1929 North Lanarkshire by-election
Appearance
The Lanarkshire North by-election, 1929 was a parliamentary by-election held in the United Kingdom on 21 March 1929 for the House of Commons constituency of North Lanarkshire in Scotland.
Vacancy
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History
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Unionist | Sir Alexander Sprot | 13,880 | 53.9 | ||
Labour | Joseph Sullivan | 11,852 | 46.1 | ||
Majority | 2,028 | 7.8 | |||
Turnout | 79.9 | ||||
Unionist gain from Labour | Swing |
Candidates
- The Unionists selected 29-year-old Lord Scone to defend the seat. He was the son of Lord Mansfield. A graduate of Oxford University, he had served in the Black Watch. He was standing for parliament for the first time.
- The Labour Party needed to select a new candidate as their last candidate, the former MP, Joseph Sullivan, had been elected at the Bothwell by-election, 1926. Sullivan had been a prominent figure in the Lanarkshire Miners Association and local Labour Party would have liked to choose another miners representative. However, they settled on Miss Jennie Lee, a teacher from Fife and a graduate from Edinburgh University. She was standing for parliament for the first time.
- The local Liberal Association selected Miss Elizabeth Mitchell as their candidate. She had contested Lanark at the 1924 General Election. She was the daughter of a former sheriff of Lanarkshire and a member of Lanarkshire Education Authority.[1]
Campaign
On 1 March, nationally, Liberal leader, David Lloyd George launched the Liberal programme for the upcoming General Election, titled We Can Conquer Unemployment.
Result
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Jennie Lee | 15,711 | 57.5 | ||
Unionist | Lord Scone | 9,133 | 33.4 | ||
Liberal | Elizabeth B Mitchell | 2,488 | 9.1 | ||
Majority | 6,578 | 24.1 | |||
Turnout | 82.3 | ||||
Labour gain from Unionist | Swing |
Aftermath
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Jennie Lee | 19,884 | |||
Unionist | Lord Scone | 15,680 | |||
Majority | |||||
Turnout | |||||
Labour hold | Swing |
References
- ^ Jennie Lee: A Life By Patricia Hollis
- British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (The Macmillan Press 1979)