1933 Skipton by-election

The 1933 Skipton by-election was a parliamentary by-election for the British House of Commons constituency of Skipton on 7 November 1933.

Vacancy

The by-election was caused by the death of the sitting Conservative MP, Ernest Roy Bird on 27 September 1933. He had been MP here since holding the seat in 1924.

Election history

Skipton had been won by the Conservatives at every election since 1918 and was a safe seat. The result at the last General election was as follows;

1931 general election: Skipton[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Ernest Roy Bird 28,013 68.2
Labour John Davies 13,053 31.8
Majority 14,960 36.4
Turnout 41,066 80.3
Conservative hold Swing

Candidates

The local Conservatives selected 56-year-old George William Rickards a silk manufacturer. He had been a member of the West Riding County Council since 1928 but had not before stood for parliament.

The Labour party re-selected John Davies who had stood here in 1929 and 1931, finishing second both times. He was a cotton manufacturer from Lancashire.

The Liberals had not fielded a candidate since 1929 when they came third. They selected a new candidate, Robert Coventry Denby, a 48 year old Bradford solicitor.

The Communists, who had not stood here before, selected first time candidate James Rushton.

Main issues and campaign

Foreign Affairs dominated the campaign, particularly the Conservative dominated National Government's isolationist approach. The Labour candidate, Davies, claimed to be a pacifist and argued for unilateral disarmament.

The Liberals criticised the Conservatives for not looking to work with the League of Nations to achieve disarmament and criticised Labour for calling for unilateral disarmament. R.C. Denby, the Liberal candidate, gave a speech reported in the Guardian on 3 November, in which he outlined his and his party's position on disarmament and the League of Nations; "We have not convinced the world that we are really sincere in our desire for disarmament. For one thing, they can point to our reservation of bombing from the air. While, in the present circumstances, any further large-scale disarmament can only come by international agreement, I believe that if we had a strong Liberal Government we should give such a lead as would influence other Powers and get them to agree on a wider measure of disarmament." [2]

Result

Despite a large swing against the National Government, the Conservative managed to hold on to the seat.

Skipton by-election, 1933
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative George William Rickards 18,136 43.0 -25.2
Labour John Davies 14,157 33.5 +1.7
Liberal Robert Coventry Denby 9,219 21.8 +21.8
Communist James Rushton 704 1.7 New
Majority 3,979 9.4 -27.0
Turnout 42,216 82.7 +2.4
Conservative hold Swing -13.5

Aftermath

Rickards continued to sit as MP until he died in 1943. Davies continued to stand as Labour candidate here without success until 1946 when Prime Minister Clement Attlee gave him a seat in the House of Lords. Neither Denby or Rushton stood for parliament again. A Peace Ballot was launched in 1934 to ascertain public support for the League of Nations and collective security. As a result, just before the 1935 general election, the National Government agreed to the Liberal policy of working through the League of Nations. The result at the following General election;

General election 1935: Skipton
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative George William Rickards 22,847 56.2
Labour John Davies 17,788 43.8
Majority 5,059 12.4
Turnout 40,635 79.6
Conservative hold Swing

See also

References
  • Who's Who: www.ukwhoswho.com
  • By-Elections in British Politics by Cook and Ramsden
  1. F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949; Political Reference Publications, Glasgow 1949
  2. Covenants Without the Sword: Public Opinion and British Defence Policy, 1931-1935
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