| Election Name: | 1909 High Peak by-election |
| Type: | presidential |
| Country: | United Kingdom |
| Previous Election: | High Peak (UK Parliament constituency)#Elections in the 1900s |
| Previous Year: | 1906 |
| Next Election: | High Peak (UK Parliament constituency)#Elections in the 1910s |
| Next Year: | Jan. 1910 |
| Election Date: | 22 July 1909 |
| Candidate1: | Partington |
| Party1: | Liberal Party (UK) |
| Popular Vote1: | 5,619 |
| Percentage1: | 51.5% |
| Candidate2: | Profumo |
| Party2: | Conservative Party (UK) |
| Popular Vote2: | 5,272 |
| Percentage2: | 48.4% |
| Map Size: | 250px |
| MP | |
| Posttitle: | Subsequent MP |
| Before Election: | Oswald Partington |
| Before Party: | Liberal Party (UK) |
| After Election: | Oswald Partington |
| After Party: | Liberal Party (UK) |
The High Peak by-election was a Parliamentary by-election held on 22 July 1909.[1] The constituency returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post voting system.
Oswald Partington had been Liberal MP for the seat of High Peak since the 1900 general election. On 5 July 1909, he was appointed as a Junior Lord of the Treasury, which meant, in accordance with the times, that he was required to resign his seat and seek re-election to parliament.
The seat had been Liberal since Partington gained it from the Conservatives in 1900. He easily held the seat at the last election, with an increased majority;
The local Liberal Association re-selected 37-year-old Oswald Partington to defend the seat. The Conservatives retained 30-year-old barrister Albert Profumo as their candidate. He had unsuccessfully tried to re-gain the seat from Partington at the last election.[2]
Polling Day was fixed for 22 July, allowing for a short 17-day campaign.
On 9 July the Liberals retained a by-election in Cleveland, Yorkshire. On 15 July, the Liberals retained a by-election in nearby Mid Derbyshire. On 20 July, the Liberals retained a by-election in Dumfries Burghs.
The major incident of the campaign was Partington's challenge to fight a reporter of the Sheffield Daily Telegraph. The presses of that paper had been used to print the High Peak Elector, a campaign newspaper published by the Conservatives, which Partington claimed had slighted his wife, Clara.[3]
The Liberals held the seat and managed a slightly reduced majority;
Partington retained the seat at the following General Election;