The 1919 St Albans by-election was a parliamentary by-election held in England in December 1919 for the House of Commons constituency of St Albans in Hertfordshire.
It was the first contested parliamentary election in St Albans since before World War I. Since the previous contest, in 1910, boundaries had been changed and the franchise extended.
The Coalition Unionists (i.e. Conservatives) held the seat, but by only a narrow margin over the Labour Party, even though Labour had existed in the area for less than 12 months, and St Albans had previously been a Conservative safe seat.
Vacancy.
The by-election was held to fill the vacancy caused when the 67-year-old Conservative Party Member of Parliament (MP) Sir Hildred Carlile resigned from the House of Commons on 20 November 1919 by the procedural device of accepting appointment as Steward of the Manor of Northstead. Carlile, who had held the seat since the 1906 general election (and was returned unopposed in 1918), cited ill-health as the reason for his departure from politics.
Electoral history.
The result at the last General Election in 1918 was;
In speeches after the count, Fremantle pronounced himself pleased with the result, and said that voters had sent a message of support to the Coalition for carrying on government "in accordance with the great traditions of the British Empire". Brown said that he was delighted with the result, which showed that the professional classes were coming round to supporting Labour; and Gray said that he could take defeat in a sportsmanlike manner.
Aftermath.
After his by-election victory, Fremantle held the seat at the following General Election in 1922.
! scope="col" colspan="2" style="width: 130px"|Party
! scope="col" style="width: 17em"|Candidate
! scope="col" style="width: 5em"|Votes
! scope="col" style="width: 3.5em"|%
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! colspan="3" style="text-align: right; margin-right: 0.5em" | Majority
! colspan="3" style="text-align: right; margin-right: 0.5em" scope=row | Turnout
! style="text-align:right;" | Swing
He kept it for the next 24 years, until his death in August 1943. He spoke frequently on medical issues in Parliament, and was knighted in 1922. The slim Unionist majority at the by-election was not repeated: a 15.6% margin at the 1922 general election was followed by a 21.2% majority in 1923, and in 1931 Frematle's majority was a massive 56.2%. St Albans remained a safe seat for the Conservatives until it was narrowly won by Labour in 1945.
Gray contested Bedford unsuccessfully in 1923, but won the Mid Bedfordshire seat at the 1929 general election. He served briefly as a junior minister in 1931, but lost his seat at the 1931 general election, and never returned to Parliament. He served as Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Liberal Party for 6 years, was made a CBE in 1937.
References.
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