Chertsey by-election, 1922

The Chertsey by-election, 1922 was a parliamentary by-election for the British House of Commons constituency of Chertsey on 24 March 1922.

Vacancy

The by-election was caused by the death of the sitting Unionist MP, Sir Donald Macmaster on 3 March 1922. He had been MP here since winning the seat in January 1910.

Election History

Chertsey had returned Conservative or Unionist candidates at every election since the constituency was created in 1885, apart from the Liberal landslide of 1906. The result at the last General election was

1918 General Election^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Unionist	Sir Donald Macmaster	13,531	80.7
	Labour	Thomas T Linsey	3,232	19.3
Majority
Turnout				48.0
	Unionist hold		Swing

Macmaster received the Coalition Government 'Coupon'.

Candidates

Sir Hubert Gough

• The Unionist's chose first time candidate Philip Richardson, who had won a Silver Medal at the 1908 London Olympics, for Shooting. He was a Shipbuilder who ran his business from Wallsend.
• The Labour Party, who had run a candidate in 1918 left the field and the Liberal Party, who had not run a candidate in 1918, intervened. The Liberals also chose a first time candidate in Sir Hubert Gough, who had commanded the British Fifth Army during the Great War and had recently retired from the Army.

Result

The Unionists held onto the seat with a greatly reduced majority.

Chertsey by-election, 1922^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Unionist	Philip Wigham Richardson	11,811	55.4	-25.2
	Liberal	Sir Hubert Gough	9,490	45.6	n/a
Majority			2,321	10.8	-
Turnout				55.4	+7.4
	Unionist hold		Swing	n/a

Aftermath

Philip Richardson continued as the MP until retiring in 1931. Sir Hubert Gough did not stand for election again. The Liberal Party never managed to mount as strong a challenge again as Chertsey remained a safe Conservative seat throughout its history. The result at the following General election;

1922 General Election^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Unionist	Philip Wigham Richardson	14,081
	Liberal	Henry Samson Clark	9,228
Majority
Turnout
	Unionist hold		Swing

References

• Who's Who: www.ukwhoswho.com
• Debrett's House of Commons 1922
• 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. F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949; Political Reference Publications, Glasgow 1949
3. F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949; Political Reference Publications, Glasgow 1949

See also

• List of United Kingdom by-elections
• United Kingdom by-election records