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Ralph Walter
During the First World War, British by‐elections were more frequent than in either the pre‐ or post‐war period due to the length of the parliament, the stress of the war, and combat fatalities. Due to an agreement among the chief whips of the principal British parties, these by‐elections were infrequently contested. This party truce meant that in most by‐elections only a single official candidate from the incumbent party stood. However, an independent candidate (or in four instances, two independent candidates) did challenge the official candidate in 29 of the 118 by‐elections (or 24.6% of the time). The challengers were more than three times likely to support the war than call for peace by negotiation. In only seven by‐elections (or 5.9%), peace by negotiation candidates stood, and they polled much more poorly on average than the candidates who supported the war. Only three independent candidates defeated the official candidate, and all were strongly supportive of the war effort. Several independent candidates stood espousing a narrow issue, such as wartime liquor controls, veterans’ rights, conscription of married men, co‐operative taxes, or agricultural concerns. Further, the by‐election results foreshadowed the post‐war replacement of the collapsing Liberal Party by Labour as the principal rival of the Conservatives.
