1920 Basingstoke by-election explained

Election Name:	1920 Basingstoke by-election
Type:	presidential
Country:	United Kingdom
Previous Election:	Basingstoke (UK Parliament constituency)#Elections in the 1910s
Previous Year:	1918
Next Election:	Basingstoke (UK Parliament constituency)#Elections in the 1920s
Next Year:	1922
Election Date:	31 March 1920
Candidate1:	Holbrook
Party1:	Unionist Party (UK)
Popular Vote1:	8,515
Percentage1:	44.2
Candidate2:	Verney
Party2:	Liberal Party (UK)
Popular Vote2:	5,393
Percentage2:	28.0
Candidate3:	Round
Party3:	Labour Party (UK)
Popular Vote3:	5,352
Percentage3:	27.8
Map Size:	250px
MP
Posttitle:	Subsequent MP
Before Election:	Geddes
Before Party:	Unionist Party (UK)
After Election:	Holbrook
After Party:	Unionist Party (UK)

The 1920 Basingstoke by-election was a parliamentary by-election for the British House of Commons constituency of Basingstoke on 31 March 1920.

Vacancy

The by-election was caused by the resignation of the sitting Unionist MP, Auckland Geddes when he was appointed British Ambassador to the United States. He had been MP here since winning the seat in 1917.

Electoral history

The result at the last general election in 1918 was;

Candidates

The Unionists selected 70-year-old Sir Arthur Holbrook as their candidate to defend the seat. He was a Newspaper proprietor; founder of Southern Daily Mail; Fellow of the Institute of Journalists; President Newspaper Society, 1913–14; Chairman Portsmouth Conservative Association, 1885–98; President Portsmouth Chamber of Commerce, 1907–12; Commanded Royal Army Service Corps, Salisbury Plain District, 1914–19.^[1]

Back in 1919, the Liberals had selected 39-year-old Sir Harry Verney as their prospective parliamentary candidate to challenge for the seat at a future election, so he had nearly a year to establish himself. He had stood before as Liberal candidate for Basingstoke, back in 1906. Verney succeeded to a baronetcy in May 1910. In the December general election of the same year he was returned to Parliament for Buckingham, a seat he held until 1918. He served under H. H. Asquith as Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries from 1914 to 1915.
The Labour Party selected a new, first timer James Round as their candidate to challenge for the seat.
E.T. Judd of the National Farmers' Union put himself forward as a possible candidate. Initially he had sought the Conservative Party nomination^[2] before becoming the nominee of the Agricultural party. However, he announced his decision not to contest the seat just before nominations closed.^[3]

Campaign

Polling Day was set for 31 March 1920. On 26 March nominations closed to confirm that the election would be a three-way contest.

Holbrook received the official endorsement of the Coalition Government in separate letters from Lloyd George and Bonar Law.

Farming was the dominant issue as the seat was mainly agricultural. By the rejection of Judd, the Unionists lost the support of a large section of farmers who threatened either to abstain from voting or to vote Liberal. For the Labour campaign, Round's chief hope lay in the organized farm labourers.^[4]

Result

The Unionists held onto the seat with a much reduced majority, while the Liberals won the battle for second place.

Aftermath

Holbrook defended his seat at the following general election, while Verney moved to contest Skipton. Round did not stand again. The result at the following general election in 1922 was;

Notes and References

‘HOLBROOK, Col Sir Arthur (Richard)’, Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2007; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2012 ; online edn, Oct 2012 accessed 16 Dec 2013
English By-elections Since 1918, Edith Adelaide Harrison
Angus Evening Telegraph, 17 Mar 1920
English By-elections Since 1918, Edith Adelaide Harrison