1919_Spen_Valley_by-election
1919 Spen Valley by-election
UK Parliamentary by-election
The 1919 Spen Valley by-election was held on 20 December 1919. The by-election was held after the death of the incumbent Coalition Liberal MP, Thomas Whittaker. It was won by the Labour candidate, Tom Myers,[1] who had contested the constituency at the 1918 general election. The 1918 contest had been a straight fight between Whittaker and Myers, and had seen the former emerge victorious with a majority of 2,156 votes (11.2% of votes cast).[2]
The poll came at the same time as a serious split in the Liberal Party over continuing support for the coalition government: Colonel Bryan Fairfax was nominated as the Coalition Liberal candidate, and Sir John Simon stood as an Independent Liberal.[3] The poll was held on 20 December 1919, but the votes were not counted until 3 January 1920.[3] The result was seen as sensational,[4] with The Times describing it as a "political event of great significance", with voters deserting the government candidate in "a humiliation which cannot be explained away".[5]
In the view of Maurice Cowling, Simon's defeat by Labour marked the point at which Labour began to be seen as a serious threat by the older parties.