Unionist candidates win two by-elections in England
Unionists candidates have won two by-elections in England. The victories are considered serious blows to the standing of the Liberal government and increase pressure to resolve the crisis over Home Rule for Ireland.
In North-East Derbyshire the Unionist candidate, Major Harland Bowden capitalised on a split vote between the Liberals and the Labour Party.
Major Bowden secured 6,469 votes, as against 6,155 for the Liberal Party’s J. Houfton and 3,669 votes for James Martin of the Labour Party.
The constituency - a strong mining area - had not returned a conservative or unionist member since its establishment in 1885.
A bigger shock was the triumph of a second unionist candidate F.J.G. Ganzoni in Ipswich. A 32 year old barrister, Mr. Ganzoni defeated Charles Masterman, a Liberal cabinet member, by 532 votes.
Irish Life's interpretation of the electoral race in the recent by-elections (Image: Irish Life, 29 May 1914. Full collection of Irish Life available in the National Library of Ireland)
The campaign had been marked by bitter exchanges over Home Rule for Ireland and over the National Insurance Act of 1911 which which Mr. Masterman was intimately connected.
During the campaign, his close ally David Lloyd George, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, had campaigned vigorously for a Liberal victory.
He told voters in Ipswich that conservatives and unionists were engaged in a deliberate attempt to destroy representative government, and that they had a attempted to create a rebellion and mutiny in the army.
By contrast, the unionist leader Sir Edward Carson had described Mr. Masterman as one of the most bloodthirsty and belligerent men in the cabinet.
In a telegram to Mr. Ganzoni, the leader of the Conservative Party, Andrew Bonar Law, said: ‘Heartiest congratulations on wonderful victory. The government may gag the House of Commons, but they cannot gag the country.’
A further telegram from Sir Edward Carson also expressed congratulations and concluded: ‘Ipswich has told the Government it wants peace in Ireland. We are very grateful.’ These views were echoed by the Ulster Reform Club: ‘You have struck a blow for Ulster and the Union.’
