1919 Liverpool West Derby by-election

The Liverpool West Derby by-election, 1919 was a parliamentary by-election held on 26 February 1919 for the British House of Commons constituency of Liverpool West Derby, in the County Palatine of Lancashire.

Vacancy

The seat had become vacant on the elevation to the peerage of the constituency's Unionist Member of Parliament (MP), Frederick Edwin Smith, as Baron Birkenhead. He had been raised to the peerage to take up the post of Lord Chancellor, an action described by the left wing Morning Post as "carrying a joke too far".

Electoral history

Smith had held the seat since the 1918 general election, when he was endorsed by the Coalition Government. Before that he held its predecessor seat, Liverpool Walton since the 1906 general election.

Sir F.E. Smith, newly created Lord Birkenhead

1918 General Election: Liverpool West Derby

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Rt Hon. Sir Frederick Edwin Smith	11,622	67.4	N/A
	Labour	George Nelson	5,618	32.6	N/A
Majority			6,004	34.8	N/A
Turnout			17,240	55.1
	Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

Candidates

• The Unionist Party selected as its candidate Rear-Admiral Sir William Reginald Hall. Hall was endorsed by the Coalition Government.
• George Nelson stood for the Labour Party. He had stood against Smith at the recent General Election.

Results

Turnout was unsurprisingly low so soon after a General Election. Hall won the seat by a much reduced margin.

Sir Reginald Hall

Liverpool West Derby by-election, 1919

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Sir William Reginald Hall	6,062	56.5	-10.9
	Labour	George Nelson	4,670	43.5	+10.9
Majority			1,392	13.0	-21.8
Turnout			10,732	34.3	-20.8
	Unionist hold		Swing	-10.9

See also

• List of United Kingdom by-elections
• Liverpool West Derby constituency

References

• 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 Peerage Pages
• The Times, 12 March 1919