1919 Swansea East by-election

The 1919 Swansea East by-election was a parliamentary by-election held for the British House of Commons constituency of Swansea East on 10 July 1919.

Vacancy

The seat had become vacant when the Coalition Liberal Member of Parliament (MP) Thomas Jeremiah Williams had died on 12 June 1919, aged 46. He had held the seat since its creation at the 1918 general election.

T.J. Williams

General election 1918: Swansea East^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
C	Liberal	Thomas Jeremiah Williams	11,071	63.6	*N/A*
	Labour	David Williams	6,341	36.4	N/A
Majority			4,730	27.2	N/A
Turnout			17,411	64.1	N/A
Registered electors			27,185
	Liberal win (new seat)
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

At a Labour Party conference in June, a resolution was passed in favour of using the strike weapon for political purposes.

The Coalition Liberal candidate, David Matthews, held the seat for his party, but with a greatly reduced majority.

1919 Swansea East by-election^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
C	Liberal	David Matthews	9,250	53.1	−10.5
	Labour	David Williams	8,158	46.9	+10.5
Majority			1,092	6.2	−21.0
Turnout			17,408	64.0	−0.1
Registered electors			27,185
	Liberal hold		Swing	-10.5
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

^ ^a ^b Craig, F. W. S. (1969). British parliamentary election results 1918-1949 (1 ed.). Glasgow: Political Reference Publications. ISBN 0-900178-019. Page 542