# William Pringle (Liberal MP)

William Mather Rutherford Pringle (22 January 1874 – 1 April 1928) was a Liberal Party politician in the United Kingdom who served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1910 to 1918 and again from 1922 to 1924.
Pringle was educated at Glasgow University and was called to the Bar of the Middle Temple in 1904.
Pringle's son, also William Pringle later became a politician and trade unionist.

## Political career

He first stood for parliament at the 1906 elections;
General election 1906: Glasgow Camlachie :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Liberal Unionist | Alexander Cross | 3,119 | 36.4 |
| | Liberal | William Pringle | 2,871 | 33.5 |
| | Labour | Joseph Burgess | 2,568 | 30.0 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | |
| | Liberal Unionist hold | Liberal Unionist hold | Swing | |
Pringle was elected as member for Lanarkshire North West in January 1910. It was an exceptional result as it was one of only a handful of gains made by the Liberal party at those elections, and achieved, despite the presence of a Labour candidate.
General election Jan 1910: North West Lanarkshire :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes |
| | Liberal | William Pringle | 8,422 |
| | Conservative | William Mitchell-Thomson | 7,528 |
| | Labour | Robert Small | 1,718 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | |
| | Liberal gain from Conservative | Liberal gain from Conservative | Swing |
General election Dec 1910: North West Lanarkshire :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes |
| | Liberal | William Pringle | 9,315 |
| | Conservative | Arthur Stanley Pringle | 8,486 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | |
| | Liberal hold | Liberal hold | Swing |
In 1914, as a back-bench Liberal MP, he supported Britain going to war in Europe but he opposed the introduction of Conscription being planned by Asquith. Although Pringle remained a supporter of the party led by Asquith, he was very critical of the party leader during the war. After the war, he returned to being a strong supporter of Asquith. He was described as "one of the ablest Parliamentary tacticians of the 20th Century" and also as "one of the most intransigeant and pertinacious of anti-Lloyd George Liberals". In 1916, when Lloyd George took over as prime minister, Pringle, along with James Hogge, became the most vocal critics of the Prime Minister from the Liberal benches. After the war, the Pringle-Hogge partnership ended when Pringle became a loyal supporter of Asquith, while Hogge looked to Lloyd George for peacetime inspiration. His Lanarkshire seat was abolished as part of the boundary changes for the 1918 elections, so he had to look for a new seat. Standing as a Liberal without the support from the Coalition government, he unsuccessfully contested Glasgow Springburn at the 1918 general election
General election 1918: Glasgow Springburn :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Coalition Unionist | F. A. Macquisten | 10,786 | 52.7 | N/A |
| | Labour | George Hardie | 7,996 | 39.1 | N/A |
| | Liberal | William Pringle | 1,669 | 8.2 | N/A |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 2,790 | 13.6 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 20,451 | 60.9 | N/A |
| | Coalition Unionist win (new seat) | Coalition Unionist win (new seat) | Coalition Unionist win (new seat) | Coalition Unionist win (new seat) | Coalition Unionist win (new seat) |
He sought a return to parliament at Rusholme at a by-election in 1919. During the Rusholme by-election, he declared for a Capital Levy which was not party policy.
1919 Manchester Rusholme by-election Electorate 30,421 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Unionist | John Henry Thorpe | 9,394 | 45.7 | −20.4 |
| | Labour | Robert Dunstan | 6,412 | 31.2 | +15.6 |
| | Liberal | William Pringle | 3,923 | 19.1 | −0.2 |
| | National | Roger Bowan Crewdson | 815 | 4.0 | n/a |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 2,982 | 14.5 | −31.3 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | 67.5 | |
| | Unionist hold | Unionist hold | Swing | | |
Still keen to return to parliament, he fought another by-election;
1921 Penistone by-election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Labour | William Gillis | 8,560 | 36.2 |
| | Liberal | William Pringle | 7,984 | 33.7 |
| | National Liberal | James Peace Hinchcliffe | 7,123 | 30.1 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 576 | 2.5 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 23,667 | 71.7 |
| | Labour gain from Liberal | Labour gain from Liberal | Swing | |
At the 1922 general election he was elected as Member of Parliament for Penistone in Yorkshire, defeating the sitting Labour MP William Gillis, who had narrowly beaten Pringle to win the seat at a by-election in 1921.
General election 1922: Penistone :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Liberal | William Pringle | 8,924 | 35.8 |
| | Labour | William Gillis | 8,382 | 33.7 |
| | Unionist | Charles Hodgkinson | 7,600 | 30.5 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 542 | 2.1 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 24,906 | 73.1 |
| | Liberal hold | Liberal hold | Swing | |
Pringle held the seat in 1923,
General election 1923: Penistone :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Liberal | William Pringle | 9,164 | 36.9 |
| | Labour | Rennie Smith | 8,329 | 33.5 |
| | Unionist | Charles Hodgkinson | 7,369 | 29.6 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 835 | 3.4 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 24,862 | 71.8 |
| | Liberal hold | Liberal hold | Swing | |
By 1924 he had become a member of Asquith's Liberal Shadow Cabinet, and he was a vocal critic of the Labour Government, accusing it of not getting ahead with reforming measures. He was defeated at the 1924 general election by Labour's Rennie Smith;
General election 1924: Penistone :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Labour | Rennie Smith | 10,997 | 38.5 |
| | Unionist | Charles Hodgkinson | 9,718 | 38.5 |
| | Liberal | William Pringle | 7,799 | 27.4 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,279 | 4.4 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 28,514 | 80.6 |
| | Labour gain from Liberal | Labour gain from Liberal | Swing | |
After his election defeat in 1924, Pringle led Liberal candidate criticisms of Lloyd George for failing to make sufficient money from the Lloyd George Fund available to help the Liberal campaign. He helped to form the Liberal and Radical Candidates Association, becoming its inaugural Chairman and argued that this body should be part of the process in electing the next Chairman of the Liberal Parliamentary party. He hoped that this would help prevent Lloyd George taking that position but Asquith, now out of parliament, did not support his proposal and Lloyd George took over as Chairman.
He stood in the 1925 Ayr Burghs by-election, but finished a poor third
1925 Ayr Burghs by-election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes |
| | Unionist | Thomas Moore | 11,601 |
| | Labour | P.J. Dollan | 9,787 |
| | Liberal | William Pringle | 4,656 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | |
| | Unionist hold | Unionist hold | Swing |
After Lloyd George took over as Leader from Asquith, Pringle put his efforts into a newly created body called the Liberal Council, which sought to rally those in the Liberal Party who opposed Lloyd George. He did not stand for Parliament again and died in 1928 aged 54.