1919 Liverpool West Derby by-election

The 1919 Liverpool West Derby by-election was a parliamentary by-election held on 26 February 1919 for the British House of Commons constituency of Liverpool West Derby, in the County Palatine of Lancashire.

Vacancy

The seat had become vacant on the elevation to the peerage of the constituency's Unionist Member of Parliament (MP), F. E. Smith, as Baron Birkenhead. He had been raised to the peerage to take up the post of Lord Chancellor.

Electoral history

Smith had held the seat since the 1918 general election, when he was endorsed by the Coalition Government. Before that he held its predecessor seat, Liverpool Walton since the 1906 general election.

1918 general election: Liverpool West Derby
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	F. E. Smith	11,622	67.4	*N/A*
	Labour	George Nelson	5,618	32.6	N/A
Majority			6,004	34.8	N/A
Turnout			17,240	55.1	N/A
	Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

Candidates

The Unionist Party selected as its candidate Rear-Admiral Sir William Reginald Hall. Hall was endorsed by the Coalition Government.
George Nelson stood for the Labour Party. He had stood against Smith at the recent General Election.

Results

Turnout was unsurprisingly low so soon after a General Election. Hall won the seat by a much reduced margin.

Liverpool West Derby by-election, 1919
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
C	Unionist	William Reginald Hall	6,062	56.5	−10.9
	Labour	George Nelson	4,670	43.5	+10.9
Majority			1,392	13.0	−21.8
Turnout			10,732	34.3	−20.8
	Unionist hold		Swing	-10.9
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

References

Craig, F. W. S. (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918-1949 (3rd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.
Leigh Rayment's Peerage Pages ^{[self-published source]} ^{[better source needed]}
The Times, 12 March 1919

v t e By-elections in Liverpool
1801–1832	Liverpool, 1830
1832–1885	Liverpool, 1842 Liverpool, 1853 Liverpool, 1855 Liverpool, 1873 Liverpool, 1874 Liverpool, February 1880 Liverpool, August 1880 Liverpool, 1882
1885–1900	Walton, 1886 Exchange, 1887 West Derby, 1888 Everton, 1892 West Derby, 1893 East Toxteth, 1895 Exchange, 1897 Kirkdale, 1898
1900–1918	East Toxteth, 1902 West Derby, 1903 Everton, 1905 Kirkdale, 1907 Kirkdale, 1910 Kirkdale, 1915 East Toxteth, 1916 Abercromby, 1917
1918–1945	West Derby, 1919 Exchange, 1922 Edge Hill, 1923 West Toxteth, 1924 Scotland, 1929 East Toxteth, 1929 Wavertree, 1931 East Toxteth, 1931 Exchange, 1933 West Derby, 1935 Wavertree, 1935 West Toxteth, 1935
1945–present	Edge Hill, 1947 West Derby, 1954 Garston, 1957 Scotland, 1964 Scotland, 1971 Edge Hill, 1979 Walton, 1991
Lists of UK by-elections 1868–1885 1885–1900 1900–1918 1918–1931 1931–1950 1950–1979 1979–2010 2010–present

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1919	February: Liverpool West Derby March: Leyton West North Londonderry Oxford University Hull Central April: Aberdeenshire and Kincardineshire Central May: East Antrim July: Swansea East Bothwell Dublin University August: Widnes September: Pontefract October: Manchester Rusholme November: Chester-le-Street Croydon South Isle of Thanet Plymouth Sutton December: St Albans Bromley Spen Valley
1920	January: Ashton-under-Lyne February: The Wrekin Paisley Horncastle March: Argyll Dartford Stockport Basingstoke Camberwell North West April: Northampton Edinburgh North Edinburgh South Sunderland June: Louth Nelson and Colne July: Ebbw Vale South Norfolk Woodbridge September: Ilford November: Hemel Hempstead The Wrekin Middleton and Prestwich December: Abertillery Rhondda West
1921	January: Hereford Dover February: Cardiganshire March: Woolwich East Dudley Birmingham Moseley Kirkcaldy Burghs Penistone Birmingham West April: Taunton Bristol West Glasgow Pollok East Dorset Bewdley Eddisbury Bedford Chichester May: Hastings Penrith and Cockermouth Abingdon Orkney and Shetland June: Belfast Duncairn Mid Armagh North Down West Down July: Mid Down Westminster St George's Heywood and Radcliffe Hertford August: Caerphilly Westminster Abbey South Londonderry September: Lewisham West Louth October: Westhoughton November: Hornsey December: Southwark South East
1922	January: Ludlow Tamworth South Londonderry February: West Down Manchester Clayton Camberwell North North Down Bodmin March: Wolverhampton West Liverpool Exchange Cambridge Inverness Chertsey Leicester East May: Clapham City of London June: North Londonderry Newbury Moray and Nairn Banbury Nottingham East July: Gower North Down Pontypridd August: Hackney South October: Newport
Lists of UK by-elections 1801–1806 1806–1818 1818–1832 1832–1847 1847–1857 1857–1868 1868–1885 1885–1900 1900–1918 1918–1931 1931–1950 1950–1979 1979–2010 2010–present Northern Ireland Hereditary peers