Sir Robert Thomas, 1st Baronet

Sir Robert John Thomas, 1st Baronet (23 April 1873 – 27 September 1951) was a Welsh businessman and Liberal Party politician, who was twice elected to Parliament.

Thomas was a ship and insurance broker.^[1] In 1918 he was created a Baronet, of Garreglwyd in the County of Anglesey.^[2]^[3]

Politics

He was elected at the 1918 general election as the Member of Parliament (MP) for the new constituency of Wrexham. Standing as a Liberal, with the official backing of the David Lloyd George led Coalition Government, he faced only a Labour Party opponent and won 76% of the votes.

General Election 1918: Wrexham ^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Sir Robert John Thomas	20,874	76.3	n/a
	Labour	Hugh Hughes	6,500	23.7	n/a
Majority			14,374	52.6	n/a
Turnout				69.7	n/a
	Liberal win

At the 1922 general election he stood as a National Liberal Party candidate for Anglesey, losing by a margin of 9% to the sitting Labour MP Sir Owen Thomas.

1922 General Election: Anglesey^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Sir Owen Thomas	11,929	54.2	+3.8
	National Liberal	Sir Robert John Thomas	10,067	45.8	−3.8
Majority			1,862	8.4	+7.6
Turnout				80.5
	Labour hold		Swing	-3.8

However, Owen Thomas died in January 1923, and at the resulting by-election in April Robert Thomas won a 3-way contest with 53% of the votes, and a 23% majority over the second-placed Labour candidate.^[6]

Anglesey by-election, 1923 ^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Sir Robert John Thomas	11,116	53.3	+7.5
	Labour	Edward Thomas John	6,368	30.5	−23.7
	Unionist	Richard Owen Roberts	3,385	16.2	n/a
Majority				22.8
Turnout				76.4
	Liberal gain from Labour		Swing	+15.6

He was returned unopposed at the general election in December 1923. He was returned by a majority of 28% over his Labour opponent at the election in 1924.

General Election 1924: Anglesey^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal	Sir Robert John Thomas	13,407	63.9
	Labour	Cyril O Jones	7,580	36.1
Majority			5,827	27.8
Turnout				74
	Liberal hold		Swing

He stood down from Parliament at the 1929 general election.

References

^ Kidd, Charles; Williamson, David (editors). Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990, ^{[page needed]}
^ "No. 30876". The London Gazette. 30 August 1918.
^ Leigh Rayment's list of baronets
^ F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949; Political Reference Publications, Glasgow 1949
^ F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949; Political Reference Publications, Glasgow 1949
^ F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949; Political Reference Publications, Glasgow 1949
^ F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949; Political Reference Publications, Glasgow 1949
^ F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949; Political Reference Publications, Glasgow 1949

External links

Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Sir Robert Thomas

Parliament of the United Kingdom
New constituency	Member of Parliament for Wrexham 1918 – 1922	Succeeded by Robert Richards
Preceded by Sir Owen Thomas	Member of Parliament for Anglesey 1923 – 1929	Succeeded by Megan Lloyd George
Baronetage of the United Kingdom
New creation	Baronet (of Garreglwyd) 1918 – 1951	Succeeded by William Eustace Rhyddlad Thomas

This article about a Member of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (since 1801), for a Welsh constituency is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

This article about a Liberal Member of the Parliament of the United Kingdom is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

This biography of a baronet is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[1] Kidd, Charles; Williamson, David (editors). Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990, ^{[page needed]}

[2] "No. 30876". The London Gazette. 30 August 1918.

[3] Leigh Rayment's list of baronets

[4] F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949; Political Reference Publications, Glasgow 1949

[5] F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949; Political Reference Publications, Glasgow 1949

[6] F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949; Political Reference Publications, Glasgow 1949

[7] F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949; Political Reference Publications, Glasgow 1949

[8] F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949; Political Reference Publications, Glasgow 1949

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

Politics

References

Further reading

External links