On This Day

04 November 1897

Liberal James Duckworth wins the Middleton by-election

The by-election was caused by the death of the sitting Conservative MP, Thomas Fielden. Duckworth’s majority was exactly 300 votes. Commenting a few days later, Joseph Chamberlain said that ‘…a desire for change invariably existed among a proportion of the electorate and a government was liable to perish by its own virtues.’ Duckworth held the seat until the following general election in 1900 when he lost to the former Conservative MP’s brother. Duckworth returned to the House of Commons in the Liberal landslide election of 1906 as MP for Stockport and held the seat until he retired in 1910.