1910 Govan by-election

The 1910 Govan by-election was a parliamentary by-election held for the House of Commons constituency of the Govan Division of Lanarkshire on 28 April 1910.

Vacancy

The by-election was caused by the appointment of the sitting Liberal Member of Parliament (MP), William Hunter KC as Solicitor General for Scotland.^[1] Under the Parliamentary rules applicable at the time if Hunter wished to remain an MP he had to resign and fight a by-election.

Candidates

The Govan Liberals re-selected Hunter to try to retain his seat which he had held since the January 1910 general election when he obtained a majority of 1,429 votes and gained the seat from the Unionists.^[2]

It was reported that the Unionists were not eager to contest a by-election and that "as a matter of courtesy" Hunter might be allowed a walkover. An added consideration was that it seemed likely a new general election would be called within a few months.^[3] Representatives of the Conservatives and Liberal Unionists met on 21 April to discuss the by-election and decided not to put up a candidate.^[4]

Despite having contested the constituency at the previous general election, the Labour Party^[5] also chose not to oppose Hunter.

The result

There being no other candidates putting themselves forward, Hunter was returned unopposed.^[6]

See also

• 1889 Govan by-election
• 1973 Glasgow Govan by-election
• 1988 Glasgow Govan by-election
• Lists of United Kingdom by-elections
• United Kingdom by-election records

References