Birmingham North by-election, 1899

The Birmingham North by-election, 1899 was a parliamentary by-election held for the House of Commons constituency of Birmingham North on 14 February 1899.

The vacancy was caused by the resignation of the sitting Liberal Unionist MP, the Rt Hon Alderman William Kenrick. Kenrick had held the seat since its creation in 1885, first as a Liberal and then as a Liberal Unionist. At the 1895 general election, Kenrick had defended the seat against Liberal opposition, holding it with nearly 80% of the poll.

William Kenrick was married to Mary Chamberlain, the elder sister of Joseph Chamberlain and the Liberal Unionists first offered the candidacy to another close associate of the Chamberlain family, Edward Nettlefold (1854-1909), a local manufacturer of screws and other goods, in partnership with Joseph Chamberlain, but he turned down the approach. They next turned to John Throgmorton Middlemore, a 54-year-old former member of Birmingham City Council. Middlemore had trained as a solicitor but had never practised. He received income from a leather business and was the founder and chief benefactor of Middlemore Emigration Homes, an organisation which trained destitute children and settled them in Canada. On 25 January, the Liberal Unionists’ local Conservative allies passed a resolution congratulating Kenrick on being made a Privy Counsellor and voted to support Middlemore as the representative of Unionism in the forthcoming by-election.

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