Croydon South by-election, 1919

The Croydon South by-election, 1919 was a parliamentary by-election for the British House of Commons constituency of Croydon South on 14 November 1919.

Vacancy

The by-election was caused by the resignation of the sitting Unionist MP, Sir Ian Malcolm on 28 October 1919. He had been the MP for Croydon since December 1910.

Electoral history

Croydon was a traditionally strong area for the Unionists. The Croydon constituency was created in 1885 and won by the Unionists at every election. In 1918 it was divided into two seats and it's MP, Ian Malcom, was elected for the new Croydon South seat. He was helped by the absence of a Liberal opponent and the official support of the Coalition government;

1918 General Election ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Unionist	Ian Zachary Malcolm	17,813	71.8	n/a
	Labour	Henry Thomas Muggeridge[2]	7,006	28.2	n/a
Majority			10,807	43.6	n/a
Turnout				55.0	n/a
	Unionist win

Candidates

• The Unionists selected 49-year-old Sir Allan Smith to defend the seat. He was a solicitor and Chairman of the Management Board of the Engineering and Allied Employers’ National Federation.^[3]
• On 30 October, the Croydon Liberal and Radical Association unanimously adopted 60-year-old Alderman Howard Houlder to challenge for the seat.^[4] He had not stood for parliament before but been elected to Croydon Council. He served as Mayor of Croydon from 1916-19. He worked for the family shipping business.^[5]
• The Labour Party did not run a candidate this time.

Campaign

Polling Day was set for 14 November, just 17 days after the resignation of Malcolm. Close of Nominations occurred on 4 November to reveal a two cornered contest. Smith received official backing from the Coalition Government, while Houlder's candidacy was backed by the Liberal opposition.

Result

There was a big drop in the Unionist majority.

Croydon South by-election, 1919 ^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Unionist	Sir Allan Macgregor Smith	11,777	55.2	-16.6
	Liberal	Howard Houlder	9,573	44.8	n/a
Majority			2,204	10.4	-33.2
Turnout				45.5	-9.5
	Unionist hold		Swing	n/a

Sir Allan Smith thought the result "was a victory for the forces of unity".^[7]

Aftermath

Smith retained the seat at the following election because the anti-Unionist vote was split when Muggeridge intervened. Houlder did not stand for parliament again. The result at the following General election;

1922 General Election ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Unionist	Allan Macgregor Smith	15,356	47.3
	Labour	Henry Thomas Muggeridge	8,942	27.5	n/a
	Liberal	Thomas William Dobson	8,183	25.2
Majority			6,414	19.8
Turnout				66.4
	Unionist hold		Swing

References

1. F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949; Political Reference Publications, Glasgow 1949
2. Debrett's House of Commons 1922
3. ‘SMITH, Sir Allan (Macgregor)’, Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2007; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2012 ; online edn, Oct 2012 accessed 16 Dec 2013
4. Aberdeen Journal, 31 Oct 1919
5. ‘HOULDER, Howard’, Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2007; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2007 accessed 16 Dec 2013
6. F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949; Political Reference Publications, Glasgow 1949
7. Hull Daily Mail, 27 Nov 1919
8. 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