1888 Dewsbury by-election

The 1888 Dewsbury by-election was a by-election held in England on 14 November 1888 for the House of Commons constituency of Dewsbury in the West Riding of Yorkshire.

Vacancy
The by-election was caused by the resignation of the sitting Liberal Member of Parliament (MP), Sir John Simon. On 8 November 1888 it was announced that he had taken the office of Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds, thus resigning from the Commons. On the following day the writ for the by-election was moved in the House of Commons by Arnold Morley, Liberal MP for Nottingham East. The writ was receiving by the mayor of Dewsbury, returning officer for the election, on the 10 November. He fixed the deadline for nominations for Wednesday 14 November and polling day for Friday 16 November.

Seat
The Parliamentary Borough of Dewsbury formed part of the West Riding of Yorkshire. As well Dewsbury itself, the constituency contained four other townships, with a total electorate of nearly 12,000 as follows:
 * Dewsbury - 4,840
 * Batley - 4,340
 * Soothill - 989
 * Mirfield - 817
 * Thornhill - 791
 * TOTAL - 11,797

Candidates
The by-election came only two years after the split in the Liberal Party, with those opposed to Irish Home Rule forming the Liberal Unionist Party.

Although it was originally reported that there were 'four candidates in the field' only two were nominated.

First to be nominated was the Liberal candidate, Mark Oldroyd. Oldroyd was the outgoing Mayor of Dewsbury and launched his campaign at a Primitive Methodist schoolroom in Westborough speaking in favour of Home Rule.

The second candidate in the field was H. O. Arnold-Forster, for the Liberal Unionists. This was his third attempt to win a seat in the Commons.

Result
Oldroyd held the seat for the Liberals with a reduced majority.