Willesden East by-election, 1923

The Willesden East by-election, 1923 was a parliamentary by-election for the British House of Commons constituency of Willesden East held on 3 March 1923. The constituency was a large one extending from Kilburn in the south to the Welsh Harp and on to Neasden.

The by-election was caused by the resignation of the sitting Unionist MP, Sir Harry Mallaby-Deeley. Mallaby-Deeley had been MP for Willesden East since the 1918 general election. Despite the protestations of ill-health which Mallaby-Deeley cited to justify his standing down from Parliament, he lived for another 14 years during which he carried on a substantial business career. The strong likelihood is that Mallaby-Deeley was asked to stand aside and cause a by-election as a route back into Parliament for the Hon. G.F.Stanley,

At the previous General Election, the constituency had become a Unionist/Liberal marginal;

Controversially in a constituency where over six thousand electors were thought to be Jewish, polling day was fixed for a Saturday. Housing was featuring strongly as an issue of importance at this time. In the by-election at Mitcham being held on the same day as Willesden East, the Unionist candidate was Sir Arthur Griffith-Boscawen. Griffth-Boscawen had lost his seat at Taunton at the general election of November 1922 but accepted Bonar Law’s offer to remain in the government as Minister of Health while he tried to find a seat to get back into Parliament. His main task as minister was to produce a Bill on local government rating but this proved highly controversial and the issue was a magnet for a whole range of problems associated with housing, including the failure of the government to increase the number of houses being built, to be raised at Mitcham and elsewhere, including to Johnstone’s advantage at Willesden. It was reported that the loss of the by-election would represent a blow for the Unionist government, although it was too early after the general election to see the results as a definitive verdict on Bonar Law’s administration.

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