Louth by-election, 1921

The Louth by-election, 1921 was a by-election held on 22 September 1921 for the British House of Commons constituency of Louth in Lincolnshire.

Vacancy

The seat had become vacant on the death on 8 August of the Liberal Member of Parliament (MP) Thomas Wintringham. He had been elected at the by-election in 1920.

Electoral history

The result at the last election was;

T. Wintringham

Louth by-election, 1920^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	Thomas Wintringham	9,859	57.3	+11.8
	Conservative	Christopher Hatton Turnor	7,354	42.7	−11.8
Majority			2,505	14.6
Turnout			17,213	63.1	+2.8
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	11.8

• Received the Coalition Government 'Coupon'.

Candidates

• The Liberals selected 41-year-old Margaret Wintringham, widow of the former MP as their candidate to defend the seat. She worked as a teacher, before becoming headmistress of a school in Grimsby. She became a magistrate and a member of the Grimsby Education Committee. She was involved in many political movements, including the National Union of Women Workers, the British Temperance Association, the National Union of Societies for Equal Citizenship (NUSEC), the Women's Institute and the Townswomen's Guild. She was standing for parliament for the first time.
• On 17 August, the Unionists selected 41-year-old Sir Alan Hutchings as their candidate to challenge for the seat. He was Secretary of the Department of the Director-General of Voluntary Organisations (War Office) from 1915-19.^[2] He was standing for parliament for the first time.
• The Labour Party selected Lt. James George of Peterborough as their candidate to challenge for the seat.^[3] He was standing for parliament for the first time.

Campaign

Polling Day was set for 22 September 1921, 45 days after the death of the former MP, allowing for a long campaign. Despite rumours the contrary, on 13 September nominations closed to confirm that the election would be a three-way contest.^[4]

Hutchings received the official endorsement of the Coalition Government.

Result

Wintringham held the seat that her husband had gained for the Liberals in a by-election the year before.

Mrs. Wintringham

Louth by-election, 1921^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	Margaret Wintringham	8,386	42.2	−15.1
	Conservative	Sir Alan Hutchings	7,695	38.3	−4.4
	Labour	James L. George	3,873	19.5	N/A
Majority			791	3.9	−10.7
Turnout			19,954	72.1	+9.0
	Liberal hold		Swing

Wintringham become only the second woman to take her seat in the House of Commons, and the first female Liberal MP.

Aftermath

Wintringham was re-elected at the 1922 general election,

1922 General Election^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	Margaret Wintringham	11,609
	Conservative	Sir Alan Hutchings	10,726
Majority
Turnout
	Liberal hold		Swing

See also

• United Kingdom by-election records
• Louth constituency
• Louth by-election, 1920
• Louth by-election, 1969
• List of United Kingdom by-elections (1918–1931)

References

1. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
2. ‘HUTCHINGS, Sir Alan’, Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2007; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2012 ; online edn, Nov 2012 accessed 4 Jan 2014
3. Grantham Journal, 27 Aug 1921
4. Grantham Journal, 17 Sep 1921
5. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
6. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig

• Craig, F. W. S. (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918-1949 (3rd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs