The 1918 Finsbury East by-election was a parliamentary by-election held for the House of Commons constituency of East Finsbury in north London on 16 July 1918.

Quick Facts Constituency of Finsbury East, Turnout ...

1918 Finsbury East by-election

← Dec. 1910 16 July 1918 Dec. 1918 →
Constituency of Finsbury East
Turnout	38.7%
First party Second party Third party   Ind. Ind. Candidate Evan Cotton H. S. Spencer A. S. Belsher Party Liberal Independent Independent Popular vote 1,156 576 199 Percentage 59.9% 29.8% 10.3% Swing 8.3% N/A N/A
A map of parliamentary constituencies within the County of London at the time of the by-election, with Finsbury East highlighted in red.
MP before election Allen Baker Liberal Subsequent MP Evan Cotton Liberal

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The by-election was caused by the death on 3 July 1918 of the sitting Liberal Party MP Joseph Allen Baker, who had held the seat since himself winning it in a by-election on 29 June 1905.^[1]

The only real issue seems to have been the prosecution of the war and the nationalistic atmosphere the war was stirring up against the Germans. The candidates were all competing to see who would come across toughest on measures such as the Defence of the Realm Act, internment of enemy aliens or boycotting of goods and services from those who were German or believed to have German ancestry.^[9] This mood continued right up until polling day with the two Independent candidates' supporters engaged in rowdyism and violence against each other.^[10]

In a wartime contest on a clearly out of date electoral register Cotton easily retained the seat for the government with a majority of 580 votes over Spencer. Turnout was only 38.7%.^[11]

The result was an endorsement by the electorate for the government's handling of the war effort, both in military terms and on the home front. Cotton's vote was also seen as a rejection of the kind of political violence which had marred the by-election and which was chiefly associated with the campaigns of Spencer and Belsher.^[12] The Times newspaper reported that Cotton had not been a good candidate, a weak campaigner and inconsistent on the German boycott. They reported that although he was selected to represent the government under the party truce it was likely on his record that he would gravitate to the opposition, i.e. to the rival wing of the Liberal Party led by H H Asquith.^[13] The message The Times believed the government should take from the election was to have 'stout-hearted and patriotic candidates' in the field come the general election.^[13]

As far as East Finsbury and Cotton were concerned, however, the election was an academic exercise. The constituency disappeared in boundary changes at the 1918 general election just a few months later. Cotton, contested the successor seat of Finsbury but he was not awarded the Coupon which went to Lt-Col. Martin Archer-Shee DSO.^[14] Archer-Shee had been MP for Finsbury Central since 1910. Clearly the government whips felt Archer-Shee fitted that description better than Cotton, who was defeated;

Cotton continued his career in London government, becoming an Alderman of the LCC. He then went back to India where he served as President of the Bengal Legislature from 1922 to 1925.^[4]