1921 Penistone by-election
# 1921 Penistone by-election

The 1921 Penistone by-election was a by-election held on 5 March 1921 for the British House of Commons constituency of Penistone in Yorkshire.

## Vacancy

The seat had become vacant on the resignation of the Liberal Member of Parliament Sydney Arnold, due to ill-health. He had held the seat since its creation for the 1918 general election.

## Electoral history

The result at the last General Election in 1918 was;

General election 1918: Penistone Electorate :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| | Liberal | Sydney Arnold | 7,338 | 39.4 |
| C | Unionist | Phillip Gatty Smith | 6,744 | 36.2 |
| | Independent Labour | Frederick William Southern | 4,556 | 24.4 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 594 | 3.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 18,638 | 58.4 |
| | Liberal hold | Liberal hold | Swing | |
| C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government. ||||||

## Candidates

* Upon the announcement of the resignation of Arnold, the local Liberals immediately adopted 47-year-old William Pringle as their candidate to defend the seat. Pringle was the member for Lanarkshire North West from January 1910 to 1918. In 1918 his Lanarkshire seat was abolished and he unsuccessfully contested Glasgow Springburn. He unsuccessfully sought a return to parliament at the 1919 Manchester Rusholme by-election.
* The Coalition government candidate was the Liberal, Sir James Peace Hinchcliffe who had the official support of the local Unionists.
* The Labour Party selected Alderman William Gillis as their candidate to challenge for the seat.

## Campaign

Polling Day was set for 5 March, making it the fourth by-election to be held that week. On 25 February nominations closed to confirm that the election would be a three-way contest.

Sir James Hinchcliffe received the official endorsement of the Coalition Government.

## Result

The result was a gain for the Labour Party.

1921 Penistone by-election Electorate :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | Labour | William Gillis | 8,560 | 36.2 | +11.8 |
| | Liberal | William Pringle | 7,984 | 33.7 | -5.7 |
| | National Liberal | James Peace Hinchcliffe | 7,123 | 30.1 | -6.1 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 576 | 2.5 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 23,667 | 71.7 | |
| | Labour gain from Liberal | Labour gain from Liberal | Swing | N/A | |

## Aftermath

Pringle reversed the tables on Gillis at the following General Election when the Liberals re-gained the seat from the Labour party;

1922 general election Electorate :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| | Liberal | William Pringle | 8,924 | 35.8 |
| | Labour | William Gillis | 8,382 | 33.7 |
| | Conservative | Charles Hodgkinson | 7,600 | 30.5 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 542 | 2.1 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 24,906 | 73.1 |
| | Liberal hold | Liberal hold | Swing | |
