1925 Ripon by-election

The Ripon by-election, 1925 was a parliamentary by-election held on 5 December 1925 for the British House of Commons constituency of Ripon.

Vacancy

The by-election was a consequence of the sitting MP Edward Wood – later the 3rd Viscount Halifax and the 1st Earl of Halifax – being elevated to the peerage as Baron Irwin in order to serve as Viceroy of India.

Election history

Wood had served Ripon as a Conservative since 1910. At every election since 1918, Wood was returned unopposed.

Candidates

Two candidates were nominated. The Conservative candidate was the John Waller Hills, who had represented the City of Durham until he was defeated in the 1922 general election. He was opposed in the by-election by the Liberal candidate John Murray, another former MP who had lost his seat in the 1923 general election in Leeds West. Murray had subsequently fought unsuccessfully in the Kirkcaldy Burghs constituency in the 1924 general election. There was no Labour candidate.

Main issues and campaign

During the campaign Murray openly disagreed with his own leader Lloyd George's plans for nationalization of land and the coal industry.[1]

Result

The Conservatives held the seat;

Ripon by-election, 1925 Electorate 37,338[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative John Waller Hills 16,433 59.0
Liberal John Murray 11,422 41.0
Majority 5,011 18.0
Turnout 27,855 74.6
Conservative hold Swing

Aftermath

After his defeat, Murray did not stand for parliament again while Hills sought to defend Ripon at the General election. The result at the following General election;

1929 general election Electorate 55,191[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative John Waller Hills 23,173 55.1
Liberal Frederick L Boult 14,542 34.6
Labour Arthur Godfrey 4,339 10.3
Majority 8,631 20.5
Turnout 42,054 76.2
Conservative hold Swing

Hills was to remain MP for Ripon until his death in 1939.

  1. B W Clapp, John Murray in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, OUP 2004-09
  2. F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949; Political Reference Publications, Glasgow 1949
  3. F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949; Political Reference Publications, Glasgow 1949
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