The 1908
Hastings
Hastings ( ) is a seaside town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England,
east of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to th ...
by-election was a
Parliamentary by-election held on 3 March 1908. 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 seat had become vacant following the resignation of the sitting
Unionist MP,
Harvey Du Cros
William Harvey du Cros (19 June 1846 – 21 December 1918) was a Dublin-born financier who became the founder of the pneumatic tyre industry by supporting development of the innovations of John Boyd Dunlop and mass-producing Dunlop's tyres.
L ...
, on grounds of ill health. He had been the MP for the seat of
Hastings
Hastings ( ) is a seaside town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England,
east of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to th ...
since the 1906 general election.
Electoral history
The seat had been Conservative since they gained it in 1906 against the national swing, having surprisingly lost it to the Liberals in 1900.
Candidates

The Conservatives quickly adopted 37-year-old
Arthur Du Cros
Sir Arthur Philip Du Cros, 1st Baronet (26 January 1871 – 28 October 1955) was a British industrialist and politician.
Early life and education
Du Cros was born in Dublin on 26 January 1871, the third of seven sons of Harvey du Cros and his w ...
, son of the former MP, as their new candidate. He had been born and raised in Dublin before entering the family rubber tyre manufacturing business in the Birmingham area. In 1906 Du Cros unsuccessfully contested the London seat of
Bow & Bromley as a
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 ...
candidate.
The
Liberals had no local candidate because their previous candidate
Freeman Freeman-Thomas had since been elected at a by-election. There was a delay in selecting 30-year-old
Robert Vernon Harcourt, the son of
Sir William Harcourt as their man. Harcourt was educated at
Eton College
Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...
and
Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...
, where he took honours in the History
Tripos
TRIPOS (''TRIvial Portable Operating System'') is a computer operating system. Development started in 1976 at the Computer Laboratory of Cambridge University and it was headed by Dr. Martin Richards. The first version appeared in January 1978 a ...
. At Cambridge, he was a committee member of
Cambridge University Liberal Club
Cambridge University Liberal Association (CULA) is the student branch of the Liberal Democrats for students at the University of Cambridge.
It is the successor to the Cambridge Student Liberal Democrats, which in turn was formed from the merge ...
from 1899 to 1900. Harcourt went into the
Foreign Service Foreign Service may refer to:
* Diplomatic service, the body of diplomats and foreign policy officers maintained by the government of a country
* United States Foreign Service, the diplomatic service of the United States government
**Foreign Service ...
, serving as a clerk on the diplomatic establishment of the
Foreign Office
Foreign may refer to:
Government
* Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries
* Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries
** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government
** Foreign office and foreign minister
* United ...
from 1900 to 1906. He was then briefly engaged in journalism, being parliamentary correspondent of the magazine Tribune. He stood unsuccessfully for the
London County Council
The London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today ...
seat of
Mile End
Mile End is an area in London, England and is located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is in East London and part of the East End of London, East End. It is east of Charing Cross. Situated on the part of the London-to-Colchester road ...
in 1907, as a
Progressive. He was standing for parliament for the first time.
Campaign
Polling Day was fixed for 3 March 1908. The themes raised in the by-election ranged over many issues of the day and the clash between what was seen as the local man (Du Cros) versus the government incomer (Harcourt), even though they were both outsiders to the area.
Harcourt promoted his candidacy as that of a strong supporter of free trade.
Members of the militant
Women's Social and Political Union
The Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) was a women-only political movement and leading militant organisation campaigning for women's suffrage in the United Kingdom founded in 1903. Known from 1906 as the suffragettes, its membership and p ...
were in Hastings campaigning for the Conservative candidate, even though he was an opponent of women's suffrage, while the Liberal candidate was a supporter.
Result
The Conservatives held the seat and managed an increased majority;
Both the ''
Sussex Express
Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...
'' and ''
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 ...
'' newspapers were agreed that the Unionist victory was "first and foremost
ueto
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. ...
and particularly to the colonial preference side of the question".
Aftermath
Harcourt had to wait only a few more weeks to get into Parliament. He was adopted as Liberal candidate at a by-election at
Montrose Burghs following the elevation to the peerage of the sitting member there, the veteran Liberal
John Morley
John Morley, 1st Viscount Morley of Blackburn, (24 December 1838 – 23 September 1923), was a British Liberal statesman, writer and newspaper editor.
Initially a journalist in the North of England and then editor of the newly Liberal-leani ...
, was elected on 12 May 1908, and served as Member for Montrose until 1918.
Du Cros held Hastings at the subsequent General Election.
Du Cros held the seat until
1918
The ceasefire that effectively ended the World War I, First World War took place on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of this year. Also in this year, the Spanish flu pandemic killed 50–100 million people wor ...
when he transferred to stand as a
Coalition Conservative
The Coalition Coupon was a letter sent to parliamentary candidates at the 1918 United Kingdom general election, endorsing them as official representatives of the Coalition Government. The 1918 election took place soon after British victory in the ...
in
Clapham
Clapham () is a district in south London, south west London, England, lying mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, but with some areas (including Clapham Common) extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth.
History
Ea ...
, a seat he held until
1922
Events
January
* January 7 – Dáil Éireann (Irish Republic), Dáil Éireann, the parliament of the Irish Republic, ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by 64–57 votes.
* January 10 – Arthur Griffith is elected President of Dáil Éirean ...
.
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)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hastings By-Election, 1908
By-elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom in East Sussex constituencies
1908 elections in the United Kingdom
1908 in England
20th century in Sussex
Politics of Hastings