Oxford by-election, 1924

The Oxford by-election, 1924 was a parliamentary by-election held on 5 June 1924 for the British House of Commons constituency of Oxford. The seat had become vacant when the Liberal Member of Parliament (MP) Frank Gray had been unseated on petition, after his agent had falsified the account for his expenses at the 1923 election^[1]. Gray had held the seat since the 1922 election.

Candidates

The Conservative Party selected the 35-year-old Robert Croft Bourne, who had been a member of the New College boat which won silver in the men’s eights at the 1912 Olympics.

The Liberal Party selected the 52-year-old C.B. Fry, the all-round sportsman. Fry had contested Brighton in the 1922 election and Banbury in the 1923 election.

The Labour Party selected the 26-year-old Kenneth Lindsay, recently down from Worcester and contesting his first Parliamentary election. He had been President of the Oxford Union in Michaelmas 1922.

Result

The result was a gain for the Conservatives. Bourne would hold the seat until his death in 1938, which precipitated another by-election.

Oxford by-election, 1924
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Robert Croft Bourne	10,079	47.8%	+3.9%
	Liberal	C.B. Fry	8,237	39.1%	-17.0%
	Labour	Kenneth Lindsay	2,769	13.1%	N/A
Majority			1,842	8.7%	N/A
Turnout			21,085
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+10.5%

1923 general election: Oxford
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Frank Gray	12,311	56.1%
	Conservative	Robert Croft Bourne	9,618	43.9%
Majority			2,693	12.3%
Turnout			21,929
	Liberal hold		Swing

References

1. ^ British History Online

• Leigh Rayment's Peerage Pages
• British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (The Macmillan Press 1979)