1918 Wansbeck by-election

The1918 Wansbeck by-electionwas a parliamentaryby-electionheld for theHouse of Commonsconstituency ofWansbeckinNorthumberlandon 28 May 1918.

Vacancy

Charles Fenwick

The by-election was caused by the death on 20 April 1918 of the sitting LiberalMPRt Hon. Charles Fenwick,at the age of 68. He had held the seat since thegeneral election of 1885.Fenwick was prominent figure in theNorthumberland Miners' Associationhaving first worked as a coal miner at the age of 10. He was one of a large group of miners representatives who refused to join the Labour party.

Electoral history

Fenwick, as a sponsored candidate of the Northumberland miners, had won the seat for the Liberals at every election since the seat was created in 1885. When theMiners Federation of Great Britainvoted to affiliate to the Labour party in 1909, Fenwick, retaining the support of the Northumberland miners, contested both 1910 general elections as a Liberal candidate. The Labour party did not field a candidate against him and at the December 1910 general election he was returned unopposed. The last contested election in Wansbeck was the January 1910 contest;

General election January 1910 Electorate

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Lib-Lab	Charles Fenwick	10,872	70.0	−6.4
	Conservative	Charles Percy	4,650	30.0	+6.4
Majority			6,222	40.0	−12.8
Turnout			15,522	81.6	+4.0
	Lib-Labhold		Swing	-6.8

Candidates

Liberals

Wansbeck Liberal Association adoptedAlderman Robert Masonas their candidate to replace Fenwick.Mason was a 60-year-old shipping agent and shipownerwith local government and community connections. He was anAldermanofNorthumberland County Counciland aJustice of the Peace.

Conservatives

As participants in the wartimecoalitionwithPrime Minister,David Lloyd George,the Conservatives chose not to contest the by-election.Given that they normally polled poorly, this was not much of a sacrifice.

Labour

Despite the Liberal tradition in Wansbeck, and the fact that Fenwick had been unopposed at the last general election, and despite the wartime electoral party truce, the localLabour Partydecided to contest the by-election and selected a local 34-year-oldcoal minerfromAshington,Ebenezer Edwards.Edwards was the nominee of the Northumberland Miners' Association and received the support of the Miners' Federation of Great Britain. He was not actually endorsed by the National Executive of the Labour party, because of thewartime electoral truce.Edwards was an opponent of the war and had chosen to remain working in the mines rather than enlist.

Campaign

Polling day was set for 28 May 1918, 38 days after the death of Fenwick, allowing for an unusually long campaign.

Result

Mason retained the seat for the Liberal party with a majority of 547 votes over Edwards.

Wansbeck by-election, 1918 Electorate

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Robert Mason	5,814	52.5	N/A
	Independent Labour	Ebenezer Edwards	5,267	47.5	New
Majority			547	5.0	N/A
Turnout			11,081	51.3	N/A
	Liberalhold		Swing	N/A

The result was a narrow endorsement by the electorate for the government’s handling of the war effort, both in military terms and industrially on thehome front.However Labour could claim to be wresting the traditional mining vote away from the Liberals.

Aftermath

Soon after the Wansbeck result Labour’s National Executive Committee formally refused to renew the wartime truce between the political parties.Edwards took on Mason again for Labour at the1918 general electionbut with a larger electorate and the national swing behind him, Mason increased his majority to 3,399.

Wansbeck General Election, 1918 Electorate 42,750

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Robert Mason	14,065	56.9	+4.4
	Labour	Ebenezer Edwards	10,666	43.1	−4.4
Majority			3,399	13.8	+8.8
Turnout			24,731	57.9	+6.6
	Liberalhold		Swing	+4.4

See also

• List of United Kingdom by-elections
• United Kingdom by-election records
• 1929 Wansbeck by-election
• 1940 Wansbeck by-election