1903 Dulwich by-election

The Dulwich by-election, 1903 was a by-election held on 15 December 1903 for the British House of Commons constituency of Dulwich in South London.

Vacancy[]

The by-election was triggered by the death of the serving Conservative Party Member of Parliament (MP), Sir John Blundell Maple.

Candidates[]

The Unionist (Conservative) candidate was Dr Frederick Rutherfoord Harris, who had previously been elected MP for Monmouth Boroughs in the 1900 general election but was disqualified the next year as a result of an election petition alleging irregularities.
The Liberal Party candidate was Charles Masterman.

Campaign[]

Arrest of Jameson after the raid - Petit Parisien 1896

The main issue in the by-election, as with the Lewisham by-election held on the same day, was tariff reform. Harris was a supporter of Joseph Chamberlain's proposals for Imperial Preference and was supported by the Tariff Reform League. Masterman was a supporter of the Liberal party policy of Free trade. Harris's involvement in the Jameson Raid affair was raised by his opponents.

Result[]

Dulwich by-election, 1903^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Frederick Rutherfoord Harris	5,819	57.0
	Liberal	Charles Masterman	4,382	43.0
Majority			1,437	14.0
Turnout			10,201
	Conservative hold		Swing

References[]

^ The Constitutional Year Book, 1904, published by Conservative Central Office, page 158 (182 in web page)

The Times, 16 December 1903
Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs

[Year_Book-1] The Constitutional Year Book, 1904, published by Conservative Central Office, page 158 (182 in web page)

[1]

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1900	December: Dover Preston Guildford Woodbridge West Derbyshire Blackpool North Monaghan
1901	February: Stretford March: Maidstone May: Monmouth Boroughs Mid Cork Saffron Walden June: Stratford-on-Avon July: Wokingham August: Andover September: North East Lanarkshire November:
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