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1904 Sowerby by-election

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1904 Sowerby by-election

← 1900 2 July 1904 1906 →
 
Candidate Higham Simpson
Party Liberal Conservative
Popular vote 6,049 3,877
Percentage 60.9% 39.1%


MP before election

John William Mellor
Liberal

Subsequent MP

John Higham
Liberal

The 1904 Sowerby by-election was a Parliamentary by-election held on 2 July 1904.[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.

Vacancy

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John William Mellor had been Liberal MP for the seat of Sowerby since the 1892 General Election. Aged 69, he chose to retire from parliament.

Electoral history

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The seat had been Liberal since creation in 1885. They easily held the seat at the last election, with a reduced majority:

Mellor
General election 1900: Sowerby [2][3][4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal John William Mellor 5,528 57.6 −1.1
Conservative John Bailey 4,067 42.4 +1.1
Majority 1,461 15.2 −2.2
Turnout 9,595 80.0 +2.3
Liberal hold Swing -1.1

Candidates

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The local Liberal Association selected 47 year-old Accrington businessman, John Sharp Higham as their candidate to defend the seat. He was Mayor of Accrington from 1899–1901.[5] The local Conservative Association selected 24 year-old William Simpson-Hinchliffe as their candidate.[6]

Result

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The Liberals held the seat from the Conservatives:

Sowerby by-election, 1904 [7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal John Sharp Higham 6,049 60.9 +3.3
Conservative William Simpson-Hinchliffe 3,877 39.1 −3.3
Majority 2,172 21.8 +6.6
Turnout 9,926 80.6 +0.6
Liberal hold Swing +3.3

Aftermath

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At the following General Election the result was:

General election 1906: Sowerby [8][9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal John Sharp Higham 6,482 61.6 +0.7
Conservative William Simpson-Hinchliffe 4,034 38.4 −0.7
Majority 2,448 23.2 +1.4
Turnout 10,516 84.2 +3.6
Liberal hold Swing +0.7

References

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  1. ^ Craig, F.W.S. (1987). Chronology of British Parliamentary By-elections 1833–1987. Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 98.
  2. ^ British Parliamentary Election Results 1885-1918, FWS Craig
  3. ^ The Liberal Year Book, 1907
  4. ^ Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1901
  5. ^ ‘HIGHAM, John Sharp’, Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2016; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2014; online edn, April 2014 accessed 14 Feb 2017
  6. ^ ‘SIMPSON-HINCHLIFFE, William Algernon’, Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2016; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2014; online edn, April 2014 accessed 14 Feb 2017
  7. ^ British Parliamentary Election Results 1885-1918, FWS Craig
  8. ^ British Parliamentary Election Results 1885-1918, FWS Craig
  9. ^ The Liberal Year Book, 1907