# 1904 Oswestry by-election

The 1904 Oswestry by-election was a Parliamentary by-election held on 26 July 1904. The constituency returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post voting system.

## Vacancy

George Ormsby-Gore had been Conservative MP for the seat of Oswestry since the 1901 Oswestry by-election. On 26 June 1904 he succeeded his father as third Baron Harlech and entered the House of Lords.

## Electoral history

The seat had been Conservative since it was created in 1885. They easily held the seat at the last election, with an increased majority:
Oswestry by-election, 1901 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | George Ormsby-Gore | 4,518 | 56.8 | N/A |
| | Liberal | Allan Heywood Bright | 3,430 | 43.2 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,088 | 13.6 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 7,948 | 79.5 | N/A |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | N/A | |

## Candidates

The local Conservative Association selected 39-year-old William Bridgeman as their candidate to defend the seat. He was a prominent Municipal Reform Party member of the London County Council and had no link with the town's area, although his country home, Leigh Manor, Worthen, was then in the same constituency. He was assistant private secretary to Henry Holland, the Colonial Secretary (1889–1892), and then to Sir Michael Hicks-Beach, the Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1895 to 1897. In 1897 he became a member of the London School Board, and in 1904 he was elected to the London County Council.
The local Liberal Association selected 42-year-old Allan Heywood Bright as their candidate to gain the seat. He had been the Liberal candidate at the previous by-election in 1901. Previously he had contested Exeter in 1899 and 1900. He had a residence at Weston Rhyn near Oswestry. The Times noted that he had "nursed the constituency assiduously of late".

## Campaign

Polling Day was fixed for 26 July 1904, 30 days after the previous MP went to the House of Lords.
During the campaign, where tariff reform and free trade were topical issues, Winston Churchill, then M.P. for Oldham made eve-of-poll speeches at public meetings organised by the Free Trade Union in Ellesmere and Oswestry in support of Bright. He had crossed the floor of the Commons from the Conservative benches to the Liberals on 31 May, so was reportedly heckled with "turn-coat" taunts.

## Result

The count was conducted the following morning and the result declared at lunch-time. Crowds filled the Bailey Head in Oswestry – so much so that it was thought advisable to announce the result in private to prevent trouble. The Liberals gained the seat from the Conservatives:
1904 Oswestry by-election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal | Allan Heywood Bright | 4,542 | 52.2 | +9.0 |
| | Conservative | William Bridgeman | 4,157 | 47.8 | −9.0 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 385 | 4.4 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 8,699 | 86.3 | +6.8 |
| | Liberal gain from Conservative | Liberal gain from Conservative | Swing | +8.7 | |
The result was "a great surprise for both Conservatives and Liberals alike". Bright believed that the electorate had rejected the government, and that "the whole of Shropshire politics had been simply a policy of Tory bluff and the people seemed to have got tired of it".

## Aftermath

The same two candidates met again at the following general election, the result was:
General election January 1906 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | William Bridgeman | 5,011 | 52.6 | +4.8 |
| | Liberal | Allan Heywood Bright | 4,508 | 47.4 | −4.8 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 503 | 5.2 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 9,519 | 90.7 | +4.4 |
| | Conservative gain from Liberal | Conservative gain from Liberal | Swing | +4.8 | |