1922 City of London by-election

The 1922 City of London by-election was a parliamentary by-election held on 19 May 1922 for the British House of Commons constituency of City of London, which covered the "Square Mile" which was the United Kingdom's traditional financial district.

1922 City of London by-election
19 May 1922
Constituency of City of London
Turnout36.96%
  First party Second party
 
UP
Candidate Edward Grenfell Vansittart Bowater
Party Unionist Ind. Unionist
Popular vote 10,114 6,178
Percentage 62.08% 37.92%
A map of parliamentary constituencies within the County of London at the time of the by-election, with City of London highlighted in red.
MP before election

Arthur Balfour
Unionist

 Subsequent MP

Edward Grenfell
Unionist

The seat had become vacant on the elevation to the peerage of one of the constituency's two Unionist Members of Parliament (MPs), Arthur James Balfour, as the Earl of Balfour.

Balfour had held the seat since a by-election in 1906, following his defeat at Manchester East in the 1906 general election. He had also been Prime Minister between 1902 and 1905.

Candidates

The Unionist Party selected as its candidate Edward Grenfell, who was a director of the Bank of England. Sir Vansittart Bowater, who had been Lord Mayor of London in 1913, stood as an Independent Unionist.

Results

Turnout was unsurprisingly low in the first contested election in the City since the first 1910 general election. Grenfell won the seat by a convincing margin.

Curiously, Bowater would go on to be elected as the official Unionist candidate at a by-election in 1924, and he and Grenfell would share the representation of the City until 1935.

Votes
By-Election 19 May 1922: City of London
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist Edward Grenfell 10,114 62.08 N/A
Ind. Unionist Vansittart Bowater 6,178 37.92 N/A
Majority 3,936 24.16 N/A
Turnout 44,083 36.96 N/A
Unionist hold Swing N/A
General election 14 December 1918: City of London (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
C Unionist Arthur Balfour Unopposed
C Unionist Frederick Banbury Unopposed
Unionist hold
Unionist hold
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

See also

References
  • Craig, F. W. S. (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918-1949 (3rd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.
  • Leigh Rayment's Peerage Pages
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