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1912 Taunton by-election

The 1912 Taunton by-election was a Parliamentary by-election held for the British House of Commons constituency of Taunton in Somerset on 11 November 1912. Taunton returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post voting system.

Vacancy

William Peel had been Unionist MP for Taunton since 1909. He inherited his father's viscountcy in 1912, and moved to the House of Lords.

Previous result

General election December 1910: Taunton Electorate 3,590
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative William Peel 1,806 53.4 −1.9
Liberal John Edward Schunk 1,573 46.6 +1.9
Majority 233 6.8 −3.8
Turnout 3,379 88.6 −1.7
Conservative hold Swing -1.9

Result

Wills held the seat for the Unionist Party.

1912 by-Election: Taunton Electorate
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist Gilbert Wills 1,882 54.1 +0.7
Liberal John Edward Schunk 1,597 45.9 −0.7
Majority 285 8.2 +1.4
Turnout 3,479 88.7 +0.1
Unionist hold Swing +0.7

Aftermath

A General Election was due to take place by the end of 1915. By the summer of 1914, the following candidates had been adopted to contest that election. Due to the outbreak of war, the election never took place.

General Election 1914/15: Electorate 3,914
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist Gilbert Wills
Liberal

In 1918, Wills switched to contest the neighbouring seat of Weston super mare.

General election 14 December 1918: Electorate 28,845
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist *Dennis Boles 12,619 72.4 +19.0
Labour George Woods 4,816 27.6 New
Majority 7,803 44.8 +38.0
Turnout 17,435 60.4 −28.2
Unionist hold Swing N/A
  • Boles was the endorsed candidate of the Coalition Government.

References

  • Craig, F. W. S. (1974). British parliamentary election results 1885-1918 (1 ed.). London: Macmillan.
  • Who's Who: www.ukwhoswho.com
  • Debrett's House of Commons 1916
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