1921 Caerphilly by-election

The 1921 Caerphilly by-election was held on 24 August 1921. The by-election was held due to the death of the incumbent Labour MP, Alfred Onions. It was held for Labour by Morgan Jones.^[1]

1921 Caerphilly by-election

← 1918 24 August 1921 1922 →

Candidate Jones Edmunds Stewart Party Labour Liberal Communist Popular vote 13,699 8,958 2,592 Percentage 54.2 35.5 10.3

MP before election Onions Labour Subsequent MP Jones Labour

Candidates and campaign

Morgan Jones clinched the Labour nomination despite not being the preferred candidate of the South Wales Miners' Federation. He was the first conscientious objector to be elected to Parliament after World War I.^[2]

The Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) stood Bob Stewart, a member of its executive committee. The party had been founded in 1920, and this was its first Parliamentary election. It sent almost all its leading figures to campaign in the election.^[3]

Result

Jones won an easy victory, with Edmunds in second, and the CPGB a distant third.^[3]

1921 Caerphilly by-election^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Morgan Jones	13,699	54.2	−0.6
	Liberal	William Rees Edmunds	8,958	35.5	−9.7
	Communist	Bob Stewart	2,592	10.3	N/A
Majority			4,741	18.7	+9.1
Turnout			25,249	73.2	+9.2
Registered electors			34,511
	Labour hold		Swing	+4.5

References

1. "Leigh Rayment - Commons". leighrayment.com. Archived from the original on 7 June 2008.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
2. Williams, Chris (2004). "Jones, Morgan (1885–1939)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/66804.
3. Klugmann, James (1968). History of the Communist Party of Great Britain. London: Lawrence and Wishart. pp. 182–183.
4. Craig, F. W. S. (1969). British parliamentary election results 1918-1949 (1 ed.). Glasgow: Political Reference Publications. ISBN 0-900178-019. Page 557