1921 Westminster Abbey by-election

The Westminster Abbey by-election, 1921 was a parliamentary by-election held on 25 August 1921 for the British House of Commons constituency of Westminster Abbey in London. The seat had become vacant when the Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) William Burdett-Coutts had died on 28 July 1921. Burdett-Coutts had held the seat since it had been created for the 1918 general election, when he had been returned unopposed.

General election, 14 December 1918

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
C	Unionist	William Burdett-Coutts	Unopposed
	Unionist hold
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

1921 Westminster Abbey by-election

25 August 1921

Candidate Nicholson Applin Lupton Party Unionist Anti-Waste League Liberal Popular vote 6,204 4,970 3,053 Percentage 43.6 34.9 21.5

MP before election Burdett-Coutts Unionist Subsequent MP Nicholson Unionist

Candidates

The Conservative candidate was John Nicholson. The Liberal candidate Arnold Lupton, aged nearly 75, had been an MP from 1906 to January 1910.

British Pathe hold newsreel footage of the three candidates handing in their nomination papers; http://www.britishpathe.com/video/all-anti-wasters/query/antiwaste

Campaign

At the time the Anti-Waste League was active, and all three candidates claimed to be anti-waste. The League was formed to advance the political ambitions of the newspaper owner Lord Rothermere. He is known in particular, with his brother Alfred Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Northcliffe, for the development of the British newspapers Daily Mail and Daily Mirror - he was a pioneer of popular journalism. The objects of the League were to insist upon measures being taken to restore the country to solvency, urge a wholesale reduction of expenditure, fight the battle of local rates and oppose sham Anti-Waste candidates. There was a growing element both inside and outside the Conservative element of the Coalition Government, that opposed the post-war reconstruction methods adopted by Lloyd George and other leading Liberals in the coalition, notably Christopher Addison, who as Housing Minister had introduced a series of measures to enable local councils to build Council houses. These measures were funded by higher taxation and in accordance with Lloyd George's aim to build a "Land Fit for Heroes".

Result

The Unionist candidate won the election, but the Anti-Waste League candidate Reginald Applin polled respectably.

Westminster Abbey By-Election, 1921

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	John Nicholson	6,204	43.6	N/A
	Anti-Waste League	Reginald Applin	4,970	34.9	New
	Liberal	Arnold Lupton	3,053	21.5	New
Majority			1,234	8.7	N/A
Turnout			36,952	38.5	N/A
	Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

Aftermath

Nicholson remained the constituency's MP until his death in 1924, when a further by-election was held. Applin became the Conservative MP for Enfield in 1924

General election, 15 November 1922

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	John Nicholson	13,620	75.6	+32.0
	Labour	Joseph Butler	2,454	13.6	New
	Independent	Sidney Robert Drury-Lowe	1,950	10.8	New
Majority			11,166	62.0	+53.3
Turnout			36,763	49.0	+10.5
	Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

References

• Leigh Rayment's Peerage Pages
• British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (The Macmillan Press 1979)
• Minor Parties at British Parliamentary Elections 1885-1974, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (The Macmillan Press 1975)