The 1903 Rochester by-election was a Parliamentary by-election held on 23 September 1903. The constituency returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the

House of Commons of the United Kingdom The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 memb ...

, elected by the

first past the post First-past-the-post (FPTP)—also called choose-one, first-preference plurality (FPP), or simply plurality—is a single-winner voting rule. Voters mark one candidate as their favorite, or First-preference votes, first-preference, and the cand ...

voting system.

Vacancy

The vacancy was caused when the borough's

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

Member of Parliament (MP) James Gascoyne-Cecil, known by his

courtesy title A courtesy title is a title that does not have legal significance but is rather used by custom or courtesy, particularly, in the context of nobility, the titles used by children of members of the nobility (cf. substantive title). In some context ...

as Viscount Cranborne, succeeded to the peerage on 22 August 1903. He had been MP for

Darwen Darwen is a market town and civil parish in the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The residents of the town are known as "Darreners". The A666 road, A666 road passes through Darwen towards Blackburn to the north, Bolton to ...

from 1885 to 1892, and then for Rochester since winning the seat at a by-election in 1893.

Electoral history

Cranborne had been returned unopposed at the 1900 general election, so the borough had not seen a contested parliamentary election since

1895 Events January * January 5 – Dreyfus affair: French officer Alfred Dreyfus is stripped of his army rank and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil's Island (off French Guiana) on what is much later admitted to be a false charge of tr ...

Candidates

The two major parties chose their candidates on 2 September. The Unionists (the Conservatives and their

Liberal Unionist The Liberal Unionist Party was a British political party that was formed in 1886 by a faction that broke away from the Liberal Party. Led by Lord Hartington (later the Duke of Devonshire) and Joseph Chamberlain, the party established a political ...

allies) chose

Charles Tuff Charles Tuff (4 September 1855 – 27 January 1929) was a British businessman and Conservative Party politician from the town of Rochester in Kent. He sat in the House of Commons from 1903 to 1906. Tuff was the son of Henry Tuff from Rochester ...

, the owner of a large firm of contractors. He had been mayor of Rochester from 1900 to 1902. The

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

selected as its candidate

Sir Harry Johnston Sir Harry Hamilton Johnston (12 June 1858 – 31 July 1927) was a British explorer, botanist, artist, colonial administrator, and linguist who travelled widely across Africa to speak some of the languages spoken by people on that continent. ...

, an African explorer and

colonial administrator Colonialism is the control of another territory, natural resources and people by a foreign group. Colonizers control the political and tribal power of the colonised territory. While frequently an Imperialism, imperialist project, colonialism c ...

. The

writ In common law, a writ is a formal written order issued by a body with administrative or judicial jurisdiction; in modern usage, this body is generally a court. Warrant (legal), Warrants, prerogative writs, subpoenas, and ''certiorari'' are commo ...

for the by-election was received on 15 September by the mayor, who fixed 18 September as the closing day for nominations, and Wednesday 23 September as

polling day Election day or polling day is the day on which general elections are held. In many countries, general elections are always held on a Saturday or Sunday, to enable as many voters as possible to participate; while in other countries elections a ...

. No

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

or minor party candidates were nominated, so the election was a two-way contest between Tuff and Johnston.

Campaign

The Liberals were disappointed that the election was called so soon after the vacancy occurred, because they believed that a longer campaign would help their prospects. Both candidates had issued the election address by 9 September, along with a lot of supporting literature. The two parties hoped to canvass all the borough's electors, but acknowledged that the shortness of the campaign made this target unlikely. The Unionists were reported by ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' newspaper to have a "near-perfect" organisation in Rochester. The main issue in the campaign was

tariff reform Protectionism, sometimes referred to as trade protectionism, is the economic policy of restricting imports from other countries through methods such as tariffs on imported goods, import quotas, and a variety of other government regulations. ...

, over which the

minister

Joseph Chamberlain Joseph Chamberlain (8 July 1836 – 2 July 1914) was a British statesman who was first a radical Liberal Party (UK), Liberal, then a Liberal Unionist after opposing home rule for Ireland, and eventually was a leading New Imperialism, imperial ...

had recently resigned from the cabinet to campaign for

Imperial Preference Imperial Preference was a system of mutual tariff reduction enacted throughout the British Empire and British Commonwealth following the Ottawa Conference of 1932. As Commonwealth Preference, the proposal was later revived in regard to the member ...

. The Liberals also focused on the conduct of the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic and ...

. In the first full week of the campaign, the Unionists decided not to hold a large public meeting, but rather to hold five smaller meetings in different parts of the borough. Speakers were to include Sir William Hart Dyke MP and

Horatio Davies Lieutenant Colonel Sir Horatio David Davies (1842–18 September 1912) was a London businessman, politician, magistrate and a driving force behind the establishment of Pimm's as an international brandname. Early life Son of H. D. Davies Esq, h ...

MP. The Liberals held the biggest meeting, at the Corn Exchange, but otherwise the meetings organised by the Unionists were better attended. A major theme in the campaign was the question of

free trade Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold Economic liberalism, economically liberal positions, while economic nationalist politica ...

; Edmund Robertson MP spoke at a Liberal meeting to say that the issue was simply one of taxing food: would the tariffs on food be renewed? Johnston sent a "personal note" to Unionist supporters condemning the Unionist government's handling of the

Boer War The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic an ...

, and accusing them of deliberately throwing away the lives of British soldiers. He called on any Unionists who saw themselves as patriots to abstain rather than elect a supporter of such a government. Extensive canvassing took place on Saturday 19 September, after which both parties reported that the outcome would likely depend on the Labour vote. Both the

Tariff Reform League The Tariff Reform League (TRL) was a protectionist British pressure group formed in 1903 to protest against what they considered to be unfair foreign imports and to advocate Imperial Preference to protect British industry from foreign competiti ...

and the Free Trade Association distributed large numbers of leaflets and cartoons, and the Licensed Victuallers Association was actively organising in support of the Unionists. The costs incurred by the two candidates were reported in ''

'' in November 1903: Tuff's campaign had spent £559 18s 5d, and Johnston's campaign had spent £636 4s. 4d.

Result

The Conservative Party held the seat.

Aftermath

References

{{By-elections to the 27th UK Parliament By-elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom in Kent constituencies 1903 in England 1903 elections in the United Kingdom Politics of Medway 1900s in Kent September 1903 in the United Kingdom