The 1904 Sowerby by-election was a Parliamentary by-election held on 2 July 1904. The constituency returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post voting system.
Vacancy John William Mellor had been Liberal MP for the seat of Sowerby since the 1892 General Election. Aged 69, he chose to retire from parliament.
Electoral history The seat had been Liberal since creation in 1885. They easily held the seat at the last election, with a reduced majority:
Candidates The local Liberal Association selected 47 year-old Accrington businessman, John Sharp Higham as their candidate to defend the seat. He was Mayor of Accrington from 1899–1901.‘HIGHAM, John Sharp’, Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2016; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2014; online edn, April 2014 accessed 14 Feb 2017 The local Conservative Association selected 24 year-old William Simpson-Hinchliffe as their candidate.‘SIMPSON-HINCHLIFFE, William Algernon’, Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2016; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2014; online edn, April 2014 accessed 14 Feb 2017
Result The Liberals held the seat from the Conservatives:
Aftermath At the following General Election the result was:
References