The 1908

Pembrokeshire Pembrokeshire ( ; ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. It is bordered by Carmarthenshire to the east, Ceredigion to the northeast, and otherwise by the sea. Haverfordwest is the largest town and ...

by-election was held on 16 July 1908. The

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 ...

was held due to the elevation to the peerage of the incumbent Liberal MP, John Wynford Philipps. It was won by the Liberal candidate Walter Roch.

Campaign

Roch had the support of the MPs W. Llewelyn Williams and W. Jones of the

United Kingdom Alliance The United Kingdom Alliance (UKA) was a British temperance organisation. It was founded in 1853 in Manchester to work for the prohibition of the trade in alcohol in the United Kingdom. This occurred in a context of support for the type of law p ...

and the Free Trade League respectively. The

Miners' Federation of Great Britain The Miners' Federation of Great Britain (MFGB) was established after a meeting of local mining trade unions in Newport, Wales, Newport, Wales in 1888. The federation was formed to represent and co-ordinate the affairs of local and regional miners' ...

also strongly supported Roch. Lort Williams, the Conservative candidate, was supported by emissaries from 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 National Trade Defence Association. A formidable group of

Suffragette A suffragette was a member of an activist women's organisation in the early 20th century who, under the banner "Votes for Women", fought for the right to vote in public elections in the United Kingdom. The term refers in particular to members ...

s (including

Emmeline Pankhurst Emmeline Pankhurst (; Goulden; 15 July 1858 – 14 June 1928) was a British political activist who organised the British suffragette movement and helped women to win in 1918 the women's suffrage, right to vote in United Kingdom of Great Brita ...

) came to Pembrokeshire to campaign against Roch, not because they disliked him, or supported Lort-Williams, but because

H.H. Asquith Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith (12 September 1852 – 15 February 1928) was a British statesman and Liberal Party (UK), Liberal politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1908 to 1916. He was the last ...

, the Liberal Prime Minister, was immovably opposed to the enfranchisement of women.Use your vote: the Suffragette movement in Pembrokeshire remembered
''

Western Telegraph ''The Western Telegraph'' is a Welsh regional newspaper covering Pembrokeshire and bordering Carmarthenshire Carmarthenshire (; or informally ') is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. The thr ...

'', by Joanna Sayers, 10 April 2015

Result

References

{{Westminster by-elections in Wales 1900–1949 Pembrokeshire by-election Pembrokeshire by-election 1900s elections in Wales 20th century in Pembrokeshire By-elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom in Welsh constituencies Elections in Pembrokeshire Pembrokeshire by-election