1907 Colne Valley by-election

The Colne Valley by-election was a Parliamentary by-election held on 18 July 1907.^[1] The constituency returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post voting system.

1907 Colne Valley by-election

← 1906 18 July 1907 Jan. 1910 →

Candidate Victor Grayson Philip Bright Granville Wheler Party Independent Labour Liberal Conservative Popular vote 3,648 3,495 3,227 Percentage 35.2% 33.7% 31.1%

MP before election Sir James Kitson Liberal Subsequent MP Charles Leach Liberal

Vacancy

Sir James Kitson had been Liberal MP for the seat of Colne Valley since the 1892 general election. He was created Baron Airedale on 17 July 1907 and resigned to take a seat in the House of Lords.^{[citation needed]}

Electoral history

The seat was re-gained from the Liberal Unionists in 1892:

James Kitson

General election January 1906^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	James Kitson	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Liberal hold

Candidates

Campaign poster reading "Colne Valley for Socialism."

The local Liberal Association selected Philip Bright to defend the seat. He was the son of John Bright the famous Free-trader. The Conservatives selected 35-year-old barrister, Granville Charles Hastings Wheler, later 1st (and last) Baronet of Otterden, as their candidate. He had contested Osgoldcross at the last general election.

Twenty-six-year-old Victor Grayson stood as an Independent Labour candidate, having been nominated by the Colne Valley Labour League. This was the local branch of the Independent Labour Party (ILP), but the ILP and Labour Party both decided against backing Grayson's candidacy.^[3] Grayson was born in Liverpool and became an apprentice engineer. He joined the Independent Labour Party and toured the country giving lectures, becoming a well-known orator despite having a stammer.

Polling Day was fixed for 18 July 1907.

Result

Grayson gained the seat:

Colne Valley by-election, 1907^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Colne Valley Labour	Victor Grayson	3,648	35.2	New
	Liberal	Philip Bright	3,495	33.7	N/A
	Conservative	Granville Wheler	3,227	31.1	New
Majority			153	1.5	N/A
Turnout			10,370	88.1	N/A
	Independent Labour gain from Liberal		Swing	N/A

Aftermath

Wheler was elected at Faversham at the next general election. Grayson was defeated by a new Liberal candidate:

Charles Leach

General election January 1910^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Charles Leach	4,741	40.7	+7.0
	Conservative	Archibald Boyd-Carpenter	3,750	32.2	+1.1
	Colne Valley Labour	Victor Grayson	3,149	27.1	−8.1
Majority			991	8.5	N/A
Turnout			11,640	93.2	+5.1
	Liberal gain from Independent Labour		Swing	+7.6