Newport by-election, 1922
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The Newport by-election, 1922 was by-election held in the parliamentary constituency of Newport on 18 October 1922. The by-election attracted especial attention, both at the time and since, as it was seen as a crucial electoral test of the viability of the Lloyd George Coalition Government, formed of followers of David Lloyd George with the Conservative Party, the latter of which contained an increasing number of members who wished to leave the coalition and regain the party's independence.
The county borough of Newport was a large industrial town that had greatly expanded in the late nineteenth century and had consequently been granted a constituency in its own right in the 1918 redistribution. Prior to this it had been part of the Monmouth Boroughs constituency.
In the 1918 general election the seat inherited both Monmouth's Liberal tradition and its MP, with Lewis Haslam winning as a "Coalition Liberal" supporting the Coalition Government and endorsed by both the Liberal and Conservative parties.
Locally Conservatives in Wales despised the coalition and regarded the electoral pact as valid for one election only. They were further enraged when Haslam did not give support for Conservative measures despite their support. The key breach came over the 1921 Licensing Bill which raised the question of whether Monmouthshire was part of Wales or England. This had become a particularly significant local issue, with the Liberals tending to the former position and the Conservatives to the latter. The Bill included Monmouthshire with Wales and so threatened early closing, whilst Haslam's support for the temperance movement provoked further hostility. Consequently the local Conservatives moved to adopt an official candidate of their own for the next general election, choosing Reginald Clarry on 26 July 1922. He received backing from the anti-Coalition wing of the Conservative Party, including endorsements in the Morning Post. His candidature was not well received by the Conservative leadership at Westminster, with Austen Chamberlain, leader of the Conservative MPs, requesting that Conservative Central Office should not aid Clarry's campaign, but crucially Clarry was still the official party nominee for the seat and it would be dangerous for any leader of the party to provoke a row by repudiating the official nominee.
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