Berwick-upon-Tweed by-election, 1923

The Berwick-upon-Tweed by-election of 31 May 1923 was a by-election to the British House of Commons which saw Mabel Philipson become the third woman to take her seat in Parliament. The election was caused when her husband, Hilton Philipson, was deprived of his seat due to corruption by his election agent. The result was formally a Conservative Party gain as husband and wife fought as members of different parties. Mrs Philipson, a former actress, performed much better at the polls than her party had expected.

At the 1922 general election, the contest in the Berwick-upon-Tweed constituency had attracted some wider attention as the seat was fought between two candidates both representing strands of the same Liberal Party. Former cabinet minister Walter Runciman was the official party nominee, selected at the last minute after the sitting MP stood down, while Hilton Philipson was nominated as a 'National Liberal' supported by David Lloyd George. The local branch of the Conservative Party, while initially hesitant, later "[flung] themselves wholeheartedly into the fight" supporting Philipson.

The result of the election on 15 November 1922 was:

On 6 January 1923, an election petition was lodged challenging the election of Philipson on the grounds of excessive expenditure. The legal maximum spending by any candidate was £850, and Philipson returned spending totalling £985; he was entitled to exclude his personal expenses (amounting to £72) and an allowance of £75 towards his election agent from the legal maximum, which meant that the spending reported by Philipson was £838 and therefore within the legal limit. However, the petitioners (two Independent Liberals, Brigadier-General Widdrington and Professor Bosanquet) alleged that Philipson's election agent had agreed with a local printer to lower the printing bill by £100 below market rate so that the campaign would not exceed the legal maximum.

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