The 1907 Rutlandshire by-election was held on 11 June 1907. The by-election was held due to the death of the incumbent Conservative MP, George Henry Finch. He had held the seat since 1867 and was Father of the House. The by-election was won by the Conservative candidate John Gretton[1] who held the seat until 1918 when the constituency was abolished.
The Women's Social and Political Union suffragettes campaigned against the government. At an open-air meeting in Uppingham, Mary Gawthorpe and Christabel Pankhurst were pelted and Gawthorpe fell unconscious; Sylvia Pankhurst wrote that the "incident and her plucky spirit, made her the heroine of the Election".[2]
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | John Gretton | 2,213 | 61.9 | +5.2 | |
Liberal | W. F. H. Lyon | 1,362 | 38.1 | −5.2 | |
Majority | 851 | 23.8 | +10.4 | ||
Turnout | 3,575 | 87.6 | −1.7 | ||
Conservative hold | Swing |
References
edit- ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs
- ^ Pankhurst, Sylvia E. The Suffragette: The History of Women's Militant Suffrage. p. 22.