# John Thompson (politician, born 1861)

John William Howard Thompson (1861-17 October 1959) was a British Liberal Party politician, solicitor and soldier.

## Background

He was educated at Carshalton and Whitgift School, Croydon. He married Antoinette Ebden Keene of Crewkerne, Somerset. They had two daughters. His wife died in 1940. His daughter Antoinette Winifred Thompson married the 6th Marquess Conyngham.

## Career

He worked as a solicitor. He was Liberal MP for Somerset East from 1906 to 1910. He gained the seat at the 1906 General Election from the Liberal Unionists.
General election 1906 Electorate 9,717 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Liberal | John Thompson | 4,553 | 53.9 |
| | Liberal Unionist | Bertram Falle | 3,890 | 46.1 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 663 | 7.8 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | |
| | Liberal gain from Liberal Unionist | Liberal gain from Liberal Unionist | Swing | |
He served just one parliamentary term before losing his seat back to the Liberal Unionists at the General Election in January 1910.
General election January 1910 Electorate 9,791 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Unionist | Ernest Jardine | 4,997 | 55.7 | 9.6 |
| | Liberal | John Thompson | 3,970 | 44.3 | −9.6 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,027 | 11.4 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | | |
| | Liberal Unionist gain from Liberal | Liberal Unionist gain from Liberal | Swing | +9.6 | |
He stood again at the General Election of December 1910 but was unable to regain his seat.
General election December 1910 Electorate 9,791 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Unionist | Ernest Jardine | 4,748 | 55.1 | −0.6 |
| | Liberal | John Thompson | 3,875 | 44.9 | +0.6 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 873 | 10.2 | −1.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | | |
| | Liberal Unionist hold | Liberal Unionist hold | Swing | -0.6 | |
He was a captain in the Devonshire 11th Service battalion in 1915 and a major in the 24th (County of London) Battalion (The Queen's) in 1916. He did not contest the 1918 General election. He did however contested the 1920 Ilford by-election, where he finished third;
Ilford by-election, 1920 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Coalition Conservative | Fredric Wise | 15,612 | 54.38 | −12.4 |
| | Labour | Joseph King | 6,577 | 22.91 | +3.4 |
| | Liberal | John Thompson | 6,515 | 22.69 | +8.9 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 28,704 | | |
| | Coalition Conservative hold | Coalition Conservative hold | Swing | | |
He remained at Ilford to contest the seat at the 1922 General Election, when he came second, pushing Labour into third place.
1922 General Election Electorate 45,013 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Unionist | Fredric Wise | 14,071 | 44.4 | −10.0 |
| | Liberal | John Thompson | 7,625 | 24.0 | +1.3 |
| | Labour | A West | 5,414 | 17.1 | −5.8 |
| | Ind. Unionist | FC Bramston | 4,610 | 14.5 | n/a |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 6,446 | 20.4 | −11.1 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | 70.5 | |
| | Unionist hold | Unionist hold | Swing | -5.6 | |
He did not contest the following three General Elections but remained a supporter of the Liberal Party. His return to the electoral fight came at the 1931 General Election, when he returned to Somerset and fought the Conservative seat of Wells. Much of the Wells constituency was part of the Somerset East constituency that he had represented before the First World War. He came second with a credible vote share;
General election 1931: Wells :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Conservative | Anthony Muirhead | 17,711 | 58.7 |
| | Liberal | John Thompson | 12,440 | 41.3 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 5,271 | 17.5 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | 17.5 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | |
He did not stand for parliament again.

## Sources

* Who Was Who
* British parliamentary election results 1885–1918, Craig, F. W. S.