1899 Osgoldcross by-election

Following the vote of censure against him Sir John Austin decided to resign his seat and appeal directly to his constituents on the points at issue.[4] He chose to contest the election as a Liberal and was sometimes also referred to in the press as a Radical.[5] However, in view of his breach with the official party Austin is referred to here as an Independent Liberal.

The local Liberal Association were divided in loyalty, with some believing Austin’s record required their support. A meeting at Castleford on 23 June 1899, chaired by Mr Arthur Hartley the chairman of Osgoldcross Liberals, at which Austin declared himself to be a loyal supporter of Liberal leader Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman, selected Austin as Liberal candidate to fight the by-election.[6] However another meeting of Liberals at Pontefract the same day adopted Charles Henry Roberts, the son-in-law of Lady Carlisle, as an Independent Liberal or Radical to contest the seat and this decision was endorsed by a further mass meeting at the Market Hall at Goole later that night, chaired by the president of the Osgoldcross Liberals, Frederick Andrews. Roberts declared that he supported the entire Liberal programme as formulated by William Ewart Gladstone and the meeting endorsed his candidacy saying they wanted a man who was a Liberal “all along the line”.[7] He also described himself as the Local Veto (i.e. pro-temperance) candidate. For this reason, Roberts is described here as the official Liberal candidate.

There had been a history of contested elections in Osgoldcross in recent years. In 1885 there had been a Conservative candidate. In 1886 Austin had taken the seat off the sitting Liberal Unionist MP, and in 1895 another Conservative had tried his luck. However this time, perhaps preferring not to intrude on the private grief of the Liberal Party, no other party put forward a candidate to take advantage of the Liberal split.[8]