Since the Reading constituency was created in 1885 it had been closely contested between Liberal and Conservative; The Conservatives winning in 1885, 1886 and 1895 and the Liberals in 1892, 1898 and 1900. The Liberal victor on each occasion was Palmer, who was a very well known biscuit manufacturer in the town.[3] At the last election he had won narrowly;
The local Liberal Association selected 44 year-old Rufus Isaacs as their candidate to hold the seat. Isaacs was a London barrister who had been made a QC in 1898. He was standing as a candidate for the first time.[5] In such a marginal seat, the Liberals were taking a risk by choosing an outsider to replace a well-known local man.
The local Conservative Association selected 57 year-old stockbroker Charles Keyser as their candidate. He was contesting Reading for the third time, having lost to Palmer in 1898 and 1900.[6]
There was some expectation of a socialist candidate making it a three-way contest, as had been the case in the 1898 by-election.
Campaign
Polling day was fixed for the 6 August 1904.
Result
The Liberals held the seat with an almost identical result to the previous election;
^Craig, F.W.S. (1987). Chronology of British Parliamentary By-elections 1833–1987. Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 98.
^"Election intelligence". The Times. No. 36781. London. 30 May 1902. p. 10.
^‘PALMER, Rt Hon. George William’, Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2016; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2014; online edn, April 2014 accessed 5 January 2017
^‘READING’, Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2016; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2014; online edn, April 2014 accessed 5 January 2017
^‘KEYSER, Charles Edward’, Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2016; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2014; online edn, April 2014 accessed 5 January 2017