Middleton by-election, 1911

The Middleton by-election, 1911 was a parliamentary by-election held on 2 August 1911 for the Middleton division of Lancashire, a constituency of the British House of Commons.

Vacancy

Ryland Adkins had been Liberal MP for Middleton since 1906 when he gained the seat from the Conservatives. Upon his appointment as Recorder of Nottingham on 17 July 1911,^[1] Adkins was obliged by the electoral law of the day to resign his seat and re-contest it at a by-election.^[2]

Electoral history

Ryland Adkins

General Election December 1910: Middleton^[3] Electorate 15,391

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	William Ryland Dent Adkins	7,071	52.9	-2.1
	Liberal Unionist	William Alfred Samuel Hewins	6,284	47.1	+2.1
Majority			787	5.8	-4.2
Turnout				86.8	-3.7
	Liberal hold		Swing	-2.1

Candidates

Adkins Unionist opponent was William Hewins who was his opponent at the December 1910 general election.

Campaign

The by-election was fought mainly on the issue of National Insurance which Hewins took up vigorously, if by some accounts rather cynically. In the course of the campaign Lloyd George had to send Adkins a letter for public consumption refuting in detail Hewins’ claims.

Result

Adkins held on, although Hewins reduced his majority again, this time to 411 votes.^[4]

Middleton by-election, 1911^[5] Electorate 15,447

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	Sir William Ryland Dent Adkins	6,863	51.5	-1.4
	Liberal Unionist	William Alfred Samuel Hewins	6,452	48.5	+1.4
Majority			411	3.0	-2.8
Turnout				86.2	-0.6
	Liberal hold		Swing	-1.4

Aftermath

Hewins was elected in a by-election at Hereford in 1912. A General Election was due to take place by the end of 1915. By the autumn of 1914, the following candidates had been adopted to contest that election.

General Election 1914/15: Middleton Electorate

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	Sir William Ryland Dent Adkins
	Unionist

Due to the outbreak of war, the election never took place. In 1918, following boundary changes, the Middleton constituency was combined with Prestwich.

General Election 14 December 1918: Middleton & Prestwich Electorate 36,563

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	Sir William Ryland Dent Adkins	14,831
	Labour	John B Battle	6,501
Majority
Turnout
	Liberal hold		Swing

• Adkins was the endorsed candidate of the Coalition Government.

References

1. The London Gazette: no. 28514. p. 5350. 18 July 1911.
2. "Election Intelligence". The Times. 2 August 1911. p. 11.
3. British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig)
4. "Middleton By-Election. Liberal Majority Reduced". The Times. 3 August 1911. p. 6.
5. British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig)