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1923 Portsmouth South by-election

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1923 Portsmouth South by-election

← 1922 13 August 1923 1923 →
 
Candidate Cayzer Lawson
Party Unionist Liberal
Popular vote 11,884 9,763
Percentage 54.9 45.1

MP before election

Wilson
Unionist

Subsequent MP

Cayzer
Unionist

The 1923 Portsmouth South by-election was a parliamentary by-election held in England on 13 August 1923 to elect a new Member of Parliament (MP) for the House of Commons constituency of Portsmouth South in Hampshire.

Vacancy

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The seat had become vacant when the constituency's Conservative MP Leslie Orme Wilson had been appointed as Governor of Bombay,[1] and had therefore resigned from the Commons on 26 July by the procedural device of accepting appointment as Steward of the Manor of Northstead.[2] Wilson had held the seat for less than a year, having won it at a by-election in December 1922.[3] He had previously been the MP for Reading from 1913 to 1922.

Electoral history

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The result at the last election was

1922 Portsmouth South by-election[4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist Leslie Orme Wilson 14,301 62.9 −5.8
Ind. Unionist G. C. Thomas 4,834 37.1 New
Majority 5,867 25.8 −11.6
Turnout 22,735 57.7
Unionist hold Swing

Candidates

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Sir Henry Lawson

Campaign

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Result

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Portsmouth South by-election, 1923[4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist Herbert Cayzer 11,884 54.9 −8.0
Liberal Henry Merrick Lawson 9,763 45.1 New
Majority 2,121 9.8 −14.0
Turnout 21,647 54.9 −2.8
Unionist hold Swing

Aftermath

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Cayzer was re-elected for Portsmouth South at the next five general elections, and held the seat until he was ennobled in 1939. Lawson never stood for Parliament again. The result at the following general election;

1923 general election[4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist Herbert Cayzer 16,625 55.9 +1.0
Labour J. Stephen 7,388 24.9 New
Liberal Sidney Robert Drury-Lowe 5,698 19.2 −25.9
Majority 9,237 31.0 +21.2
Turnout 29,711 72.7 +17.8
Unionist hold Swing

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "No. 32855". The London Gazette. 21 August 1923. p. 5704.
  2. ^ "No. 32854". The London Gazette. 17 August 1923. p. 5619.
  3. ^ Craig, F. W. S. (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918–1949 (3rd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 219. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.
  4. ^ a b c F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949; Political Reference Publications, Glasgow 1949