1928 Faversham by-election

The Faversham by-election, 1928 was a parliamentary by-election held in January 1928 for the British House of Commons constituency of Faversham, in Kent.

Previous MP

The Conservative MP, Sir Granville Wheler died. He had been the MP since re-gaining the seat from the Liberals in January 1910.

Previous Result

General election, 29 October 1924 Electorate:

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Granville Wheler	14,432	46.9
	Labour	Stanley J W Morgan	9,180	29.9
	Liberal	A J Soloman	7,132	23.2
Majority			5,252	17.0
Turnout				73.9
	Conservative hold		Swing

Candidates

Forty-three-year-old Adam Maitland was selected by the local Conservatives to defend the seat. Labour changed their candidate when they chose 44-year-old Dudley Leigh Aman. He had contested Petersfield in 1922, 1923 and Thanet in 1924. The Liberals selected 54-year-old John Freeman Dunn who had been Liberal MP for Hemel Hempstead from 1923-24. E.A. Hailwood, who had contested Southend and Northampton as an Independent Conservative, was standing in his third by-election. His appearance at this by-election resulted in some Conservative party members 'offering violence'.

Result

Faversham by-election, 1928

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Adam Maitland	12,997	41.7	−5.2
	Labour	Dudley Aman	11,313	36.2	+6.3
	Liberal	John Freeman Dunn	5,813	18.6	−4.6
	Ind. Unionist	E.A. Hailwood	1,090	3.5	+3.5
Majority			1,684	5.5
Turnout				72.4
	Unionist hold		Swing

Aftermath

Maitland held the seat at the 1929 general election, again defeating Aman. At those elections, Dunn unsuccessfully fought Chichester.

General election, 30 May 1929 Electorate: 52,047

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Adam Maitland	16,219	41.3	−0.4
	Labour	Dudley Aman	15,275	38.9	+2.7
	Liberal	Maurice Alfred Gerothwohl	7,782	19.8	+1.2
Majority			944	2.4
Turnout				75.5
	Conservative hold		Swing

References

• British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (The Macmillan Press 1979)