The 1904 Rossendale by-election was a parliamentary

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

held for the

British House of Commons 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 ...

constituency of

Rossendale Rossendale may refer to several places and organizations in Lancashire, England: Places *Rossendale Valley, a river valley *Borough of Rossendale, a local government district *Rossendale (UK Parliament constituency) Rossendale was a United King ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

on 15 March 1904.

Vacancy

The by-election was caused by the resignation of the sitting Liberal MP, Sir William Mather. Mather, who was 66 years old in 1904, had been Liberal MP for

Salford Salford ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Greater Manchester, England, on the western bank of the River Irwell which forms its boundary with Manchester city centre. Landmarks include the former Salford Town Hall, town hall, ...

and

Manchester Gorton Manchester Gorton was a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. It was the safest Labour seat in Greater Manchester by numerical majority and one of the safest in the country. Manchester Gorton was abolished for ...

before winning Rossendale at a by-election in 1900. He had already announced that he would not stand at the next general election believing it would be held earlier in the Parliament elected at the 1900 general election owing to the weakness of the

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 ...

government. The government determined to hang on however and Mather decided to resign. He chose the traditional route of applying for the

Chiltern Hundreds The Chiltern Hundreds is an ancient administrative area in Buckinghamshire, England, composed of three hundred (county division), ancient hundreds and lying partially within the Chiltern Hills. "Taking the Chiltern Hundreds" refers to one of the ...

Candidates

Lewis Viscount Harcourt by Solomon J Solomon

Liberals

The Rossendale Liberals had already selected as their candidate Lewis Harcourt in anticipation of Mather's standing down.

Unionists

The local Conservatives had not expected a by-election and did not have a candidate in the field. Rossendale was a traditionally Liberal seat. It had been held by the Liberals since its creation for the 1885 general election with only the interlude of 1886-1892 when it was represented by the former Liberal MP the Marquess of Hartington having switched to the

Liberal Unionists 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 ...

. The Unionists were forced to look as far abroad as

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for a candidate, approaching Colonel T Mitchell who was the brother of the

Tory A Tory () is an individual who supports a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalist conservatism which upholds the established social order as it has evolved through the history of Great Britain. The To ...

MP for

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

but he declined to stand. They next turned to Mr John Whittaker, a cotton trader from

Wilpshire Wilpshire is a village and civil parish in the county of Lancashire, England. It is north of Blackburn, and forms part of the town's urban area, although it is in the Ribble Valley local government district. In the 2001 United Kingdom census, ...

, near

Blackburn Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the River Ribble, Ribble Valley, east of Preston ...

but he too declined to fight the seat. In the event the Conservatives were unable to find anyone willing to contest a Liberal stronghold, citing the serious state of the Lancashire cotton industry as the reason.

Labour

The Labour Party, then known as the Labour Representation Committee, considered putting up a candidate. They first approached Daniel Irving, a leading

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

from

, but he said he was too busy working for

Henry Hyndman Henry Mayers Hyndman (; 7 March 1842 – 22 November 1921) was an English writer, politician and socialist. Originally a conservative, he was converted to socialism by Karl Marx's ''Communist Manifesto'' and launched Britain's first socialist p ...

another prominent Labour politician. In the end, like the Conservatives, the Labour Party chose not to contest the by-election.

Issues

It being an uncontested election, topical political issues were not subject to public debate. However, Harcourt did issue an election address in which he stated that his main concerns were taxation, Chinese labour in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

, education and temperance. He also confirmed his position as an out-and-out

free trader Free Trader was a political label used in the United Kingdom by several candidates in the 1906 general election and January 1910 general election. Many were Conservative Party or Liberal Unionist politicians opposed to Joseph Chamberlain's campai ...

.The Times, 10 March 1904 p5

The result

Harcourt was returned unopposed. He held the seat until 1917 when he became a peer. In the ensuing

the seat was held for the Liberals by Sir John Henry Maden.