1905 Barkston Ash by-election

Because of ill health, Gunter had told his local party in 1903, that he would be standing down as MP. They had then selected 35 year old George Lane-Fox, an Eton and Oxford educated barrister and a member of the West Riding County Council[4] to be their candidate.

The Liberals had already selected 32 year old Joseph Andrews, a barrister from Leeds to fight the next general election.[5] They adopted Andrews as their by-election candidate.[2]

There was speculation that an Independent candidate, Henry Liversidge, would also stand. Earlier in 1905 he announced an intention to contest the next election as a Lib-Lab candidate,[5] but on the platform of tariff reform.[6] It was subsequently reported that no Tariff Reform League or other candidate would be standing specifically on that issue.[7]

Although no tariff candidate entered the field, the issue of protectionism was one of the great issues of the day. Whereas the question of Irish Home Rule had dominated political debate in earlier elections, the ‘dumping’ of foreign goods on British markets and the struggle between tariff reformers and free traders was now seen as a prime election battleground.[9] The Free Trade Union, founded in 1903 to safeguard the free import of food and raw materials and oppose the policy of protection as a barrier to good relations within the British Empire[10] had acquired a reputation for intelligent and effective electioneering on behalf of Liberal candidates and had moved some key organisers into the Barkston Ash constituency to offer support to Andrews[9] and to campaign and produce literature and posters for him.[11] The Liberals played the Free Trade card for all it was worth.[12]

There was a strong mining community in the south of the constituency which traditionally supported the Liberals and a substantial suburban house-holder vote spreading out from Leeds, which together with the farmers and landowners could usually be relied upon to vote Conservative. This meant the agricultural labourers held the key to the result.[13] Both candidates courted the votes of the rural worker, Andrews emphasising the value of Free Trade in keeping food prices cheap whereas Lane-Fox appealed to the traditional conservatism of rural people.[13]

Both candidates also, despite denials[9] were keen to attract votes from the sizeable Roman Catholic minority in the area. The Liberals denounced the Education Act 1902 and hoped for Catholic voters to be sympathetic to Irish Home Rule in support of their co-religionists in Ireland[13] although as the campaign wore on they became vulnerable to attack on the administration of the Education Act by the Liberal controlled West Riding County Council.[14] The Tories looked to the well-established local Catholic community to remain true to their family traditions and support the Conservative establishment.[13]

Government policy abroad gave the Liberals little to campaign on. There was a distinct strain of English patriotism in the Yorkshire character and the area had provided strong support over the fighting of the Boer War. The only area left to exploit was the introduction of Chinese labour into South Africa gold mining operations[15] and the allegation that so-called coolies were being forced to work under conditions no better than those of slaves.[16]