith later reinforced and justified his position in a letter to The Times
later in the campaign.
Haden-Guest resigned from Parliament using the traditional device of applying for the Chiltern Hundreds
.
. Strauss was a corn, grain and hop merchant by profession but he had entered politics and was the local MP from 1918–1923, having also previously represented Abingdon
and Southwark West
.
into Parliament as a Labour MP. Wedgewood-Benn had been Liberal MP for the St George's division of Tower Hamlets in east London from 1906
until 1918
and then for Leith in Scotland
, a seat he held until March 1927, when he resigned from the Liberal Party and from Parliament.
Despite the flurry of attention paid by the press to a possible candidacy by Wedgwood Benn, Labour was also reported to be considering George Isaacs
. Isaacs was a trade union
official, being general secretary of the National Society of Operative Printers and Assistants
. He was the former MP for Gravesend
and had fought Southwark North at the 1918 general election. Another name apparently being considered was that of Herbert Morrison
who was at that time secretary of the London Labour Party, having previously been MP for Hackney South
and who was a member of the London County Council
. On 10 March 1927 Labour unanimously adopted Mr Isaacs.
. Opinions also diverged on foreign
and Empire
policy issues. Haden-Guest was a supporter of Imperial Preference
which brought him into conflict with party policy and he had a reputation as a strong supporter of the Empire.
Strauss indicated he would support an orthodox Liberal approach in line with a recent speech by party leader Sir Herbert Samuel
, adhering strongly to the traditional Liberal policy of Free Trade
.
Haden-Guest wished not only to appeal to the electorate on the basis of his opposition to Labour policy and what he and the Conservatives were presenting as the struggle between constitutional government and socialism. He wanted to stress his local credentials and commitment to the community as a former medical officer of the London County Council
with a clinic in the heart of the Borough of Southwark
where he cared for large numbers of local people.
Strauss had well-established local credentials of his own of course. He had been MP for Southwark West from 1910–1918, for Southwark North from 1918–1922 and had twice fought the seat since then. His campaign devoted much time and effort to local issues in addition to the national and Imperial questions which were dominating the fight between Haden-Guest and Isaacs. Strauss picked up on voter dissatisfaction with housing policy. He resurrected his proposals for the building of homes for working-class tenants in Borough High Street
which he had campaigned for after the end of the Great War but for which the local Labour borough council had refused to grant the necessary planning permission
. The Liberals also tried to knock the shine off Haden-Guest’s medical good works by pointing out that his clinic was not personally funded by him, as some Constitutionalist supporters were happy to imply.
In his speech to the crowd after the count, Haden-Guest condemned the Liberal intervention in the by-election as opportunistic. He seemed to feel that it was for him to decide the issue on which the election was determined, rather than the electors of Southwark North. He displayed a proprietorial disposition towards the electorate saying that Strauss had “......intrude[d] on what I had hoped was going to be the direct vote of my own people on the unpatriotic attitude of the Labour Party.”
Strauss’ victory, together with a number of other Liberal gains from the Conservatives which followed in the rest of 1927 and into 1928 led the Liberals to hope for a political revival, which it was believed would reap dividends at the next general election which was due by 1929. However, many Liberal analysts – including David Lloyd George
– were cautious, worrying that a combination of three-cornered contests and growing Labour strength in industrial areas would weigh seriously against them under the first-past-the-post electoral system
. Strauss himself spoke for those who had faith that revival had come. He felt the doomsayers had got it all wrong and shared a widespread Liberal hope that the electorate, disillusioned by the government of Stanley Baldwin
yet unwilling to turn to the socialist ideas of Labour would rally to the Liberal cause. He wrote to one sceptic saying,”I cannot allow you to cast any doubt on the reality of the Liberal revival.” The outcome of the 1929 general election
saw the fears of the doubters realised however with only a limited increase in Liberal representation in the House of Commons and in Southwark North Strauss was unable to hold off a renewed challenge by Isaacs who took the seat by a majority of 432.
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 Southwark North
Southwark North (UK Parliament constituency)
Southwark North was a parliamentary constituency in the Metropolitan Borough of Southwark, in South London. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.-History:...
held on 28 March 1927.
Vacancy
The by-election was caused by the resignation of the sitting LabourLabour 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...
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,...
, Leslie Haden-Guest
Leslie Haden-Guest, 1st Baron Haden-Guest
Leslie Haden Haden-Guest, 1st Baron Haden-Guest MC was a British author, journalist, doctor and Labour Party politician.-Life and career:...
. Haden-Guest had represented Southwark North since the 1923 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1923
-Seats summary:-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987*-External links:***...
but found himself increasingly at odds with official Labour Party policy. The immediate cause of Haden-Guest’s resignation from the Parliamentary Labour Party was the policy the party had adopted in respect of the Chinese Civil War
Chinese Civil War
The Chinese Civil War was a civil war fought between the Kuomintang , the governing party of the Republic of China, and the Communist Party of China , for the control of China which eventually led to China's division into two Chinas, Republic of China and People's Republic of...
. Haden-Guest believed that Labour’s policy was tantamount to a call for intervention in the civil war
Civil war
A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same nation state or republic, or, less commonly, between two countries created from a formerly-united nation state....
and was therefore in contravention to the policy agreed at the party conference
Party conference
The terms party conference , political convention , and party congress usually refer to a general meeting of a political party. The conference is attended by certain delegates who represent the party membership...
in Margate
Margate
-Demography:As of the 2001 UK census, Margate had a population of 40,386.The ethnicity of the town was 97.1% white, 1.0% mixed race, 0.5% black, 0.8% Asian, 0.6% Chinese or other ethnicity....
in 1926 and that as a consequence British citizens in Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
would be put at risk. Labour leader Ramsay Macdonald
Ramsay MacDonald
James Ramsay MacDonald, PC, FRS was a British politician who was the first ever Labour Prime Minister, leading a minority government for two terms....
called on Haden-Guest to resign his seat, assuming that Labour would be able to hold it in the ensuing by-election. Haden-Guest declared that he was willing to contest a by-election, standing as an Independent Constitutionalist
Constitutionalism
Constitutionalism has a variety of meanings. Most generally, it is "a complex of ideas, attitudes, and patterns of behavior elaborating the principle that the authority of government derives from and is limited by a body of fundamental law"....
. There was never any Constitutional Party as such with any centralised organisation but it fielded candidates in the 1924 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1924
- Seats summary :- References :* F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987* - External links :* * *...
in constituencies where local Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
and Liberal
Liberal 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...
parties were willing to join forces against socialism
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
. Haden-Guest sought local Conservative Party backing for his candidacy, attending a meeting of the North Southwark Conservative Association on 3 March 1927 – although making it clear he would not stand as a Conservative. The Tories endorsed his stance against Labour’s Chinese policy which they described as ‘anti-British’ and their candidate, Rear Admiral
Rear Admiral
Rear admiral is a naval commissioned officer rank above that of a commodore and captain, and below that of a vice admiral. It is generally regarded as the lowest of the "admiral" ranks, which are also sometimes referred to as "flag officers" or "flag ranks"...
Humphrey Hugh Smith announced his willingness to stand aside for Haden-Guest at a by-election urging local Conservative supporters to vote for him. Smith later reinforced and justified his position in a letter to The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
later in the campaign.
Haden-Guest 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...
.
Conservatives
The Conservatives honoured their promise to Haden-Guest, choosing not to put up a candidate and supporting his campaign.Liberals
The Liberals re-selected the experienced Edward Anthony StraussEdward Anthony Strauss
Edward Anthony Strauss was an English corn, grain and hop merchant of German-Jewish background. He was a Liberal, later Liberal National Member of Parliament.-Family and education:...
. Strauss was a corn, grain and hop merchant by profession but he had entered politics and was the local MP from 1918–1923, having also previously represented Abingdon
Abingdon (UK Parliament constituency)
Abingdon was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom , electing one Member of Parliament from 1558 until 1983...
and Southwark West
Southwark West (UK Parliament constituency)
Southwark West was a parliamentary constituency centred on the Southwark district of South London. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom....
.
Labour
At an early stage after Haden-Guest’s resignation from the Parliamentary Labour Party, it seemed that Labour was anxious to use the opportunity of a by-election to get William Wedgwood BennWilliam Wedgwood Benn, 1st Viscount Stansgate
Air Commodore William Wedgwood Benn, 1st Viscount Stansgate PC, DSO, DFC was a British Liberal politician who later joined the Labour Party. He was Secretary of State for India between 1929 and 1931 and Secretary of State for Air between 1945 and 1946...
into Parliament as a Labour MP. Wedgewood-Benn had been Liberal MP for the St George's division of Tower Hamlets in east London from 1906
United Kingdom general election, 1906
-Seats summary:-See also:*MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1906*The Parliamentary Franchise in the United Kingdom 1885-1918-External links:***-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987**...
until 1918
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...
and then for Leith in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, a seat he held until March 1927, when he resigned from the Liberal Party and from Parliament.
Despite the flurry of attention paid by the press to a possible candidacy by Wedgwood Benn, Labour was also reported to be considering George Isaacs
George Isaacs
George Alfred Isaacs JP DL was a British politician and trades unionist who served in the government of Clement Attlee....
. Isaacs was a trade union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
official, being general secretary of the National Society of Operative Printers and Assistants
National Society of Operative Printers and Assistants
The National Society of Operative Printers and Assistants was a British trade union.Formed as part of the New Unionism movement in September 1889, the union was originally named the Printers' Labourers' Union and was led by George Evans...
. He was the former MP for Gravesend
Gravesend (UK Parliament constituency)
Gravesend was a county constituency centred on the town of Gravesend, Kent which returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1868 until it was abolished for the 1983 general election....
and had fought Southwark North at the 1918 general election. Another name apparently being considered was that of Herbert Morrison
Herbert Morrison
Herbert Stanley Morrison, Baron Morrison of Lambeth, CH, PC was a British Labour politician; he held a various number of senior positions in the Cabinet, including Home Secretary, Foreign Secretary and Deputy Prime Minister.-Early life:Morrison was the son of a police constable and was born in...
who was at that time secretary of the London Labour Party, having previously been MP for Hackney South
Hackney South (UK Parliament constituency)
Hackney South was a parliamentary constituency in "The Metropolis" . It was represented by nine Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, only two of whom, Horatio Bottomley and Herbert Morrison, were returned.- History :The constituency was created...
and who was a member of the London County Council
London County Council
London County Council was the principal local government body for the County of London, throughout its 1889–1965 existence, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today known as Inner London and was replaced by the Greater London Council...
. On 10 March 1927 Labour unanimously adopted Mr Isaacs.
Issues
Haden-Guest and his Conservative backers wished to present the by-election as a struggle between socialism and constitutional government. They declared that the duty of the electorate was to revolt against a Labour Party they believed was drifting increasingly leftwards. For this reason they were horrified by the decision of the Liberal Party to intervene in the contest and risk splitting the anti-socialist vote. Haden-Guest’s split with Labour over China appears to have been symptomatic of wider differences of opinion with the party. He had already taken a different line on the issue of the 1926 General Strike1926 United Kingdom general strike
The 1926 general strike in the United Kingdom was a general strike that lasted nine days, from 4 May 1926 to 13 May 1926. It was called by the general council of the Trades Union Congress in an unsuccessful attempt to force the British government to act to prevent wage reduction and worsening...
. Opinions also diverged on foreign
Foreign policy
A country's foreign policy, also called the foreign relations policy, consists of self-interest strategies chosen by the state to safeguard its national interests and to achieve its goals within international relations milieu. The approaches are strategically employed to interact with other countries...
and Empire
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
policy issues. Haden-Guest was a supporter of Imperial Preference
Imperial Preference
Imperial Preference was a proposed system of reciprocally-levelled tariffs or free trade agreements between the dominions and colonies within the British Empire...
which brought him into conflict with party policy and he had a reputation as a strong supporter of the Empire.
Strauss indicated he would support an orthodox Liberal approach in line with a recent speech by party leader Sir Herbert Samuel
Herbert Samuel, 1st Viscount Samuel
Herbert Louis Samuel, 1st Viscount Samuel GCB OM GBE PC was a British politician and diplomat.-Early years:...
, adhering strongly to the traditional Liberal policy of Free Trade
Free trade
Under a free trade policy, prices emerge from supply and demand, and are the sole determinant of resource allocation. 'Free' trade differs from other forms of trade policy where the allocation of goods and services among trading countries are determined by price strategies that may differ from...
.
Haden-Guest wished not only to appeal to the electorate on the basis of his opposition to Labour policy and what he and the Conservatives were presenting as the struggle between constitutional government and socialism. He wanted to stress his local credentials and commitment to the community as a former medical officer of the London County Council
London County Council
London County Council was the principal local government body for the County of London, throughout its 1889–1965 existence, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today known as Inner London and was replaced by the Greater London Council...
with a clinic in the heart of the Borough of Southwark
Metropolitan Borough of Southwark
The Metropolitan Borough of Southwark was a metropolitan borough in the County of London from 1900 to 1965. It was created to cover the western section of the ancient borough of Southwark and formed the northwestern part of the current London Borough of Southwark. In common with the rest of inner...
where he cared for large numbers of local people.
Strauss had well-established local credentials of his own of course. He had been MP for Southwark West from 1910–1918, for Southwark North from 1918–1922 and had twice fought the seat since then. His campaign devoted much time and effort to local issues in addition to the national and Imperial questions which were dominating the fight between Haden-Guest and Isaacs. Strauss picked up on voter dissatisfaction with housing policy. He resurrected his proposals for the building of homes for working-class tenants in Borough High Street
Borough High Street
Borough High Street is a main street in Southwark, London running south-west from London Bridge, forming part of the A3 road, which runs from London to Portsmouth.- Overview :...
which he had campaigned for after the end of the Great War but for which the local Labour borough council had refused to grant the necessary planning permission
Planning permission
Planning permission or planning consent is the permission required in the United Kingdom in order to be allowed to build on land, or change the use of land or buildings. Within the UK the occupier of any land or building will need title to that land or building , but will also need "planning...
. The Liberals also tried to knock the shine off Haden-Guest’s medical good works by pointing out that his clinic was not personally funded by him, as some Constitutionalist supporters were happy to imply.
The result
The result was a gain for the Liberal Party with Strauss obtaining a majority of 1,167 over Isaacs with Haden-Guest a distant third with less than 20% of the poll.In his speech to the crowd after the count, Haden-Guest condemned the Liberal intervention in the by-election as opportunistic. He seemed to feel that it was for him to decide the issue on which the election was determined, rather than the electors of Southwark North. He displayed a proprietorial disposition towards the electorate saying that Strauss had “......intrude[d] on what I had hoped was going to be the direct vote of my own people on the unpatriotic attitude of the Labour Party.”
Strauss’ victory, together with a number of other Liberal gains from the Conservatives which followed in the rest of 1927 and into 1928 led the Liberals to hope for a political revival, which it was believed would reap dividends at the next general election which was due by 1929. However, many Liberal analysts – including David Lloyd George
David Lloyd George
David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor OM, PC was a British Liberal politician and statesman...
– were cautious, worrying that a combination of three-cornered contests and growing Labour strength in industrial areas would weigh seriously against them under the first-past-the-post electoral system
Plurality voting system
The plurality voting system is a single-winner voting system often used to elect executive officers or to elect members of a legislative assembly which is based on single-member constituencies...
. Strauss himself spoke for those who had faith that revival had come. He felt the doomsayers had got it all wrong and shared a widespread Liberal hope that the electorate, disillusioned by the government of Stanley Baldwin
Stanley Baldwin
Stanley Baldwin, 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley, KG, PC was a British Conservative politician, who dominated the government in his country between the two world wars...
yet unwilling to turn to the socialist ideas of Labour would rally to the Liberal cause. He wrote to one sceptic saying,”I cannot allow you to cast any doubt on the reality of the Liberal revival.” The outcome of the 1929 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1929
-Seats summary:-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987*-External links:***...
saw the fears of the doubters realised however with only a limited increase in Liberal representation in the House of Commons and in Southwark North Strauss was unable to hold off a renewed challenge by Isaacs who took the seat by a majority of 432.
The votes
See also
- 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...