1927 Leith by-election

There was a parliamentary by-election for the House of Commons constituency of Leith, which took place on Wednesday, 23 March 1927.

Previous MP

When David Lloyd George replaced H. H. Asquith as Leader of the Liberal Party, the Liberal MP, William Wedgwood Benn decided to cross the floor from the Liberal Party and switch to the Labour Party. Benn believed that his change of party allegiances warranted him resigning his seat and seeking re-election.

Previous result

General election, 29 October 1924 Electorate: 39,480

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	William Wedgwood Benn	16,569	59.6	-4.9
	Labour	Robert Freeman Wilson	11,250	40.4	+4.9
Majority			5,319	19.2	-9.8
Turnout			27,819	70.5	+11.4
	Liberal hold		Swing	-4.9

Candidates

Benn had been the Liberal MP for Leith since the khaki election of 1918 and was keen to stand for election as a Labour candidate. However, the Leith Constituency Labour Party did not want him as their candidate, so Benn did not contest the by-election. The Leith CLP selected R.F. Wilson as their candidate. He was a local socialist who had stood against Benn at the two previous general elections. The Conservatives, who had not contested the seat since 1918, selected Allan Beaton. He was one of the Scottish Conservatives most experienced candidates. He had contested the safe Labour seat of Edinburgh Central at the previous general election in 1924. The Leith Liberal Association struggled to find a Liberal candidate prepared to defend a seat under such difficult circumstances. However, their seventh choice as candidate, Ernest Brown agreed to contest the seat. Brown was an Englishman who was employed by party headquarters as a speaker. He had briefly served as the Liberal MP for Rugby from 1923-24 when he was defeated at the general election one year later.

Campaign

The Liberal campaign was reliant upon Brown's ability and enthusiasm as a speaker, backed by plentiful funds from Lloyd George's national organisation. However, his task was made difficult because the local Liberal organisation had been allowed to run down during Benn's tenure as MP.

Result

Right up to polling day, the newspapers were predicting either a Labour win or a Conservative win with much talk about the prospect of the Liberal losing his deposit.

Leith by-election, 23 March 1927 Electorate:

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Alfred Ernest Brown	12,461	42.3	-17.3
	Labour	Robert Freeman Wilson	12,350	42.0	+1.6
	Conservative	Allan Beaton	4,607	15.7	New
Majority			111	0.3	-18.9
Turnout			29,418	73.9	+3.4
	Liberal hold		Swing	-9.5

Aftermath

Four days after this victory, the Liberals gained a seat from Labour at Southwark North. Benn did not have long to wait for a local Labour Party to adopt him as a candidate when a by-election vacancy came at Aberdeen North in 1928, where he was returned to parliament. At the 1929 general election Brown was re-elected here. Beaton contested Dunfermline Burghs without success and Wilson did not stand again.

General election, 30 May 1929 Electorate 50,801

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Alfred Ernest Brown	20,613	56.7	-2.9
	Labour	Alan H Paton	15,715	43.3	+2.9
Majority			4,898	14.4	-5.8
Turnout			36,328	71.5	+1.0
	Liberal hold		Swing	-2.9

References

• British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (The Macmillan Press 1979)