1923 Anglesey by-election


The Anglesey by-election, 1923 was a parliamentary by-election for the British House of Commons constituency of Anglesey on 7 April 1923.

Vacancy

The by-election was caused by the death of the sitting Labour MP, Sir Owen Thomas on 17 January 1923. He had been MP here since winning the seat in 1918.

Election history

Anglesey had been won by either the Liberal Party or the Whigs at every election since 1784, until Thomas surprisingly gained it for Labour in 1918. He held onto it at the 1922 general election, standing as an Independent.
The result at the last General Election was as follows;

Candidates

Labour's campaign was supported by visits from national figures such as Arthur Henderson, and a host of Labour MPs from south Wales such as David Watts Morgan, Tom Griffiths, David Grenfell and T. I. Mardy Jones, as well as prominent Welsh nationalist figures such as future Liberal MP William John Gruffydd and Principal Thomas Rees. John called for Welsh Home Rule, even though it was not Labour party policy.

Result

The Liberal party gained the seat from Labour and the Unionists trailed a poor third;
The good Liberal result spurred moves towards Liberal reunion at a national level. Within days, the two Liberal groups in the House of Lords decided to accept Viscount Grey as their leader in the Lords.

Aftermath

Sir Robert Thomas sat for the constituency until retiring in 1929. The Liberal Party held the constituency until 1951.
The result at the following General election;
John did not stand again. Roberts did not stand again and became a County Court Judge in 1924.