Woolwich East by-election, 1921

Woolwich East by-election, 1921

The Woolwich East by-election, 1921 was a parliamentary by-election held on 2 March 1921 for the British House of Commons constituency of Woolwich East, in the Metropolitan Borough of Woolwich in London.

The seat had become vacant on the resignation of the constituency's Labour Member of Parliament (MP), Will Crooks, due to ill-health. Crooks was a noted trade unionist and working-class organiser, and had represented Woolwich East and its predecessor seat, Woolwich, since a by-election in 1903, with a gap between the two general elections of 1910.

Candidates

The Labour Party selected as its candidate James Ramsay Macdonald, who had lost his Leicester seat at the khaki election of 1918.

The Conservatives selected Robert Gee, an ex-miner who had stood for the National Democratic Party at Consett in 1918.

Gee had been a Captain in The Royal Fusiliers during the First World War, and had gained a Victoria Cross for his actions. This was contrasted with MacDonald, who had been a pacifist opposed to the war, for which he had had to resign the Chairmanship of the Labour Party.

The newly-formed Communist Party of Great Britain urged voters to abstain, saying ""that while the coalition candidate stands openly and avowedly for capitalism in all its ramifications, its industrial autocracy, its attacks on trade unions, its exploitation, its predatory imperialism, the Labour candidate stands for Capitalism and all its manifestations, none the less surely because its purpose is hidden under high sounding words". [British Communists and Elections, 1920-1935 [http://www.whatnextjournal.co.uk/pages/History/Squires.html] ]

Results

Gee took the seat with a majority of nearly 700 votes. He held the seat until the 1922 election, when Harry Snell retook the seat for Labour.

MacDonald would go on to be elected MP for Aberavon in 1922, and be re-elected Leader of the Labour Party, then become Prime Minister after the 1923 election.

Votes

Election box begin
title=Woolwich East by-election, 1922Election box candidate with party link
party = Coalition Conservative
candidate = Capt. Robert Gee, VC
votes = 13,724
percentage = 51.3
change = "N/A"Election box candidate with party link
party = Labour Party (UK)
candidate = James Ramsay Macdonald
votes = 13,081
percentage = 48.7
change = "N/A"Election box majority
votes = 683
percentage = 2.6
change = "N/A"Election box turnout
votes = 26,805
percentage = 78.5
change = "N/A"Election box gain with party link
winner = Coalition Conservative
loser = Labour Party (UK)
swing = "N/A"

Election box begin
title=1918 General Election: Woolwich EastElection box candidate with party link
party = Labour Party (UK)
candidate = Rt Hon. Will Crooks
votes = Unopposed
percentage = "N/A"
change = "N/A"Election box hold with party link
winner = Labour Party (UK)
swing = "N/A"

Sources

[http://www.blinkx.com/video/ITNSource/POLITICS:_Ramsay_MacDonald_in_Woolwich~vjbQiwd28rhqUYmQ8XZsmAw Ramsay MacDonald campaigning at Woolwich ]

ee also

* List of United Kingdom by-elections
* Woolwich East constituency
* Woolwich by-election, 1903
* Woolwich East by-election, 1931
* Woolwich East by-election, 1951

References

*
*


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