1929 Wansbeck by-election

The 1929 Wansbeck by-election was a by-election held on 13 February 1929 for the British House of Commons constituency of Wansbeck.

Vacancy

The by-election was triggered by the death of the constituency's Labour Party Member of Parliament (MP) George Warne, who had held the seat since the 1922 general election.

Candidates

The local Liberal association had selected 39 year-old Harry Anson Briggs as their prospective candidate in 1928. Briggs had stood for the Liberals in the 1923 general election at Sheffield Attercliffe and in the 1924 general election at Buckrose. He was educated at Sheffield Secondary School and Sheffield University. He saw active service from 1914-18 in France and Belgium.^[1]

Result

The result was a victory for the Labour candidate George Shield, who held the seat with a greatly increased majority.

Wansbeck by-election, 1929
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	George Shield	20,398	58.0	+5.1
	Conservative	Ian M Moffat-Pender	9,612	27.3	−19.8
	Liberal	Harry Anson Briggs	5,183	14.7	New
Majority			10,786	30.7	+24.9
Turnout			35,193	65.3	−14.1
	Labour hold		Swing	+14.5

Shield was re-elected at the general election in May 1929.

References

^ The Liberal Year Book, 1926

Craig, F. W. S. (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918-1949 (3rd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.
Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "W" (part 1)