Sir Robert Aske, 1st Baronet

For other people named Robert Aske, see Robert Aske (disambiguation).

Sir Robert William Aske, 1st Baronet (29 December 1872 – 10 March 1954) was a barrister and Liberal Party politician in the United Kingdom.

Robert Aske in 1910

Family

Aske was born a son of Edward Aske. In 1899 he married Edith McGregor. She died in 1900. In 1909 he married Edith Cockerline. They had two sons and two daughters. She died in 1918.^[1][2]

Military career

Aske was a part-time soldier, commissioned into a Volunteer battalion of the East Yorkshire Regiment on 9 February 1898 and was promoted to Lt-Colonel and commanding officer of the 5th (Cyclist) Battalion, East Yorkshire Regiment of the Territorial Force (TF) on 20 October 1910. He mobilised the battalion in August 1914 and commanded it on coast defence duties during the early years of World War I.^[2][3][4] He retired from the battalion and was transferred to the TF Reserve on 24 December 1917;^[5] he was awarded the Territorial Decoration on 22 May 1918.^[6]

Political career

He first stood for parliament in 1910, contesting Hull Central, a seat that the Conservatives had held in the 1906 Liberal landslide. Though it was not a promising seat, he did very well, coming to within 20 votes of defeating the incumbent. A third opportunity came to contest Hull Central at a by-election. His Conservative opponent had been unseated on petition. However he was again unsuccessful. He was Chairman of the Hull and District Liberal Federation.^[7] He did not contest Hull Central again and did not stand for parliament again until 1923. At the 1923 general election he was elected as Member of Parliament (MP) for Newcastle upon Tyne East, but lost his seat a year later, at the 1924 general election, to Labour's Martin Henry Connolly. Aske regained the seat at the 1929 general election, and held it until his retirement at the 1945 general election. When the Liberal Party split in 1931 over participation in Ramsay MacDonald's Conservative-dominated National Government, Aske was one those who broke away to form the new National Liberal Party, which merged in 1948 with the Conservatives.

He was knighted in 1911.^[8] He was created a baronet in the 1922 New Year Honours.^[9][10] He served as a Justice of the peace in Surrey. He served as Deputy Sheriff of Hull on three occasions.^[11]

Electoral record

General election January 1910: Hull Central^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Seymour King	3,606	50.1	−7.7
	Liberal	Robert Aske	3,586	49.9	+7.7
Majority			20	0.2	−15.4
Turnout			7,192	87.9	+3.1
Registered electors			8,181
	Conservative hold		Swing	−7.7

General election December 1910: Hull Central^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Seymour King	3,625	51.5	+1.4
	Liberal	Robert Aske	3,418	48.5	−1.4
Majority			207	3.0	+2.8
Turnout			7,043	86.1	−1.8
Registered electors			8,181
	Conservative hold		Swing	+2.4

1911 Kingston upon Hull Central by-election^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Mark Sykes	3,823	51.9	+0.4
	Liberal	Robert Aske	3,545	48.1	−0.4
Majority			278	3.8	+0.8
Turnout			7,368	84.6	−1.5
Registered electors			8,712
	Conservative hold		Swing	+0.4

General election 1923: Newcastle upon Tyne East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Robert Aske	12,656	52.3	+22.3
	Labour	Arthur Henderson	11,532	47.7	+4.6
Majority			1,124	4.6	N/A
Turnout			24,188	73.2	−0.5
Registered electors			33,066
	Liberal gain from Labour		Swing	+8.9

General election 1924: Newcastle upon Tyne East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Martin Connolly	13,120	46.4	−1.3
	Liberal	Robert Aske	12,776	45.1	−7.2
	Unionist	William Temple	2,420	8.5	N/A
Majority			344	1.3	N/A
Turnout			28,316	83.9	+10.7
Registered electors			33,737
	Labour gain from Liberal		Swing	+3.0

General election 1929: Newcastle upon Tyne East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Robert Aske	17,856	51.3	+6.2
	Labour	Martin Connolly	16,921	48.7	+2.3
Majority			935	2.6	N/A
Turnout			34,777	79.4	−4.5
Registered electors			43,797
	Liberal gain from Labour		Swing	+2.0

General election 1931: Newcastle upon Tyne East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National Liberal	Robert Aske	24,552	63.4
	Labour	Maurice Alexander	14,176	36.6
Majority			10,346	26.8
Turnout				86.5
	National Liberal gain from Liberal		Swing

General election 1935: Newcastle upon Tyne East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National Liberal	Robert Aske	23,146	58.60
	Labour	Bernard Benjamin Gillis	16,322	41.4
Majority			6,824	17.2
Turnout				81.3
	National Liberal hold		Swing

References

1. Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, 100th Edn, London, 1953.
2. (1 December 2007). Aske, Sir Robert William, (1872–10 March 1954), QC 1934. WHO'S WHO & WHO WAS WHO. Ed. Retrieved 10 Apr. 2019, from http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/10.1093/ww/9780199540891.001.0001/ww-9780199540884-e-234194.
3. Army List, various dates.
4. London Gazette, 19 August 1910.
5. London Gazette, 25 January 1918.
6. London Gazette, 22 May 1918.
7. Chairman of the Hull and District Liberal Federation
8. "No. 28469". The London Gazette. 24 February 1911. p. 1469.
9. "No. 32563". The London Gazette (Supplement). 30 December 1921. p. 10710.
10. "No. 32668". The London Gazette. 11 April 1922. p. 2916.
11. The Times House of Commons, 1929; Politico's Publishing, 2003 p. 52
12. British parliamentary election results 1885–1918, FWS Craig

Sources

• Leigh Rayment's list of baronets
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Sir Robert Aske

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Arthur Henderson	Member of Parliament for Newcastle upon Tyne East 1923–1924	Succeeded by Martin Connolly
Preceded by Martin Connolly	Member of Parliament for Newcastle upon Tyne East 1929–1945	Succeeded by Arthur Blenkinsop
Baronetage of the United Kingdom
New creation	Baronet (of Aughton) 1922–1954	Succeeded by Conan Aske