Barnstaple by-election, 1911

The Barnstaple by-election was a Parliamentary by-election. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post voting system.

Previous result

File:Sir Ernest Soares crop.jpg

Ernest Soares

General Election December 1910 Electorate 13,126

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Ernest Joseph Soares	6,047	54.0
	Liberal Unionist	Charles Sandbach Parker	5,155	46.0
Majority			892	8.0
Turnout				85.3
	Liberal hold		Swing

Candidates

The Liberal candidate was Sir Godfrey Baring, a 40-year-old Eton educated former Liberal MP from the Isle of Wight. He had sat for the Isle of Wight from 1906 until his defeat in January 1910. At the December 1910 General Election he had contested Devonport . He was the chairman of the Isle of Wight County Council.

The Unionist candidate was Charles Sandbach Parker, an Ayrshire-based 47-year-old Chairman and Managing Director of Demerara Co. who had been educated at Eton and Oxford. He had contested Barnstaple at the December 1910 General Election.

Result

Godfrey Baring

Barnstaple by-election, 1911 Electorate 13,595

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Sir Godfrey Baring	6,239	52.0	-2.0
	Liberal Unionist	Charles Sandbach Parker	5,751	48.0	+2.0
Majority				4.0	-4.0
Turnout				88.2
	Liberal hold		Swing	-2.0

Aftermath

A General Election was due to take place by the end of 1915. By the autumn 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 13,584

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Sir Godfrey Baring
	Unionist	Charles Sandbach Parker

Baring chose not to defend his seat and instead sought re-election for his old Isle of Wight seat.

General Election 14 December 1918: Electorate 31,790

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Capt. John Thomas Tudor Rees	11,281	51.4	-0.6
	Unionist	Charles Sandbach Parker	10,679	48.6	+0.6
Majority			602	2.8	-1.2
Turnout				69.1	-19.1
	Liberal hold		Swing	-0.6

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