1916 Berwick-upon-Tweed by-election

The 1916 Berwick-upon-Tweed by-election was held on 16 August 1916. The by-election was held due to the elevation to the peerage of the incumbent Liberal MP, Sir Edward Grey.

It was won by the Liberal candidate Sir Francis Blake.[1] Blake was unopposed by Conservative or Labour candidates due to a war time electoral truce where the three main parties would not put up candidates against one another. This meant that Blake was sometimes referred to as a "Coalitionist".[2] The unsuccessful candidate, Dr Arthur Turnbull, stood as an Independent, though one source has described him as an Independent Liberal.[3]

1916 Berwick-upon-Tweed by-election[4] Electorate 9,454
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Francis Blake 3,794 85.9 +24.7
Independent Arthur Turnbull 621 14.1 New
Majority 3,173 71.8 +49.4
Turnout 4,415 46.7 −33.1
Liberal hold Swing N/A
  1. ^ "House of Commons". leighrayment.com. Archived from the original on 7 June 2008. Retrieved 30 January 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  2. ^ "Papers Past — Dominion — 19 August 1916 — BERWICK BY-ELECTION". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. Retrieved 3 April 2014.
  3. ^ "19 Aug 1916 - BERWICK BY-ELECTION. London, Aug. 17". trove.nla.gov.au. Retrieved 3 April 2014.
  4. ^ British parliamentary election results, 1885–1918 by FWS Craig