1918 Clapham by-election
The 1918 Clapham by-election was a by-election held on 21 June 1918 for the British House of Commons constituency of Clapham in South London.
The by-election was triggered by the elevation to the peerage of the serving Conservative Party Member of Parliament (MP), Denison Faber.
The Unionist (Conservative) candidate was Harry Greer. With the wartime (set to become postwar) coalition in office, there was no other candidate from the major parties. Henry Hamilton Beamish, a writer for the pro-war conspiracy theory penning Vigilance or Vigilante Society, ran as an independent with the support of populist MP Noel Pemberton Billing, whose very prominent libel case of the century of defending various accusations of German blackmail and depravity was a staged exercise in propaganda.
The main issue was ostensibly Beamish's earnest demand for the denaturalization and internment of all citizens of enemy countries in the United Kingdom, the closure of all foreign banks and the wearing of a badge by all foreign aliens. Greer expressed the view that 'stronger measures were necessary' and published a letter from the Prime Minister, who said he was 'determined to take whatever action is shown to be necessary'. The Times reported unexpected support for Beamish in areas that were normally predominantly Conservative.[1] The result was a modest majority for the party from an established party.[2]
Votes
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Harry Greer | 4,512 | 57.0 | ||
Independent | Henry Hamilton Beamish | 3,331 | 43.0 | New | |
Majority | 1,181 | 14.0 | |||
Turnout | 7,843 | ||||
Conservative hold | Swing |
References
- The Times, 21 December 1918
- Leigh Rayment's Peerage Pages [self-published source] [better source needed]
See also
- List of United Kingdom by-elections
- Clapham constituency
- v
- t
- e
- February: Arfon
- Cambridge University
- Horncastle
- Westbury
- Forest of Dean
- March: North East Lanarkshire
- Brentford
- Bootle
- April: Haddingtonshire
- Cheltenham
- East Dorset
- May: Birmingham South
- Barnstaple
- June: Ross & Cromarty
- Brighton
- July: Kingston upon Hull Central
- Glasgow Tradeston
- St Augustine's
- West Ham North
- East Wicklow
- North East Cork
- East Cork
- Luton
- Wellington
- Bethnal Green South West
- August: Middleton
- September: Kilmarnock Burghs
- October: North Tyrone
- Keighley
- November: Bristol East
- Oldham
- South Somerset
- Hitchin
- December: North Ayrshire
- Govan
- January: Carmarthen District
- February: Edinburgh East
- Glasgow St Rollox
- March: Manchester South
- Hereford
- South East Essex
- Leominster
- Epsom
- April: Nottingham East
- Forest of Dean
- May: Hackney South
- North West Norfolk
- June: Hythe
- Holmfirth
- July: Ilkeston
- Hanley
- Crewe
- August: Manchester North West
- East Carmarthenshire
- September: Midlothian
- November: Taunton
- Bolton
- Bow & Bromley
- January: Flint Boroughs
- Londonderry City
- February: East Waterford
- East Antrim
- Chorley
- March: Houghton-le-Spring
- Kendal
- April: Shrewsbury
- Whitechapel
- May: Newmarket
- Altrincham
- June: Leix
- Wandsworth
- Dover
- Leicester
- July: St George's, Hanover Square
- August: Chesterfield
- November: North Cork
- Linlithgowshire
- Reading
- Keighley
- December: Wick Burghs
- South Lanarkshire
- January: North West Durham
- February: Wycombe
- Cork City
- Bethnal Green South West
- Poplar
- Leith Burghs
- April: Belfast East
- East Fife
- May: Great Grimsby
- North East Derbyshire
- Ipswich
- June: Brighton
- Oxford University
- July: Birmingham West
- East Worcestershire
- North Galway
- August: Swansea District
- West Wicklow
- September: Bolton
- The Hartlepools
- November: Londonderry City
- December: East Galway
- Tullamore
- Sheffield Attercliffe
- February: Norwich
- Swansea District
- Scarborough
- Shipley
- Howdenshire
- Thirsk & Malton
- Wigtownshire
- Chesterton
- Saffron Walden
- Liverpool Kirkdale
- Mid Antrim
- Maidstone
- March: Carmarthen Boroughs
- April: Mid Durham
- May: Kilmarnock Burghs
- June: Preston
- Dublin College Green
- North Tipperary
- Keighley
- July: Arfon
- Glasgow Central
- October: Dublin Harbour
- Appleby
- November: Heywood
- Uxbridge
- Cardiff
- Kingston
- St Helens
- St Austell
- Merthyr Tydfil
- Tiverton
- December: Cleveland
- January: Newington West
- St George's, Hanover Square
- Portsmouth
- North West Staffordshire
- Chesterton
- Bradford Central
- Mile End
- Rotherham
- February: Liverpool East Toxteth
- North Louth
- South Tyrone
- Bolton
- Chester
- Droitwich
- March: Cockermouth
- Hertford
- South Shields
- Harborough
- Hyde
- April: Wimbledon
- Dublin University
- Ossory
- May: Tewkesbury
- South Londonderry
- Widnes
- July: Berwickshire
- August: Bodmin
- Berwick-upon-Tweed
- Colne Valley
- Abingdon
- September: Mansfield
- October: North Ayrshire
- St Pancras West
- Winchester
- North Fermanagh
- November: West Cork
- December: Hornsey
- Ashton-under-Lyne
- Sheffield Hallam
- Whitechapel
- Derby
- Edinburgh & St Andrews Universities
- January: Inverness-shire
- February: North Roscommon
- Dublin University
- Rotherham
- Rossendale
- West Perthshire
- Tamworth
- March: Stockton
- Oxford
- April: Aberdeen South
- Belfast South
- Ealing
- May: South Longford
- Edinburgh South
- June: Epping
- Henley
- Liverpool Abercromby
- July: Belfast South
- Fulham
- South Dublin
- East Clare
- South Monmouthshire
- Cambridge
- Chesterton
- Dundee
- August: Edinburgh & St Andrews Universities
- Kilkenny City
- Norwich
- October: Dublin University
- Islington East
- Spalding
- Basingstoke
- November: Salford North
- North Armagh
- December: Wisbech
- Southampton
- January: Mid Armagh
- Prestwich
- February: South Armagh
- March: Waterford City
- Manchester South
- April: East Tyrone
- Tullamore
- Birmingham West
- Keighley
- May: Ross
- Exeter
- Newcastle-upon-Tyne
- Wansbeck
- June: Gravesend
- Bridgwater
- East Cavan
- Clapham
- July: Finsbury East
- Manchester North East
- Fareham
- East Grinstead
- August: Canterbury
- September: Banbury
- October: St George's, Hanover Square
- Bath
- Mid Norfolk
- Elgin Burghs
- South Shields
- Prestwich
- November: Wilton
- 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