City of London by-election, 1922

The City of London by-election, 1922 was a parliamentary by-election held on 19 May 1922 for the British House of Commons constituency of City of London, which covered the "Square Mile" which was the United Kingdom's traditional financial district.

The seat had become vacant on the elevation to the peerage of one of the constituency's two Conservative Members of Parliament (MPs), Arthur James Balfour, as the Earl of Balfour.

Balfour had held the seat since a by-election in 1906, following his defeat at Manchester East in the 1906 general election. He had also been Prime Minister between 1902 and 1905.

Candidates

The Conservative Party selected as its candidate Edward Charles Grenfell, who was a director of the Bank of England. Sir Thomas Vansittart Bowater, who had been Lord Mayor of London in 1913, stood as an Independent Conservative.

Results

Turnout was unsurprisingly low in the first contested election in the City since the first 1910 general election. Grenfell won the seat by a convincing margin.

Curiously, Bowater would go on to be elected as the official Conservative candidate at a by-election in 1924, and he and Grenfell would share the representation of the City until 1935.

Votes

By-Election 19 May 1922: City of London
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edward Charles Grenfell	10,114	62.08	N/A
	Independent Conservative	Sir Thomas Vansittart Bowater, Bt	6,178	37.92	N/A
Majority			3,936	24.16	N/A
Turnout			44,083	36.96	N/A
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

General Election 14 December 1918: City of London (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Coalition Conservative	Rt Hon. Arthur James Balfour	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Coalition Conservative	Rt Hon. Sir Frederick George Banbury, Bt	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

See also

• List of United Kingdom by-elections
• City of London constituency
• City of London by-election, 1904
• City of London by-election, February 1906
• City of London by-election, June 1906
• City of London by-election, 1924
• City of London by-election, 1935
• City of London by-election, 1938
• City of London by-election, 1940
• City of London by-election, 1945

References

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