1904 St Albans by-election: Difference between revisions
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He told his constituents that if the ships had passed into the hands of a rival nation, the balance of power would have been significantly altered, and that Britain would have fallen behind in the [[World War I naval arms race|naval arms race]].<ref name="times-1904-01-19" /> The two [[pre-dreadnought battleship]]s, ''[[HMS Triumph (1903)|Triumph]]'' and ''[[HMS Swiftsure (1903)|Switsfure]]'' were commissioned by the [[Royal Navy]] in June 1904. |
He told his constituents that if the ships had passed into the hands of a rival nation, the balance of power would have been significantly altered, and that Britain would have fallen behind in the [[World War I naval arms race|naval arms race]].<ref name="times-1904-01-19" /> The two [[pre-dreadnought battleship]]s, ''[[HMS Triumph (1903)|Triumph]]'' and ''[[HMS Swiftsure (1903)|Switsfure]]'', were commissioned by the [[Royal Navy]] in June 1904. |
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However, by managing the sale to the Admiralty the brothers disqualified themselves from the House of Commons, under provisions which debarred MPs from accepting contracts from [[the Crown]]. Vicary Gibbs told his constituents on 18 January that he would [[resignation from the British House of Commons|resign from the Commons]] by taking the [[Chiltern Hundreds]], and then present himself for re-election.<ref name="times-1904-01-19" /> |
However, by managing the sale to the Admiralty the brothers disqualified themselves from the House of Commons, under provisions which debarred MPs from accepting contracts from [[the Crown]]. Vicary Gibbs told his constituents on 18 January that he would [[resignation from the British House of Commons|resign from the Commons]] by taking the [[Chiltern Hundreds]], and then present himself for re-election.<ref name="times-1904-01-19" /> |
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The St Albans by-election of 1904 was a parliamentary by-election held in England in February 1904 for the House of Commons. It elected a new Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency of St Albans, a county division of Hertfordshire.
It was the first contested parliamentary election in St Albans since 1892. The Liberal Party narrowly won the seat the seat from the Conservatives, who had held the seat since its creation in 1885.
Vacancy
The vacancy was caused by the disqualification from the Commons of the sitting Conservative MP Vicary Gibbs, who had held the seat since 1892.[1] He had been returned unopposed in 1895 and 1900,[1] but was disqualified in February 1904.
He and his brother Alban (an MP for the City of London) were partners in the firm Antony Gibbs and Sons,[2] which had organised the sale to the Admiralty of two warships which had been built in England for the Chilean Navy, in order to avoid them being sold to a rival power when Chile did not complete the purchase.[3] He told his constituents that if the ships had passed into the hands of a rival nation, the balance of power would have been significantly altered, and that Britain would have fallen behind in the naval arms race.[3] The two pre-dreadnought battleships, Triumph and Switsfure, were commissioned by the Royal Navy in June 1904.
However, by managing the sale to the Admiralty the brothers disqualified themselves from the House of Commons, under provisions which debarred MPs from accepting contracts from the Crown. Vicary Gibbs told his constituents on 18 January that he would resign from the Commons by taking the Chiltern Hundreds, and then present himself for re-election.[3] However, since the Gibbs brothers were already disqualified, he did not need to take the usual step of disqualifying himself by taking the Chiltern Hundreds, and in a letters of 1 February 1904 he and his bother both informed the Speaker of the contract.[2] Vicary Gibbs noted that "I am advised that by so doing I have, under an Act of George III, vacated my seat in Parliament".[2]
His letter was read to the Commons on 2 February,[2] and the writ was moved the following day.[4]
Candidates
Both Gibbs and the Liberal Party prospective candidate John Bamford Slack were campaigning in the constituency before his disqualification was formalised.[5] The The Times newspaper reported on 20 January that the by-election was unlikely to be contested by the Liberals,[6] but at a meeting on 24 January the St Albans Liberals adopted Slack as their candidate.[7]
Slack was a 46-year-old solicitor, and a prominent Wesleyan Methodist.[8] Born in Ripley, Derbyshire, he was educated at the University of London and had qualified as a solicitor in Derbyshire in 1880, where he was elected as a Liberal member of the first Derbyshire County Council.[8] He had practised in London since 1889,[8] becoming by 1904 a partner in the form of Monro, Slack and Atkinson of Queen Victoria Street.[9] He was a Liberal Party activist in the boroughs of Holborn and St Pancras..[9] A noted temperance campaigner,[9] he become a member of the Wesleyan Church's annual conference President of the Local Preacher's Association, and an active member of the West London Mission.[8]
The Conservatives selected Gibbs to defend the seat which he had just vacated. The Eton-educated Gibbs was a City of London businessman, son of Hucks Gibbs, 1st Baron Aldenham, and a wealthy landowner.[10]
The campaign
Result
Polling took place on Friday 12 February, and the count was announced from the balcony of the town hall in St Albans on saturday 13th, by the High Sheriff.[9] The result was a narrow victory for Slack,[11] who won the seat with a majority of 132 votes (1.4% of the total).[1] Out of the division's 11,518 registered electors, 9,423 had voted, with 41 spoilt ballots.[9]
The announcement was greeted by cheering from the crowd, and speeches from the candidates.[9]
Votes
| Election | Political result | Candidate | Party | Votes | % | ±% | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| By-election, February 1904[1] Gibbs disqualified Electorate: 11,518 Turnout: 9,382 (81.5%) | Liberal gain from Conservative Majority: 132 (1.4%) | John Bamford Slack | Liberal | 4,757 | 50.7 | |||
| Vicary Gibbs | Conservative | 4,635 | 49.3 | |||||
| General election, 1900[1] | Conservative hold | Vicary Gibbs | Conservative | unopposed | ||||
Aftermath
Slack held the seat for less than two years, until his defeat at the general election in January 1906 by Hildred Carlile.[1] In a landslide victory for Liberals, the Conservatives and their Liberal Unionist allies made a net loss of of 211 seats,[12] and St Albans was one of their few gains. Slack was knighted in 1906, and remained a prominent Liberal until his death in in London in February 1909, aged 51.[8]
Gibbs contested Bradford Central in 1906, but never returned to Parliament. He remained prominent in Tariff Reform issues, served on the boards of many companies, and co-authored the 1911 edition of The Complete Peerage. He became a notable horticulturalist in his garden at Elstree, and in January 1932 he died at his London home, aged 78.[10]
See also
- List of United Kingdom by-elections
- St Albans constituency
- St Albans by-election, 1919
- St Albans by-election, 1943
References
- ^ a b c d e f Craig, F. W. S. (1989) [1974]. British parliamentary election results 1885–1918 (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 297. ISBN 0-900178-27-2.
- ^ a b c d http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1904/feb/02/new-writs#column_74. Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). House of Commons. 2 February, 1904. col. 74–75.
{{cite book}}:|chapter-url=missing title (help); Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ a b c "Election Intelligence (subscription required)[[Category:Pages containing links to subscription-only content]]". The Times. London. 19 January 1904. p. 4, col C. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
{{cite news}}: URL–wikilink conflict (help) - ^ "House Of Commons., Wednesday, Feb. 3". The Times. London. 4 February 1904. p. 7, col A. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
- ^ "Election Intelligence (subscription required)[[Category:Pages containing links to subscription-only content]]". The Times. London. 18 January 1904. p. 10, col A. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
{{cite news}}: URL–wikilink conflict (help) - ^ "Election Intelligence (subscription required)[[Category:Pages containing links to subscription-only content]]". The Times1. London. 20 January 1904. p. 7, col B. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
{{cite news}}: URL–wikilink conflict (help) - ^ "Election Intelligence (subscription required)[[Category:Pages containing links to subscription-only content]]". The Times. London. 25 January 1904. p. 8, col E. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
{{cite web}}: URL–wikilink conflict (help) - ^ a b c d e "Obituaries: Sir John Bamford-Slack (subscription required)[[Category:Pages containing links to subscription-only content]]". London. 12 February 1909. pp. 13, col D. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
{{cite news}}: URL–wikilink conflict (help); Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ a b c d e f "Election Intelligence. Hertfordshire (St. Albans Division) (subscription required)[[Category:Pages containing links to subscription-only content]]". The Times. London. 15 February 1904. p. 7, col C. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
{{cite news}}: URL–wikilink conflict (help) - ^ a b "Mr. Vicary Gibbs "The Complete Peerage" (subscription required)[[Category:Pages containing links to subscription-only content]]". The Times. London. 14 January 1932. p. 14, col D. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
{{cite news}}: URL–wikilink conflict (help) - ^ "No. 27647". The London Gazette. 16 February 1904.
- ^ Rallings, Colin; Thrasher, Michael (2006). British Electoral Facts. London: Total Politics. p. 68. ISBN 978-1-907278-03-7.