1906 Dulwich by-election

1906 Dulwich by-election

← 1906 15 May 1906 1910 →
 
Candidate Bonar Law Williamson
Party Conservative Liberal
Popular vote 6,709 5,430
Percentage 55.3% 44.7%


MP before election

Harris
Conservative

Subsequent MP

Bonar Law
Conservative

The 1906 Dulwich by-election was a by-election held on 15 May 1906 for the British House of Commons constituency of Dulwich in South London.

The by-election was triggered by the resignation of the serving Conservative Party Member of Parliament (MP), Dr Frederick Rutherfoord Harris, who was moving back to South Africa where he had previously lived for many years. The Unionist candidate was Bonar Law, former Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade who had lost his seat in the Liberal landslide in the February general election. The Liberal Party candidate was David Williamson, who had also contested the February election.

Result

Dulwich by-election, 1906
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Bonar Law 6,709 55.3
Liberal David Williamson 5,430 44.7
Majority 1,279 10.6
Turnout 12,139
Conservative hold Swing

The Conservative majority increased by over 900 votes, which the Times attributed not only to Bonar Law's candidature but also to the unpopularity of the Government's Education Bill, suggesting that the Catholic vote, estimated at 700, had gone mostly to the Conservatives as a result.

See also

References